generation Internet search engine BRUSSELS, JULY 19, SPA -- The European Union on Thursday allowed Germany to give ¤120 million (US$165 million) for starting research on Internet search-engine technologies, in hopes of building a European rival to U.S. search giant Google Inc, REPORTED AP. The THESEUS research project _ the German arm of what the French call QUAERO _ is meant to develop the world's most advanced multimedia search engine, creating a set of tools for translating, identifying and indexing images, sound and text. Initially, the German government would pay several «icebreaker» companies _ Siemens AG, SAP AG, Deutsche Thomson oHG and EMPOLIS GmbH, owned by Bertelsmann AG _ to kick start research. Later, the German funding would be spread out to small and medium businesses for them to develop the earlier research. France is still discussing a similar subsidy plan with the European Commission, aiming to give ¤90 million (US$112 million) to research led by French video-technology company Thomson. QUAERO _ Latin for 'I search' _ would develop technology for working with all platforms, including desktops, mobile devices and televisions, and would be sold to TV companies, filmmakers, post-production facilities and anyone who creates or uses audiovisual content. It also would help create digital libraries, putting Europe's cultural riches online. EU regulators said it could allow Germany to subsidize the THESEUS project until 2011 because the government grants were made in a way that would prevent giving any one company an unfair advantage over others. The grants would help industry work more closely with science researchers, overcoming coordination problems, so research would be more efficient. Fragmented European research efforts are one of the reasons blamed for the region lagging so far behind the United States on cutting-edge information technology. European companies in general spend far less on research than those based in other parts of the world, and the EU said the project should help change that. «As concerns the large companies involved, the Commission found that the aid would provide an incentive to increase their level of research, development and innovation activity,» the EU said, adding that the benefits of THESEUS «would outweigh any possible distortion of competition.» There are few details so far on the total costs of the project. Mountain View, California-based Google Inc. is already working hard to move beyond its leading edge on Internet search. It is already introducing an array of new software and offering telecommunications services and has been aggressively seeking ways to import off-line media, such as books and television shows, into its Internet search engine. Google has emerged as one of the world's best known _ and most valuable _ companies just seven years after its inception in a Silicon Valley garage.
