Proving once again that search is its core business, Google has announced that it has taken an important step toward universal search.

"Our focus has always been making our users' search experience as simple and straightforward as possible," said Marissa Mayer, vice president of search products and user experience at Google. "The ultimate goal of universal search is to break down the silos of information that exist on the web and provide the very best answer every time a user enters a query. While we still have a long way to go, today's announcements are a big step in that direction."

Ultimately Google plans to make search possible across all content sources, comparing and ranking all results in real time. For now, Google will begin by incorporating information from previously separate sources, such as videos, images, news, maps, books and websites.

Officials at Google said the initial results would be subtle at first, with search quality improving over time.