April 3, 2007

fisssh!, a meta search engine, is launched

HGi Media Systems has announced the launch of fisssh!, a new meta search engine. fisssh! aggregates search results for queries across different types of search -- web, news, blogs, videos, podcasts, info, jobs, social and shopping. It then presents the results in a more "editorial" format.

Posted by Greg Jarboe at 7:18 AM | Permalink

October 20, 2006

WebFetchPro UK Metasearch

WebFetch Pro is a multi/meta search engine creted by InfoSpace and it promises to give you the 'best search results available on the Web'. It attempts to do this by combining the results of the leading search engines (such as Google, Yahoo, Ask MSN and specialised engines for other options) and displaying them for you. It offers tabbed searching for the Web, Images, Audio, Video, News, Business Finder and People Finder, with an option for limiting results to the UK or running an international search.

There is a UK bias to the resource, and the last two options mentioned, Business and People Finder use the Thomson and BT directories respectively. As a result this may affect its international use, but equally increase its appeal for the British market.

The interface is clear, and does what it should do. The results can be displayed by relevance or by search engine, though if the latter is chosen the first 'results' are advertisements from Yahoo and Google - it's necessary to scroll down the page some way to get to the organic results. There is an option on the right hand side 'Are you looking for?' to allow users to focus their searches a little more. Results can be previewed on the results page, more pages can be returned from the site or the user can run the search from one of the engines listed which originally found it.

Exactly what you would expect from a multi or meta search engine, although it was disappointing not to see options for searching blogs, or saving RSS feeds, but perhaps that's being greedy.

However, after having played with the search engine for some time I did feel unsatisfied with the experience. This was due in part to annoying little things, such as the fact that although there was a UK/International option this only seemed to work for Web search and was ignored when I tried to use it for image searching etc. The results page itself was messy, with an emphasis on sponsored results, and the use of colour - 4 different background colours for boxes ('Sponsored results', 'Are you looking for?' 'Results page') and colours for the result title, description, URL, search engine, and 'preview' felt quite garish. At the bottom of the page of results was yet another box of sponsored results however. I appreciate companies need to make revenue and this is the ideal way to do it, but equally they need to remember that they make their money from the users clicking on the links, and by this point I was ready to glaze over.

Search functionality was fine, and it worked perfectly well for simplistic queries, as all multi search engines do. With more complex queries WebFetch Pro was able to limit sending the query to just those search engines that could cope with it, which was a nice touch. No help screen though, which is always a bad sign, or if there was one, I didn't see it, which is just as bad.

What also irritates me, and this isn't a dig specifically at WebFetch Pro, but at all the engines of this type is that they all try and make the point that they are in some way better or superior to single search engines, and that users will get better, 'more comprehensive and relevant results fast' as WebFetch Pro puts it. This may well be the case, but only up to a point, and it's a point that's quickly reached. Any good searcher can create a complex search query for a sophisticated search engine and get superb and accurate results. The same search on an engine of this type is bound to fail since the other search engines queried will either not return a result (in which case I may as well just visit the one engine to begin with) or they will return a result that is incorrect. Search engines are not the same - they have different functionality and different syntax, and that's not about to change any time real soon, so in order to get the most out of them, like it or not, I have to visit them and know their little ways in detail.

Having said that, WebFetch Pro is perfectly adequate for the job it sets out to do, though it is not one that I'll be returning to on a regular basis, but it's worth comparing to any other multi/meta search engine you use just in case you like it better.

Posted by Phil Bradley at 10:23 AM | Permalink

October 18, 2006

ResultR - One Search Many Useful Results

ResultR is an interesting new search engine for a number of different reasons. However, the basics first - it's a multi/meta search engine which pulls in results from a variety of other search engines which it displays grouped by engine, rather than de-duplicating and re-ranking results. Tabs allow searches across the web, news, blogs, social information, media, jobs, reference, local and shopping. It's also possible to just limit a search to Google, Yahoo or MSN.

