AOL enhances search on its free site

America Online Inc., seeking to boost traffic to its free Web site and generate more advertising dollars as its paid subscriber base declines, said Thursday it is enhancing its search functions.

Search queries will now generate a group of results called "snapshots" — editorial content and relevant information for a wide range of topics including local movie showtimes, sports statistics and current events. It will include options to find a flight or a restaurant.

AOL's searches can now group relevant results by topic.

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The company is also introducing a tool to help users narrow their search queries. For instance, a user who types the word "eagles" can select from such options as "The Eagles" (the band), "The Philadelphia Eagles" (football team) or "eagles" (the bird).

AOL also said it has signed a licensing agreement with Copernic Technologies Inc. for a desktop search tool. Google Inc., Yahoo Inc. and Microsoft Corp. already have released similar software for cataloging and scanning hard drives for information.

For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCBP leaders cut out of Trump ad buy decision

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAmerican passenger drafted goodbye texts to her family as Flydubai plane plummeted

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCornell rape allegation pushes embattled New York prosecutor into national spotlight

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAbdul El-Sayed tries to woo MAHA voters as Democrats seek inroads with RFK’s supporters

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKratom-like substances are popping up in a typically benign supplement

FOR SUBSCRIBERSGOP super PAC increases its spending for Sen. Jon Husted in tough Ohio race

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRecords reveal tumultuous marriage between slain New York Times executive and wife

FOR SUBSCRIBERSFrom clean energy warrior to ‘wall of shame,’ James Talarico reverses on a fossil fuel money pledge

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCongressional staff planned official trip with luxury stops in Italy and France weeks before election

FOR SUBSCRIBERSA harrowing ordeal aboard an Israel-bound plane

FOR SUBSCRIBERSOpenAI CEO Sam Altman to skip congressional hearing on rogue AI agents

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKey DOJ lawyers departed Trump ‘grand conspiracy’ probe amid pressure to produce, source says

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump’s new AI chatbot often links to a site launched under Clinton 26 years ago

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAt MAHA summit, industry CEOs the movement once vilified take the stage

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThis Paralympian has two goals: Win medals and give away $500,000 to her teammates

With the expansion, AOL is trying to build on a longstanding partnership with Google, whose Internet-leading search engine distributes text-based ads to AOL's Web site. AOL will continue tapping Google's giant index to supplement search results.

AOL also unveiled a new way of selling ads. Working with a San Francisco startup, Ingenio Inc., AOL will charge for some ads based on how many telephone calls, not Web clicks, they generate for a business.