Amazon Launches A9 Search Engine

Amazon has now launched a search engine known as A9 at A9.com. The Web and Image searches use Google databases. A9 also has some other unique features. It includes access to the Amazon product database, of course, along with movie information from the Internet Movie Database and reference sources from GuruNet. And for those who log in with their Amazon user ID and password, it also keeps track of search histories, has a Diary for keeping notes about Web pages, and offers a bookmarking capability. There is also an A9 toolbar. Their press release notes that "A9.com, Inc., a separately branded and operated subsidiary of Amazon.com, opened its Palo Alto, California office in October 2003 to research and build innovative search technologies." The beta of A9 launched April 15, 2004.