Google tests news search site

Google has started testing a navigation site for news, the latest offshoot from the search company. The beta Web site, launched late Wednesday, searches the latest headlines from about 100 news sources every hour, allowing Web surfers to pull up articles from the previous seven days. The site updates headlines throughout the day, according a description of the service, and brief summaries accompany the articles. The Mountain View, Calif.-based company said it plans to continually add new information sources and make refinements to the service.

The news site is the most recent of Google's ventures into specialized search. In the last several months, it has developed navigation for mail-order catalogs and Microsoft-related sites. The company also has introduced a search appliance for enterprises.