[classified-usat.gif] Classifieds: [classified-cars.gif] | [classified-careerbuilder.gif] | [classified-marketplace.gif] | [real-estate-logo-money.gif] [clear.gif] [clear.gif] [clear.gif] Home [clear.gif] News [clear.gif] Travel [clear.gif] Money [clear.gif] Sports [clear.gif] Life [clear.gif] Tech [clear.gif] Weather __________ [yahoo-go-button.gif] Go [clear.gif] [black.gif] More Money [clear.gif] My USA TODAY [clear.gif] Money columnists Small Business Connection [clear.gif] Markets [clear.gif] Markets home [clear.gif] Most active stocks [clear.gif] World stocks [clear.gif] Commodities [clear.gif] Currencies [clear.gif] Key interest rates [clear.gif] Internet 50 [clear.gif] Investor Tools [clear.gif] Markets Report [clear.gif] Your Portfolio [clear.gif] Stock screener [clear.gif] Fund screener [clear.gif] Snap quote [clear.gif] Economic calendar [clear.gif] Company calendar [clear.gif] Annual reports [clear.gif] [clear.gif] Managing Money [clear.gif] Your Retirement News/columns/tips [clear.gif] Calculators [clear.gif] CD and loan rates [clear.gif] Special Sections [clear.gif] Cars [clear.gif] Jobs [clear.gif] Small Business [clear.gif] Talk Today [clear.gif] Today in the Sky [clear.gif] Marketplace [clear.gif] Real estate [clear.gif] Arcade [clear.gif] Franchise Center [clear.gif] Special offers [clear.gif] International business index [clear.gif] Business opportunities [clear.gif] Newspaper classifieds [clear.gif] [black.gif] [clear.gif] [2003-money-stokqot.gif] Get a quote: __________________________ Go [indexquoteline.gifquote] Your portfolio - Log in [black.gif] [USEMAP:clickability-rightslink.gif] [black.gif] Posted 9/21/2004 12:15 AM Updated 9/21/2004 3:14 AM [clear.gif] [clear.gif] [clear.gif] Today's Top Money Stories [clear.gif] [clear.gif] [clear.gif] [clear.gif] o Publisher of 'Inquirer,' 'Daily News' calls layoffs 'unavoidable' - 6:51 PM o Crude oil prices fall despite OPEC's decision to cut production - 4:09 PM o Merck Q3 net income drops 34% on flat sales, but it beats estimates - 8:54 AM o Growing family on one income? - 2:49 AM o Confusion reigns over safety tester's approval of E85 fuel station pumps - 1:34 PM [clear.gif] [clear.gif] o Add USATODAY.com RSS feeds Add USATODAY.com RSS feeds [clear.gif] [clear.gif] [clear.gif] [clear.gif] [clear.gif] [clear.gif] Search engines develop personal touches for Web surfers By Jefferson Graham, USA TODAY Call it humanizing the Web. Internet search firms are developing personalization tools -- ways to easily track and store Internet searches -- to make online research easier and more productive. On Tuesday, No. 3 search engine Ask Jeeves introduces the most advanced personalized search features to date. Users can save Web searches and create online directories of favorites for easier tracking. That comes on the heels of last week's official rollout of A9, the new search engine from e-commerce pioneer Amazon.com, which also offers personalization tools. Search-giant Google is testing personalization "based on your interests" at its Labs.google.com site. [clear.gif] Search personalization tools [clear.gif] [clear.gif] [clear.gif] Ask Jeeves (www.ask.com). Save search results into multiple folders that can be organized with specific titles. Example: "iPod accessories" or "Music sites." A9 (www.a9.com). Drag and drop search results into an online virtual bookmark on Amazon's new search engine. Also available: an online "diary" to make notes about each saved site. Google (labs.google.com) A test area of Google that lets users inform Google of specific interests (movies, TV and motorcycle riding) for more personal results. Source: USA TODAY research [clear.gif] [clear.gif] Computer users traditionally have used Web browser "bookmarks" to remember sites they've visited. But with the vast proliferation of Web sites -- way too many for bookmarks to handle -- "People just search to find what they're looking for," says Danny Sullivan, the editor of Web site SearchEngineWatch. Personal search tools are the first step toward the larger goal of desktop search -- a way to track e-mails, photos, MP3 music files, documents and Web pages both online and on your computer's hard drive. Ask Jeeves Senior Vice President Jim Lanzone says it will introduce some form of desktop search by the end of the year. Microsoft says it will begin testing desktop search in 2006. Both Ask Jeeves and A9 recommend that users register when they first use personalization tools, which allows you to keep track of search favorites on any Internet-connected computer. On Ask Jeeves, users click "save" to keep sites in online folders. Saved searches at A9 can be dragged and dropped to an online bookmark; an online "diary" tab lets users add details about each site. Google asks users to identify their interests to tailor the search engine to specific tastes. That approach is similar to how Amazon.com offers books and products based on a customer's prior purchases. For instance, by telling Google of an interest in medicine, jazz and art history, the personalized Google site's results for Chicago are two hospitals and the Jazz Institute of Chicago. Traditional Google offers the city's Web site, a local newspaper and university. "This is where search is eventually headed," says Sullivan. "Everything will be personalized to make you feel like you have a more personal relationship with the Web site." Search marketing -- those little text-based ads that pop up next to search results -- is booming. According to figures released Monday by the Interactive Advertising Bureau, search advertising grew 97% in the second quarter over the same period last year, with revenue of $947 million. Search represented 40% of the second quarter's overall $2.3 billion in Internet advertising. Ask Jeeves is the sixth-most-visited Web site, with 38.8 million visitors in August, according to measurement firm ComScore Media Metrix. It is the third-most-popular search engine, a category dominated by Google and Yahoo. [black.gif] Subscribe Today: Home Delivery of USA TODAY - Save 25% [black.gif] USATODAY.com partners: USA Weekend [bullet.gif] Sports Weekly [bullet.gif] Education [bullet.gif] Space.com Home [bullet.gif] Travel [bullet.gif] News [bullet.gif] Money [bullet.gif] Sports [bullet.gif] Life [bullet.gif] Tech [bullet.gif] Weather Resources: Mobile news [bullet.gif] Site map [bullet.gif] FAQ [bullet.gif] Contact us [bullet.gif] E-mail news Jobs with us [bullet.gif] Internships [bullet.gif] Terms of service [bullet.gif] Privacy policy/Your California Privacy Right Media kit [bullet.gif] Press room [bullet.gif] Electronic print edition [bullet.gif] Reprints and Permissions Add USATODAY.com RSS feeds Add USATODAY.com RSS feeds © Copyright 2006 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.