LexisNexis spends $150m on improvements

LexisNexis has made its search facility easier to use in response to the Google generation’s demand for simple, intuitive searching.

In the past, information professionals had to be trained on how to search the LexisNexis legal and business information service. Now LexisNexis has spent $150m on improving the system so that it may be searched by novice users and experienced information professionals alike.

Users can now search across six broad categories in one search before drilling down. An intelligent results clustering feature allows users to view the results in categories according to their needs.

Simon McLoughlin, head of corporate development at LexisNexis, said: “Google spurred on the development. Google has had such a profound impact on the simplicity of search that we have had to respond to that. It is no longer enough to say we have fantastic quality-assured content. Development of the new LexisNexis service started two years ago with the aim of combining simplicity of searching with clever sorting.”

McLoughlin acknowledges that the old system was coming in for criticism, “We had three times as many quality sources as our nearest rival, but it wasn’t easy to use. People had to be trained to search the content.”

He said LexisNexis had been feeling the heat from Factiva , which recently launched the Search 2.0 search tool: “We feel we have turned a corner. There was a period where Factiva was giving us a tough time, as their service has been easier to use. There is tremendous competitive pressure in the search arena and we are very much responding to that in a dramatic way.”

In the same week, LexisNexis also announced a deal to offer content from Newstex Blogs on Demand. Newstex automatically tags each blog post with company names, stock market tickers, key executives, government officials and detailed topical categories.

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