The interesting thing is that it allows users to create their own multi/meta search engine from the 40+ options that they are offered by ResultR. These include engines such as Google, MSN, Yahoo news, Findory, Technorati, Furl, Wikipedia, eBay and so on. The full list is available on their about us page. Users are limited to a total of 15 options, but they can create their engine (or engines, since ResultR allows multiple engines for greater focus) without registering, via cookie on their computer. This of course makes it machine dependant, but ResultR also provides a small cut and paste option for adding to a weblog or site - again without registration.

I wasn't overly keen on the colour scheme, which was rather too red for my liking, and I found the display overly busy, with little search boxes in two column mode interspersed with Google ads. However, it worked well and did the job it was supposed to.

The other interesting thing about the engine is that it was created by "The Web2.0 Kids": Jay and Mark, 16 and 15 years old respectively. ResultR came out of a school project when they were asked to come up with ideas for a search engine that was better than Google. They're planning on expanding the search engine when they're not busy with homework and have already employed a classmate to take care of day to day operations. I have a feeling that we'll be hearing a lot more about these two young gentlemen in the not too distant future.

Posted by Phil Bradley at 9:26 AM | Permalink

October 11, 2006

Url.com - Results Ranked By Users

The ability to rank or rate results delivered by search engines is slowly becoming more commonplace, and I'm noticing that one or two multi/meta search engines are either incorporating this functionality into search or indeed making a specific feature of it, such as the new URL.com.

I wrote about Jatalla on my own weblog at the beginning of September and was less than complimentary about it, since it had indexed very few pages (it has to be the only internet search engine that doesn't return any results for the search 'porn'; I was getting desperate to see some results, indeed any results by that point!)

However, since then we have seen the arrival of URL.com, which is an interesting and memorable domain name, though not necessarily one that I'd associate with a search engine.

Their tag line is 'search with many' and relates less to the search engines used and more to the users. Basically it's a search engine that pulls results from Google, Yahoo and MSN, ranks the results on the screen according to position and allows users to rank or comment on what they see. On the whole it does the job reasonably well, and is worth taking a look at.

Users will get the most out of the search engine if they spend the few seconds it takes to get an account, though this does mean that others will be able to see what your interests are, though this can be easily overcome by choosing a John Doe account name.

Searches ran reasonably quickly, although I noticed once or twice that one or other of the three was slow to respond, leading to a less than accurate set of results, though of course this is a problem inherent to this type of search engine. Rather more worrying however was the fact that I noticed that sometimes a page would be returned as being in fifth position in the Yahoo results for example, when it was actually first. This really is a fundamental flaw and should be addressed quickly.

However, users can click on the result that they want to view and the page is pulled into a URL.com frame, at the bottom of which the searcher can vote for the result ('good result' or 'not so good' and can also comment on the page. It's then possible to either close the frame and go directly to the website page in question, or back to the results page. If other users run the same search they will be able to see that particular individuals have commented on and/or liked/disliked the result. If other people comment on the page these are emailed to other commentators as well, hence the 'search with many' aspect of the site.

This function is easier displayed than described, so try a search for 'search engine watch'. Pages with positive votes will show up more than pages with negative votes, with the idea being the URL.com community will police what appears on their screens.

This is useful and interesting, but of course it's also open to fraudulent use. While this doesn't appear to have happened with the results yet I'm fairly confident that it won't be long before people with grudges against certain sites, or who want to obtain a commercial benefit from boosting their own sites get involved. One could always argue that the power of the many will overcome the comments of the few (that almost sounds like a quote from Mr Spock), but I'm not entirely convinced that will necessarily be the case. Interestingly there's nothing in the site documentation that I could find that addresses this issue, but I can see so many legal issues being raised with this it's painful.

All said and done however, it's a nice optomistic idea that works well - at the moment. If nothing else, it's a quick and easily memorable URL to allow searchers to get access to 3 of the major search engines.

