Copernic offers desktop search tool

Lisa Baertlein

SAN FRANCISCO: Privately held Copernic Technologies released free desktop search software ahead of expected offerings from Microsoft Corp. and others in a move some see as a test of the product's market viability.

The new sector is getting ever more crowded with small players such as Blinkx, dtSearch, X1, Terra Lycos' HotBot, and Enfish all appearing headed for a face-off with players such as Apple Computer Inc. and Google Inc.

Desktop search software, as opposed to Web search, promises to help personal computer users quickly find information or other items on their desktops by searching e-mail and files.

"The demand, the usage has been on a roll. Goodness knows we need every 'finding' tool we can possibly get," said Susan Feldman, a vice president at technology research firm IDC.

Nevertheless, Feldman said it's not yet clear how companies in the nascent market will make money.

"This is a really new market. We don't know what the business model will be," she said.

Some companies charge for the software. Copernic and some others split advertising revenue with Web search services like Google or Yahoo when their software sends users to the search providers. Copernic also will charge for advanced features.

Copernic's desktop product allows users to search files, such as text, photo and music files. It also searches e-mails and attachments in Microsoft Outlook, including PDF files (portable document format). Users also can search the Web via Yahoo's alltheweb.com.

DEMAND UNKNOWN

Analysts and early testers said Copernic's product, which runs only on Microsoft's Windows operating system, appeared to be faster than some rivals because it is smaller and "lighter." It uses less memory, disk space and processing power.

"I think it can save a lot of people a lot of time and effort. Trying to find your own local information is still a challenge for a lot of people," said Gary Price, a news editor at SearchEngineWatch who tested the product for about a month.

"With Copernic, I think I'm saving an hour to an hour and a half a day," said Corente Chief Executive Jim Zucco, a technophile who tested Copernic's desktop search and has used the enterprise product from Enfish.

Zucco predicted that Copernic's product would appeal to the mainstream computer users the company is targeting.

"Our goal is to build a $50 to $100 million company, but we will never get there without being acquired," said Copernic CEO David Burns. "Once we break through $10 to $20 million, people will start looking at us as an acquisition target."

Already, several major companies are acquiring companies in the same line. In June, Web search company Ask Jeeves Inc. bought Tukaroo Inc. for an undisclosed sum.

Microsoft, which plans to incorporate desktop search into the next version of its operating system, last month bought Lookout Inc., a maker of software allowing Outlook users to find information contained in e-mail inboxes and file folders.

Apple Computer is also incorporating desktop search into the next version of its operating system.

Google is reportedly working on a desktop product and is testing a searchable e-mail service called

Gmail.

But Eric Peterson, industry analyst with Jupiter Research, is unconvinced that a mass consumer market will emerge just because companies are building the technology.

He wondered whether mainstream computer users would embrace desktop search as tightly as information-flooded business users.

"You can get them to download it, but to get them to download it and actually use it is another issue," he said.