Google plays the Froogle card

SAN FRANCISCO: Google Inc., the No. 1 Web search engine widely expected to go public this year, put its Froogle shopping tool on its main Web site and said it is testing new services to deliver personalized search results.

"Today, Google takes the first step in providing personal search results based on users' preferences," Google co-founder and President Larry Page said in a statement.

Google and rivals such as Yahoo Inc. and Microsoft Corp., which are working to knock Google from its pole position, are regularly rolling out new search services aimed at winning the loyalty of Web users. Yahoo and Microsoft, through its MSN Internet division, already offer price comparisons and other tools for online shoppers.

Google's Froogle shopping feature helps users sort items such as digital cameras or Apple iPod music players by price. The service, which for months had been tested in Google Labs (http://labs.google.com/), also got a redesigned home page and search results page.

Yahoo on Friday announced plans to buy Kelkoo SA, a top European price comparison shopping search engine, for about $575 million.

"Yahoo will be one step ahead of Google with this acquisition, making this in part also a defensive move," PiperJaffray analyst Safa Rashtchy said in a research note on Monday.

Analysts expect the Kelkoo acquisition to strengthen both Yahoo's European e-commerce position and its relationship with advertisers.

Mountain View, California-based Google also said it has begun testing Google Web Alerts and Personalized Search in Google Labs.

Its Web Alerts service automatically e-mails users when there is new information on the Web about any topic they say is of interest.

Personalized Search allows users to create a profile and to use a sliding control bar at the top left of the results page to move personalized results up higher in the rankings.

Yahoo and Microsoft each have identified personalized search capabilities as a top priority.

© Reuters