Posted by Phil Bradley at 9:47 AM | Permalink

January 16, 2006

Results from MSN Search Added to Jux2 Tool Metasearch and Results Comparison Tool

About a month ago I posted about the return of metasearch, search engine overlap and results comparison tool Jux2, after it was sold via an eBay auction in late October to a group of Internet entrepreneurs from Minneapolis.

I've just noticed that the new owners are continuing to develop the service. That's good news.

In the past 10 days, web results from MSN Search have been added to Jux2. Now it's easy to quickly and easily compare and analyze results from four web databases: + Ask Jeeves + Google + MSN Search + Yahoo

That's not all that's new.

A Jux2 Firefox (look for the link on the homepage) plugin is available and a just released Jux2 toolbar for IE is online.

Jux2 was the winner of the Best Meta Search Engine in our 5th Annual Search Engine Watch Awards last March.

Posted by Gary Price at 6:08 PM | Permalink

January 9, 2006

Benjamin Franklin Gets His Own Search Engine

News from Clusty this morning that they have launched a new "specialty search database" to mark the 300th Bithday (his tecentenary) on January 17th of one American history's most important, most interesting, and most dynamic figures, Benjamin Franklin. The new site can be accessed and searched at: http://ben.clusty.com.

This type of focused tool is not only interesting and useful for history buffs and researchers but its use in schools as an educational resource is also worth highlighting.

The database includes a "crawl of hand-curated general web resources on Ben Franklin and hand-curation of Teacher resources." As I've said MANY times, the search community needs to do more to help educators and I'm happy to see Clusty stepping up. To build the site, Clusty received support from the National Science Foundation and Pennsylvania Commonwealth Libraries.

The site is also another example of the power of metasearch as Ben.clusty.com pulls material from various sources.

According to Vivisimo/Clusty CEO, Raul Valdes-Perez, the Ben Franklin search engine includes:

+ indexing of his autobiography and other writings by paragraphs + search of his proverbs and timeline of his life + general web/image search limited to Benjamin (or Ben) Franklin content, but not Benjamin Franklin Parkway, the MASH character, etc.

As an information publisher and compiler himself (he published Poor Richard's Almanack) I bet Ben would have loved the Internet, search, and the access it can provide to info. Franklin was also a one of the founders of America's first lending library.

One thing is for sure, being the wise man he was, Franklin would have stressed that critical info skills are a must when reviewing and reading what one finds on the web.

Posted by Gary Price at 1:11 AM | Permalink

January 6, 2006

Dogpile Doing Product Placement on Television

Over on Search Engine Journal, Loren posts that Dogpile (they're celebrating their 10th birthday) is doing some "product placement" on various television programs.

His post includes a link to a Seattle Times article (Dogpile is part of Seattle's InfoSpace) says placements have been seen on the season premiere of CBS' "Ghost Whisperer" and the A&E reality show "Growing Up Gotti."

On A&E's "Growing Up Gotti," for instance, Victoria Gotti uses DogPile.com to search Ellis Island records for her great-grandfather.

Perhaps Dogpile's biggest challenge is not only getting people to know about the service but also understand what it offers versus non-meta engines. A few week's ago I mentioned that two of the top five search terms entered into a Dogpile search box in 2005 were Google and Yahoo. As you know, results from both of these engines are already included in Dogpile result sets.

About a year ago, Danny blogged about mentions of A9 and Ask Jeeves on The OC. If memory serves me correctly, an episode of HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm included a shopping bag with the Ask Jeeves logo on it. The Ask Jeeves balloon has also made appearances in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Posted by Gary Price at 1:28 PM | Permalink

January 5, 2006

MrSapo Tweaks Its Appearance

MrSapo Search World is a very easy to use service that allows the searcher, with quick clicks, to check search results and move back-and-forth between the native interfaces of the numerous general and specialized search tools Sapo provides access to. I recently noticed that the site has a new, cleaner look and slighly modified logo. The many (and growing) search engines it provides access to are now found (be default) on the left side of the page. If you want them back in their original location, no problem. Just click the "menu location" link.

