Today, Google is launching a fee-based hosted site search service. A free version displays advertisements, takes a credit card for payment, and gets a site search up and running quickly using a simple online interface. The new custom search business edition gives small and medium-size companies the ability to their search their web sites, powered by Google. Businesses with more complex web sites can purchase the Google Search Appliance to offer site search and intranet search for behind the firewall.

Pricing is $100 a year for sites up to 5,000 pages, $500 for up to 50,000 pages, and $15,000 and up for sites with 1 million or more pages.

"We have transformed the market with our Google Appliance," says Matthew Glotzbach, director of product management for Google Enterprise. "This is a leap forward in the site search market."

Google seems to going head to head with Microsoft's own version of enterprise search, not to mention Google having its own Google Apps, Google Maps, Google Analytics, Google Check Out, Gmail, Calendar, Docs and Spreadsheets.


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