Google reveals new enterprise search tools

20 Aug 2009

Google has unveiled two new enterprise tools to boost the quality and performance of its products for business intranets.

The new products include two new connectors for the Google Search Appliance to enable it to work better with major content management systems as well as data from cloud sites like Salesforce.com and a new service called Side-by-Side, that gives employees greater control over search results.

Side-by-Side lets employees test and rate results from two different search queries on the same body of data, to see which gives better results.

Employees can then vote on their preferred results, by choosing the Policy A or B buttons, and the administrator can then use that information to choose and set up the right search solution for the business.

In terms of Google Search Appliances’ new connectors, Google has unveiled connector updates for major content management systems as well as a connector for Saleforce.com data.

GSA can search and provide employees access to the internal Salesforce info they need in search results. Connectors integrate data from all different kinds of file and content systems (like SharePoint, FileNet, Documentum) so an employee searching their company intranet can see a single, unified search results page, even if the results are drawn from a wide variety of company data systems.

“Enterprise search is about the fundamentals: organizing information so that people can do their jobs more easily,” said Michael Parker of Google’s engineering team on the company’s official blog.

By John Kennedy

John Kennedy is a journalist who served as editor of Silicon Republic for 17 years

editorial@siliconrepublic.com