When the site first launched in late 2004, I wasn't a frequent user. However, as 2005 moved along, I found myself the service it more and more. Yes, opinions can and do change and in the case of MrSapo, my thoughts on the service have done a 180. It's a must have web research tool.

One option I would love to have, especially in the general engine category, is to the engines listed in alphabetical order and perhaps a pop-up with info about the engine (syntax, advanced features, etc.). Quick access to this type of info could be a real time saver before selecting an engine. It would also make MrSapo and even more useful teaching tool.

Posted by Gary Price at 2:40 PM | Permalink

January 3, 2006

Happy 10th Birthday To Dogpile

Today, metasearch tool Dogpile begins celebrating its 10th birthday. Congrats! Here's the Dogpile home page from December of 1996 and a USENET announcement from its original developer, Aaron Flin.

A decade is a long time both for technology and for me (I had a lot more hair on my head back then). These days, as many of my posts reflect, I'm a strong believer in meta/federated search concept and what it can potentially offer the searcher. It's still far from perfect but the technology from various providers is getting better all of the time.

To celebrate their 10th birthday, the Dogpile team has put together a page of their "favorite combinations." It's a fun list and they invite users to submit their favorites.

Examples: Spoon + Fork=Spork Turkey + Duck + Chicken=Turducken

Posted by Gary Price at 2:16 PM | Permalink

December 23, 2005

Meta Search Tagged Content With Wink

Want to meta search across content that has been specifically tagged in various ways? New search engine Wink is now live allowing that. It pulls back material categorized over at Digg, Yahoo My Web, del.iou.us, plus you can now tag things you find within Wink itself.

More is explained in the FAQ. After tag-based results come regular web search results, powered by Google. If the tagged material is lacking (or disappointing, as I've been finding them), web search serves as a backup.

By default, tagged results are sorted by "rank," though what exactly this is not explained. You can also sort by date, which is probably the way to go if you're trying to meta search for the latest tagged content on a particular topic.

Overall, I like the idea of meta tag searching because it can be a useful way to find the latest stuff being bookmarked on popular topics across various tagging communities. For Wink to be a success here, I'd like to see:

• A full list of all the tagging communities it hits.  
• Results sorted by date by default.  
• Source community in results. Sometimes the URL gives you a clue where the item has come from, but not always. Take a tip from the long established meta search engines for the web and cite the originating search engines feeding items.  
• Probably the ability to custom select the communities you want to include.  
• Sigh. Perhaps some suggested semi-structured tags for people to use.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 10:11 AM | Permalink

December 9, 2005

Jux2 Returns!

Jux2 the metasearch/comparative search engine that won our Best Meta Search Engine site in the 5th Annual Search Engine Awards, is back online and fully functioning after being sold in October on eBay for over $100,000.

It's original developers sold the site after they ran out of time and finances to keep he site going. Currently, the site is registered to b-swing inc. in Minneapolis.

I've also noticed that Firefox plugin is now available.

Sure, Jux2 can be used as a meta search tool (searching Google, Yahoo, and Ask Jeeves) but I like to use it as a comparison tool to quickly identify what one engine offers versus the others. With the tabs listed at the top of a results page you can easily identify the results that are unique to each engine (10 results at a time).

It would be very useful if Jux2 would also allow the searches to run comparisons looking at let's say the first 50 or 100 results at a time. Also, how about adding MSN Search to the mix?

The Jux2 blog has more including why Jux2 was purchased but no company name is provided.

Welcome back, Jux2.

Postscript: The return of Jux2 also comes at a good time because from what we've learned from reader Dan G. and noticed ourselves, another comparison tool (that we like a lot), Ranking.thumbshots.com has not been functioning properly for more than two weeks. Thumbshots compared 100 results at a time in a graphical format. Chris wrote about it here. SearchDay has also offered a look at a Dogpile search results comparison tool and Danny has written positive comments about DoubleTrust.

