Sitegeist

The search-engine war is heating up. Amazon's A9.COM SEARCH ENGINE, a challenger to Google, began letting users take a virtual walk down the block last week. A9 has gathered and organized 20 million photos of 10 U.S. cities, using digital cameras, GPS receivers and special software. Plug an address into A9's Yellow Pages, and you can see your neighborhood. Ask for the nearest drugstore, church or just about anything else you want, and A9 will take you on a digitized stroll there.