Google Launches Music Search Feature

Internet Giant, Google Inc. has introduced a music search feature that will provide more information about artists, album cover art, reviews, and links to stores where users can download a track or buy a CD.

"One of the things Google wasn't good at that consumers wanted was music," said Marissa Mayer, the company's vice president for search products and user experience. And because a huge number of users' searches fall into the music category, Google decided to alter its engine to serve up results reports Washington Post

The music search feature is prominently placed above the main search results in what Google calls its "one box" area. When a user enters a music-related search in Google search box, the resulting search returns information about the artist, a few albums and a picture, when available, above the standard search results reports CNN

A search for the Mariah Carey, for example, brings up a Mariah Carey album cover, other albums, and links to more search results.

The list of online stores where users can buy the tunes in question include Apple's iTunes, as well as rivals like Microsoft's MSN Music, Amazon.com, and RealNetworks' Rhapsody reports MSNBC

For the CD retailers, Google receives data feeds of the inventory and only returns a link to a store if the item is available, SearchEngineWatch said.

"It makes a tremendous amount of sense; this is an extension of [Google's] search capabilities" and will be a natural place for consumers to look when they're trying to think of songs or shop for music, said Mike McGuire, research director for Gartner Inc. "It gets people to move from CDs to online."

The music search feature was developed as a side project by a Google engineer, Google spokeswoman Megan Quinn said.

By Fabien Montique posted time [11:37 AM]