Posted by Gary Price at 5:58 PM | Permalink

November 30, 2005

Clusty Launches Japanese Version of Its Metasearch and Dynamic Clustering Service

Word from Pittsburgh today that Vivisimo (the company that powers Clusty, the metasearch/dynamic clustering engine) have just released a version of for Japan. Clusty Japan is available at Clusty.jp

The new engine will deliver custom crawls of Japanese news sites and Japanese Wikipedia as well as meta-searches of Web crawlers and then clusters the results for easier navigation.

I've posted the complete news release about the launch here.

Posted by Gary Price at 12:09 PM | Permalink

October 26, 2005

Award Winning Jux2 Meta Engine Sells on eBay for over $100,000

The eBay auction for the award-winning Jux2 meta search engine (also a great tool for checking search engine overlap) has just ended and the winning bid was for $101,100 (Wow!!!) by a bidder named 3vCap. Congrats to Aaref Hilaly and the rest of the Jux2 team. For more about the now completed Jux2 auction (what was actually for sale, what you didn't get, etc.), see my post from about a week ago.

Posted by Gary Price at 5:47 PM | Permalink

October 17, 2005

What to Buy a Meta Search Engine? Jux2 is For Sale on eBay

Jux2 was the winner of our most recent Search Engine Watch Award for Best Meta Search Engine. It was also a great resource to check for search engine overlap between Google, Yahoo, and Ask Jeeves.

Then, in late May of this year, Jux2 went offline after its developers moved onto other projects and no other established engine "stepped up." Since then, a number of people have emailed me trying to make contact with it's founder and lead developer, Aaref Hilaly, about bringing the service back online. Well, it looks like any talks that took place were just chatter.

Last night, Hilaly emailed me about a new auction on the eBay site. What's the item up for bids? None other than Jux2? If you're interested, here's the listing with complete details about what you get and don't get if you have the winning bid. As I post this entry, the current high bid is $511. This is a no reserve auction (what it goes for, it goes for). Btw, it appears that while the auction is active (about another nine days) Jux2 is back online.

Posted by Gary Price at 11:23 PM | Permalink

October 11, 2005

Chris Pirillo's Gada.be: Metasearch Plus Ease of Use For Mobile Searchers

When Scoble mentions something that might be of special interest to the mobile searcher, I'm of course going to give it a look. Yesterday, he wrote of a new metasearch service from Chris Pirillo called http://gada.be. By the way, Gada.be also works on regular web browsers too!

Basically, enter your search terms as part of the url BEFORE the domain gada.be and run your search. For example, interested in searching for the term "airlines"? Simply enter http://airlines.gada.be (in other words, the query terms become the subdomain) and you'll be shown top results (no descriptions, however) from Yahoo, MSN, Flickr, Wikipedia, FindArticles, Google News, and others.

At this point, results pages show no advertising. Cool! I wonder if this will continue? It will sure make the pages load a bit more rapidly. Would mobile users be willing to pay for no advertising but faster load times?

Here's another search, this time for [FBI AND CIA AND Washington AND Offices]: http://FBI-CIA-Washington-offices.gada.be.

By the way, if you begin your search on the gada.be homepage you can also run your search in more specialized database categories like multimedia, photos, news, and shopping.

Have you noticed that my searches use both dots and dashes? What about search syntax? Well, there is just a bit. Pirillo writes:

• A dot between two keywords implies a quoted statement (chris.pirillo.gada.be)  
• A dash implies the AND operator (robert.scoble-blogger-microsoft.gada.be)

Chris: How about a list of those category slugs and a way to limit to only words in the title? Also, a list of all of the search services available throughout the service?

