hankyoreh

Google Inc., the world's largest Internet company, has reconfigured its South Korean search site in a bid to help local users more easily access its search engine and help overcome years of sluggish business, Google Korea said Wednesday.

The facelift focuses on the inclusion of seven icons on its main page that link users directly to Google's most popular web services including Gmail and photo-editing Picasa, the company said.

The move, the first of its kind for Google. comes as the U.S.-based company is intensifying efforts to expand its presence here in South Korea where it has been struggling with homegrown Internet rivals.

Google, which dominates the world's Internet search market, trails far behind such local companies as Naver and Daum Communications in terms of the number of daily visitors.

Lee Won-jin, the head of Google Korea, told reporters the changes reflected needs and feedback that the company has received from local customers, and that it will do its utmost to improve its local service.

"We have learned many lessons from the years since we launched the local search service in 2000. We don't think that we wasted our time over the years. The experience will help us provide better services down the road," Lee said.

The press conference was also attended by Google CEO Eric Schmidt, who is in South Korea to attend the Seoul Digital Forum, which kicked off on Tuesday for a three-day run.

During the press conference, he said South Korea is beneficial for his company.through its tremendous technologies, the ability of local citizens and the country's role as a testing bed for innovations. "(South) Korea is a very important market for Google and important for many reasons," Schmidt told reporters.

SEOUL, May 30 (Yonhap News)