Search can be put into instant messaging, says start-up Kozoru, as long as you eliminate a lot of the excess stuff.

The Overland, Kan.-based company has devised a service that allows consumers to conduct searches from inside a chat client.

The trick is that consumers don't get 19 pages of search results in response to a query, a wad of data that would make the average avatar roll his or her eyes in resignation.

Instead, users select their sources in advance--Wikipedia, news sites, shopping sites, etc. Kozoru then conducts a general search on one of the major search engines, extracts the relevant links from the preselected sources, and delivers them into the chat window.

"Google is research. This is search," said Michael Farmer, director of strategic partnerships for the company. "You can enter up to 25 sites to search. Instead of (link-ranking formula) PageRank determining relevance, I decide."

The search results are also tweaked for greater functionality. A search on "Tickets Kansas City Royals Game" on Google during a demonstration came up with a list of places to buy tickets, including Ticketmaster about halfway down the page.

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