Well, I'm off to use gada.be with my mobile browser. Let's take a look. Sometimes the default search offers too many choices. Here are some early suggestions:

• The results are fine but what about a tool to make the pages I click on from the results links more "mobile" friendly. I'm thinking of a service like Skweezer or access to a proxy that reformats pages for mobile devices.  
• Also, titles often tell little, what about a link to see the full snippet right from the actual results page?  
• Automatic source selection with an option to see more. Especially in a mobile situation I sometimes want only a few sources. Do I really need results from Technorati, Feedster and IceRocket and the same time? Yes, maybe I do. But what about giving me one or two choices and then a offering link to see others.  
• Perhaps I missed them (likely the case) but services like Answers.com and IMDB would also be useful.  
• Gada.be would be another great use of dynamic clustering. Allow users to cluster by topic, source, url, etc. Kind of a Clusty for the mobile searcher.  
• Chris, you should talk to Dave Pell at Rollyo. How about a Rollyo/gada.be hook-up that would allow a user to search only the domains they want.  
• If you go for some personalization in the future, the addition of Greg Linden's Findory would make lots of sense.

Well, I'll keep playing and report back soon. First impressions, not bad in concept at all. Kudos.

Posted by Gary Price at 8:21 AM | Permalink

September 30, 2005

Clusty Celebrates Its First Birthday

It was a year ago today when Chris and I published our introduction to Vivisimo's new metasearch/dynamic clustering product for the consumer market named Clusty, yes, Clusty. Since then, I've posted about Clusty offering a government search, job search (with Indeed.com), and its blog search capabilities. Also since its 2004 debut, Clusty began providing access to cached copies of pages via the MSN Cache and The Wayback Machine. Finally, Clusty's clustering capabilities received an honorable mention in the Best Search Feature category during our 2005 Search Engine Watch Search Awards. This press release from Clusty looks back at some of the reactions the name, not the technology, received a year ago today. A Happy B-Day to everyone at the Clusty HQ in Pittsburgh!

Posted by Gary Price at 9:41 PM | Permalink

September 22, 2005

Meta Searching for Relevancy, Using Your Own Rules

Myriad Search is a new tool from Aaron Wall's Free Open Source SEO Tools site that allows you to play around with search results from Ask Jeeves, Google, MSN Search and Yahoo. It's a meta search tool that displays information about the relative ranking of sites in each underlying engine, and calculates an "authority score" based on those rankings—a potentially useful service for doing competitive SEO work.

Myriad Search also allows you to give more prominence to your favorite search engine, and dial down the importance of engines you don't like. It's an intriguing idea, and I've got more about the service in today's SearchDay article, Myriad Search: Meta Search Your Way.

Posted by Chris Sherman at 9:29 AM | Permalink

August 18, 2005

Copernic Still Wants Their Mamma.com

Clickz is reporting that the deal that has Mamma.com acquiring desktop/enterprise search provider, Copernic.com, is back on. Mamma.com's plans to acquire Copernic were first announced in November 2003. Then, in February of this year, the deal was called off when Copernic pulled out of the deal due to an SEC probe of Mamma.com.

From Today's Clickz article: "Based on further due diligence, we are now confident that Mamma.com is a strong and very well managed company. We are positive about closing this transaction which will create a new organization capable of competing with the best of breed in the search engine sector of the Internet," Martin Bouchard, executive chairman of Copernic Technologies, said in a statement.

Posted by Gary Price at 1:11 PM | Permalink

June 21, 2005

Answers Partners With IceRocket

The increasingly popular vertical engine Answers.com has just announced a partnership with IceRocket. According to the news release, IceRocket will send visitors to Answers.com for reference material and Answers.com send "blog search" traffic to IceRocket. Answers.com will earn a slice of any revenues generated by referral traffic.

I'm assuming this means Answers.com will soon provide a "blog" search tab on their home page that will be powered with results from IceRocket. This is would be similar to what Answers.com is now doing with Shopping.com.

Answers.com integrates Google Web Search and AdSense on their site. About six months ago, Answers.com began providing dictionary definitions and related info to Google.

Posted by Gary Price at 12:23 PM | Permalink

June 15, 2005

Replacement For Jux2: DoubleTrust

We loved Jux2, the meta search engine that let you compare search results from major search engines. It sadly closed last month, as we reported earlier. However, DoubleTrust is a new service that offer similar features.

