New MSN search earns mixed reviews for features, heavy advertising

• Last week, Microsoft unveiled its new MSN Search site, which it says was rebuilt from the bits up to compete with Google and Yahoo, the two leaders so far in the Web-search business.
• A nifty "search builder" tool offers users a sliding-bar control to focus searches by such criteria as the last time a site posted new content and how many people visit it.
• MSN Search also now offers access to the full version of Microsoft's Encarta online encyclopedia, which until now was restricted to paying subscribers.
• Google includes a list of text-only ads on the side of results pages, but MSN includes them at the top, side and bottom of every page.
• For example, a search for sites about Thomas Jefferson yielded the ad byproduct of links to Netflix, Amazon.com and a company that sells Jefferson busts.
• MSN Search may not get anybody to defect from Google or Yahoo.
• But at least Microsoft's search engine -- previously a clunky Yahoo-driven relic -- will no longer actively drive people away.
• According to Forrester Research, 20 percent of people who have MSN as their home page use Google as their primary search engine -- and if only for convenience's sake, some of them might switch back.
• Speaking of Google, it has added another service to its Web empire, Google Maps.
• Although this free site is still in testing, the direction seems clear -- Google wants to make it the go-to site for online mapping.
• Major thoroughfares are highlighted in yellow, roads are clearly labeled, and push-pins and captions pointing to landmarks are set off from their surroundings by nifty 3-D shadow effects.
• Enter "Ethiopian" and "Washington, DC," and Adams Morgan lights up with markers, including links to directions and businesses' Web sites, if available.
• And speaking of directions, these are clear and easy to read without (so far) the ads of Yahoo and MapQuest.