by Riva Richmond


Google Inc. unveiled three new search products and promised to strengthen its focus on search as the heart of its business, amid rising competition in the segment from Microsoft Corp., Yahoo Inc. and other rivals.

At the same time, Chief Executive Eric Schmidt played down the notion the company is embroiled in an epic, winner-take-all confrontation with its competitors. "There's not going to be a single winner," he said, speaking at Google's annual meeting with members of the media. He added that competition will enhance the industry and support healthy growth and ad prices. The company unveiled Google Trends, which allows Web users to see what people around the world are interested in by running searches of Google's Web-search traffic. For instance, a user could search the terms "boxers" and "briefs" and see on a bar chart that compares the popularity of the two terms that boxers are more popular, said Jonathan Rosenberg, Google senior vice president of product management. The data can also be parsed to see whether that preference carries the day in different geographies. "Imagine what you can do with this if you're an advertiser," Mr. Rosenberg said. Google also unveiled Google Co-op, which lets users tap information from expert sources, whether from individuals or organizations like publications People or Wine Spectator. Co-op is Google's first move into what's known as "social search." The idea is that harnessing human knowledge can often produce better results than machines can. Indeed, Mr. Schmidt said Google is embracing user-generated content, a concept that has also taken center stage at Yahoo. The Internet is "all about people and their expression," Mr. Schmidt said. "We're much more focused on user participation, much more focused on partner participation." Co-op will also allow Google to help people refine their searches. For instance, if a user searches for "malaria," Google will be able to offer ways to refine the search based on "symptoms" or "treatments." Notebook, another new product, lets users save the fruits of the Web searches, such as product information and prices, and make notes to themselves. They can also share what they have preserved with friends and family via email. It also unveiled a new version of its Desktop search software that let users add tools like a media player and their Google Calendar. All four products are free. Trends and Desktop are available immediately, while Notebook is set to be released next week. Google described Co-op as a "work in progress."