Orkut Enhances Search (Plus Google AdSense Now Included)

(Hat Tip: Orkut Applications)

After launching Orkut universal search last year, it looks like Google has finally decided to place ads alongside their mini search application in order to help pay the bills (and perhaps keep the donut errors away).

While Google advertising on search is nothing new (in fact, its probably better than placing them within forums), one thing that really caught my eye was the face lift of the Universal Search (aka Topic Search), which makes it a lot easier to find friends, forums or conversations of random strangers.

While some users will probably find ways of blocking the ads (as not everyone enjoys them) I would rather have advertisers marketing on search, than upon our Orkut profiles (something Google has experimented with before).

Note: Although its great to see Google paying more attention to search on Orkut, I think the Orkut team should seriously consider adding search to the mobile world (both for the iPhone and Symbian powered phones), as people usually take their phones everywhere (although I can not say the same for laptops).