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Last year, when Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales announced plans to launch a new search engine in the first half of 2007, everyday users of this now ubiquitous tool wondered what Wales could do that Google couldn't. However, the search engine community knew better. Of course, Google reset the benchmark for search several years ago, which led to Merriam-Webster's dictionary listing of the company's name as a transitive verb. There is little doubt, though, among researchers and entrepreneurs in this space that one day Google will be competing with other providers.

Microsoft has upgraded its online mapping service to include three-dimensional tours of 15 U.S. cities, marking another step in its dogged pursuit of Internet search leader Google. With the improvements unveiled Monday, Microsoft is hoping to upstage Google's popular "Earth" software, which enables about one-third of the world's population to obtain an aerial view of their homes and neighborhoods. Google says it has distributed more than 100 million free copies of the Earth software since its June 2005 introduction.

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In a bid to spread its influence to the offline world, Google this week will launch a test of a print-based advertising program. Some 100 of its existing advertisers have been invited to participate in the test, which Google bills as an "alpha version" of Google Print Ads. Google would choose where the ads would appear in newspapers across the country. During the test period, Google-placed ads will appear in 50 metropolitan newspapers, including The Boston Globe, The Seattle Times and several Gannett papers.

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MTV and search engine Baidu.com on Tuesday unveiled a venture to distribute music videos via the Internet in China, boosting the music video channel's exposure in a market where regulation has limited its presence. The companies said they will begin by offering 15,000 videos and MTV programs such as "Pimp My Ride," charging for some, while others will be free. They also will distribute programs from MTV's sister network Nickelodeon. The deal lets MTV raise its profile in China's fast-growing media market.

Search engines have made a boodle for outfits like Google, but when it comes to online entertainment -- especially entertainment on demand -- they may find their relevance waning. "Search engine algorithms are based on text, information and links," Daren Gill, vice president for business development for ChoiceStream in Cambridge, Mass., told TechNewsWorld. "From an entertainment perspective, we found that's really not the paradigm that's likely going to win."

It's so big, you won't even need Google Maps to find it. Internet search engine Google has a new home in New York: a 300,000-square foot, three-floor office that covers a Manhattan city block. The company welcomed its 500-plus local employees to the office Monday, its first official day of business. While Mountain View, Calif.-based Google has had employees in New York in advertising sales since 2000 and in engineering since 2003, it said the new office is a step up.

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Keep up with the latest breaking business and technology news from ECT News Network. Receive real-time alerts as stories break -- or a daily version dispatched once each day. Easily add or eliminate keywords and modify service right from your inbox. Target your news today!

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Yahoo scored another victory in its battle with Google Thursday when Hewlett-Packard said it would pre-install the Web portal's search engine tools on its desktop and notebook computers. The deal gives Yahoo access to prime real estate inside the machines from the world's No. 2 PC maker by volume, and comes close to matching an earlier deal struck between Google and Dell. Yahoo also reached a similar agreement to load its tools onto computers made by Taiwan-based Acer, which owns a small fraction of the U.S. market but is growing rapidly in other parts of the world.

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