Google Inc. is upgrading its search engine with a new database to provide results with better accuracy and additional information as it pushes back against growing competition.
The service is based on the “Knowledge Graph,” a two-year effort to build a collection of 500 million people, places and things on the Internet that are identified by how they’re connected, said Ben Gomes, a Google fellow. Users will have options for filtering results and may see a summary of relevant content on the right side of the page.
“It’s a different way of thinking about search,” Gomes, who helps lead search efforts at Google, said in an interview yesterday. “It can take you from your current query to whole new avenues of exploration.”
Google is adding features to its services to maintain its user base and stave off competition from Microsoft Corp.’s Bing search engine. Microsoft unveiled a design for Bing earlier this month that adds more social components to related search functions by including content from a user’s online friends, in addition to regular query results.
Mountain View, California-based Google had 67 percent of the U.S. search-engine market in April, while No. 2 Bing had 15 percent, according to ComScore Inc. Yahoo! Inc., which is powered by Bing, had 14 percent.
Google’s new service will let users narrow results to differentiate between a sports team name, such as “Kings,” and the TV series. It also aims to help users discover additional facts on a topic with information derived from the Knowledge Graph.
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