The new AOL beta webmail update that was launched earlier this week has been heavily criticised by some industry watchers, with search and advertising on the list of issues highlighted.

Blogs have attacked the new email tester from the company, which on the surface appears a good attempt to join the world of high-profile web 2.0 players such as Gmail and Yahoo! Mail.

Michael Arrington, a business startups professional and previously advisor to firms such as Verisign, has highlighted on the TechCruch blog the mail beta's poor search function, which he terms "so-so" and part of a product he suggests is nothing "special".

The new webmail has also been challenged elsewhere regarding advertising, with bloggers claiming that the upfront and "in-your-face" advertising that forms part of the webmail is too intrusive and not as user-friendly as the likes of Gmail.

This is quite different from the impression offered by AOL employee Frank Gruber, who refers to the product as "pretty slick".

Advertising is nothing new to AOL mail; in February it was revealed that the company has been "tacking on" adverts to their users' email, advertising AOL itself.