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Amazon.com has officially taken the wraps off its Internet search engine, joining the contest to unseat No. 1 provider Google.
A9.com, an independent unit of the Internet retailer, launched a new version of its Web site late Tuesday night. The service greatly expands on and organizes early features of A9, which launched in test form in April, to create a helm for steering personalized Web search. To this end, A9 lets people navigate, annotate and store Web pages they"ve visited, and as the TiVo digital video recorder does with television programs, it will recommend sites based on users" past preferences.
Unlike its search rivals, A9 organizes query results into expandable columns. By default, the site displays a column with a list of links and summaries, a column with image snapshots, and a set of buttons that can be used to open new columns with more specific types of search results, including links to information on books and movies.
A9"s branded toolbar also records users" Web-browsing history and makes it accessible and searchable. Web surfers must register to see their personalized search history.
"The idea is to take search one level further and organize the information we search for," Udi Manber, A9"s chief, said in an interview. "We wanted to build a search engine with memory and help you organize it yourself."
Amazon is lurching forward in the hotly contested search market, where rivals including Google, Yahoo, Microsoft"s MSN and Ask Jeeves are all vying for larger portions of the lucrative commercial listings linked to search results. More specifically, shopping search has emerged as prime terrain among the top players because it"s often the last word before Web surfers find a product or service of choice. Amazon"s shifting role in the business highlights the growing importance of search in driving online commerce.
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