Microsoft just announced one. Amazon’s is just a month old. The big boys are getting into the search engine game, but why bother?

On September 21, 1999, the Google search engine went gold and hasn’t looked back. Google’s meteoric rise to internet stardom is the stuff of dot-com legend. Who still uses Yahoo anyways? Google’s unique search routine is widely considered the most efficient and intelligent in the game. Such is their kingship that no one has dared challenge it… until now. Google’s search results are intelligent in that they give preference to sites based on relevance and connectivity as oppose to seniority, meta data, or sponsorship. So effective is this method, that most people never bother with the Google Advanced Search, if they’re aware of it at all. What can MSN and A9 offer us that Google doesn’t?

A9 offers us a discount at Amazon.com equal to ?/2% (1.57%). This allows for a nice ‘share the pie’ slogan, but not much savings. Arriving at a9.com, the first thing you’re likely to notice is how handsome a page it is, compared to Google. Personally, I appreciate Google’s deliberately plain appearance and lack of self-promotional flare, but let’s face it: Google is ugly. A9 features multiple search categories. By default, any search will return two results columns, one of relevant web sites, and one of relevant images. Click the category buttons to the right to add and remove additional categories including Books, History, Movies, Reference, and more. Other fancy-pants features include personalized search history, bookmarks and a diary. Drag and drop bookmarks, keep a diary, adjust nearly every aspect of your experience from the preferences page, allow your entire damned life to revolve around this web site! A9 aims to be your home page, not just your search engine.

The new MSN Search Beta has it’s own idea of what a search utility should be. The beta is a small, elegant rectangle with a text field and a submit button. In place of Google’s “I’m Feeling Lucky” button, MSN adds a “Near Me” option for geographically relevant searches. Above the field are the familiar search category buttons: Web, News, Images. These function in much the same way as Google categories. Beneath all of this, however, is a rather innocuous buttons caleld “Search Builder.” Click this and a new panel will appear with a plethora of advanced search options such as: Domain, Links To, Country, Language, and Results Ranking. These options allow for an incredibly detailed search routine. Options and preferences are accessible through a “settings” button. Where Google looks sparse and A9 overwhelming, MSN Search is clean, accessible, and attractive.

In my limited tests, I did not witness slower-than-acceptable return times from either engine, even in my more complicated searches. I’ll look forward to trying them both on in the next couple weeks, but I think I’ll always root for Google. Now if they’d just get this Blogger shit working…