Google Inc. on Wednesday launched a blog-search tool to gather information on what people look for in blogs, as the search-engine hunts for new areas for online advertising.
Google is the first among its major rivals, which include Yahoo Inc. and Microsoft Corp.'s MSN, to offer a dedicated search tool for blogs, one expert said. The others, however, are expected to follow soon.
Web surfers are reading blogs in growing numbers. In July, 29.3 million people, or 20 percent of active U.S. web users, accessed blogs or blog-related sites, according to Nielsen/NetRatings. That number represented a 31 percent increase since the beginning of the year.
With that much interest in blogs, it makes sense that search engines would be interested in tracking use of the emerging medium.
"We want to begin the process of seeing what people want from a blog-search product and how they use it," Jeff Reynar, product manager for Google Blog Search, said. "Right now, it's in a testing state."