Forward Thinking.

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Author: Miller, Michael J.

We've come a long way in search technology, but I'd like to see a lot more progress. Sure, the number of pages to index is exploding: Yahoo! recently announced that it had indexed 19.2 billion documents; Google claims a mere 8.1 billion. It's hard to verify either number. What really matters, though, is how effectively these Web sites help you find meaningful information.

I'm glad to see that the big search sites are rushing to deliver local content. I like the satellite maps on MSN and Google, the real-time traffic on Yahoo!, and the street-level photos on A9. Ideally, I'd like to access all of these tools from one view that shows my search results, maps, directions, weather, traffic1 photos, and more. More important, I want all this information to be accurate, complete, and current. All too often I find that sites just aren't up to date.

The latest concept in search portals is to have people rate the sites they visit rather than having computer algorithms determine which sites are popular. This concept, called "community search," lets you see â€" and comment on â€" the sites you find and the sites other people find. And, perhaps just as important, community search lets you keep a record of what you've seen and liked on the Web and share your links with others. I've used a number of these sites lately, but none has the critical mass of information that would make it my primary search tool.

The best known of these community search sites is Yahoo!'s My Web (next. yahoo .com), which lets you organize your favorite sites so you can easily revisit them. You can also share your comments with others, creating what Yahoo! describes as "social search."

Another approach is found at del.icio.us, which describes itself as a social bookmarking site. Here you can share your bookmarks with others.

At Shadows, from the folks behind Pluck, when you find a page you like you tag it using a special toolbar. Then when you search for something, you can narrow your results based on what other people have said. You can also join groups for discussing or researching a particular topic.

At Clipmarks, you can add buttons to your browser for marking sites you want to see again, and then share them with others. One of this site's big advantages is the ability to tag specific elements, such as a blog posting.

Jeteye (www.jeteye.com) lets you pull together your search results, comments, and notes in one package so you can share your results with others. The community can then rate the packages.

All of these sites are inventive spins on a common theme. Shadows and Clipmarks are the most polished. In some cases, people really do have interesting collections on many popular topics. In other cases, I feel as if I'm reading random comments, because the sites haven't attracted enough community participants.

I worry that spammers and people with political agendas could bias the content in ways that aren't immediately obvious. At the same time, it makes sense for people of similar outlooks to share information using this technology.

Community search sites are among the most innovative sites on the Web, and I'm very curious to see whether they can gain enough users or whether the big search sites will swallow them whole.

Apple has been so wildly successful in digital music in part because the iPod, the iTunes music software, and the iTunes store all work together fabulously. Yet some competitors offer services that Apple doesn't. For instance, I like having a choice of music stores. And I love the subscription music services such as those that Napster, Rhapsody, and Yahoo! offer. But the more I use these services and the music players that work with them, the more I appreciate Apple's approach.

Microsoft is trying hard to make its Windows Media format the leading competitor for downloading music. (I still prefer MP3 for most of the music I rip myself, because it plays on just about everything.) Most of the online stores, with the notable exception of iTunes and Sony Connect, support WMA and many Windows-compatible players.

Microsoft is trying to brand its music strategy "PlaysForSure." It's a great concept, but it's just not working. Many of the players with the PlaysForSure logo work with subscription content, but many do not. And in working with Microsoft's subscription services, I've had unpleasant surprises when, for no apparent reason, my player suddenly stops playing subscription music or certain songs. Songs play 99 percent of the time, but that's just not good enough. Many of the PlaysForSure services and drivers still have a beta designation, but that's not an excuse anymore when the program was announced over a year ago-and when the services and devices cost real money.

In the next couple of months, I expect to see a lot more music players support subscription services and some of the holdout artists finally decide to get involved. And I'm hopeful that the players and the services will start working better together. Until then, PlaysForSure is, perhaps more accurately, PlaysForPrettySure.

Community search sites such as Yahool's My Web, del.icio.us, Shadows, and Clipmarks are among the most innovative sites on the Web today.

1  www.google.com       59.77%
2  scarch.yahoo.com     28.32%
3  search.msn.com       5.47%
4  www.ask.com          3.30%
5  search.aol.com       0.92%
6  www.attavista.com    0.86%
7  search.lycos.com     0.38%
8  www.allthcweb.com    0.29%
9  www.mamma.coni0.18%
10 search.netscape.com  0.11%
Data period: Four weeks ending August 13,2005. Source: Hitwise USA.

SHADOWS: A new twist in searching

CLIPMARKS: Share your favorite sites

MORE ON THE WEB: Join us online and make your voice heard. Talk back to Michael J. Miller in our opinions section, go.pcmag.com/miller.

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By Michael J. Miller