Japan to develop Internet search engine
Major Japanese companies plan to develop technology for a advanced search engine to hit art the market dominance of Yahoo!, Google and Microsoft.
About 30 major companies, such as Hitachi, Ltd. and Fujitsu Ltd., announced their intention to set up a research institute, with support from the government, to develop and have a new search engine in practical use within two years, the Mainichi Shimbun reported Wednesday.
Three major U.S. Internet companies -- Yahoo!, Google and Microsoft -- dominate the search engine market. Many people in Japan fear that the domination of the three firms will prevent Japanese companies from entering the market.
The Japanese companies plan to jointly develop Internet search technology and disclose it so that any company can modify the technology to develop their own search engines to meet individual needs, the newspaper reported.
Copyright 2006 by United Press International