DoubleTrust lets you enter a query, then see the "intersection" of the top 40 results from Google and Yahoo, the pages that are listed in both places. You also see the "orphans," sites unique to only Yahoo or Google.

The table format used to display results is pretty cool. You don't get descriptions (unless you hover over displayed URLs), but you do get to see the size for each page listed (along with a size bar), the top level domain it belongs to (.com, .org, etc), and the site's TrustRank, a calculation of how trusted DoubleTrust thinks the site is based on the position it ranks for at Google and Yahoo. Google and Yahoo ranks are also shown, as well.

When you search, you can also skew TrustRank to favor either Google or Yahoo results, using the drop-down box on the home page. By default, you "trust them equally." But you can do things like "really really trust Google" or mark Yahoo as "the best."

Like the service? If you're running Firefox, there's a plug-in to add it to your search bar. You can also keep up with news via the DoubleTrust Experimental Search blog.

GrabAll, spotted via Phil Bradley, isn't as innovative as DoubleTrust but still worth a look. Do a search, and you'll be shown results from two search engines side-by-side. Other tools have offered this before, so it's a new one to add to that list. By default, you get Google and Yahoo. You can change the priorities to whatever you want here.

Don't forget. The new Dogpile tool gives you comparisons as well. You can use the Dogpile Missing Pieces service it offers and see results by three major search engines divided up in dartboard-style fashion. Dogpile itself of course blends results and has new integrated tools to let you compare. Chris Sherman provided more details in his write-up from last May, Dogpile Enhances Meta Search, Offers Comparison Tools.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 8:54 AM | Permalink

June 8, 2005

New Korean Search Service Now Available

The Korea Herald reports on a new search service from Empas (it sounds like a metasearch tool) that launched last week in Korea.

Empas Corp., the operator of search engine Empas, launched a new search tool early last week that allows users to access content from rival search engines such as Naver, Daum, and Yahoo! Korea. "Our new search tool is the industry's first product to be developed using algorithms for searching content from Weblogs and other user-created content. The search results provide the users links to the Web sites where the information can be found, benefiting both Internet users and Web companies," said Empas chief executive Park Seok-bong...Korean Internet companies, including NHN [the provider of leading engine Naver], reacted nervously to the move, accusing Empas of being a freeloader. NHN said it will block Empas from accessing its database and even hinted at filling a lawsuit."

Google is also trying to increase market share in Korea. Recently, Googler's hit the road in Korea visiting universities aboard the Google Bus.

Posted by Gary Price at 9:22 AM | Permalink

June 6, 2005

Easy Multi-searching with Firefox

Firefox provides a lot of built-in search tools, but using them requires a two-step process of typing search terms and then selecting a specific engine to use. There is a built-in contextual search that lets you highlight words on a page and right click to search, but you're limited to Google results using this feature.

Enter ConQuery, a nifty Firefox plugin that gives you access to all of your installed search plugins via the right-click context menu. This makes it easy to launch a search from any page on the web with any of your favorite engines with just a few quick gestures. See today's SearchDay article, Contextual Search with Firefox for a closer look at this powerful search tool.

Posted by Chris Sherman at 9:15 AM | Permalink

May 31, 2005

Jux2 Goes Offline

Some sad news to report. Jux2, the winner of the Search Engine Watch 2004 best meta search engine award, is no longer available.

Over the weekend, Aaref A. Hilaly, one of the developers of Jux2 told me that the service was originally designed to research search engine overlap (it sure was useful) and although they were thrilled and honored that many people also used it as a meta engine, the Jux2 team did not have the time, funding, and resources to keep the site running. Hilaly added that Jux2 did have conversations with other meta engines to see if they would be interested in taking over the service but no one "stepped up."

Here are two other tools you might want to check out that can help determine search engine overlap:

+ Dogpile's "Missing Pieces" More about this new search engine overlap tool in this SearchDay article.

+ Ranking.thumbshots.com Visualize search engine overlap with this tool. Chris wrote about this service in the 2004 article: Exploring Search Engine Overlap.

Posted by Gary Price at 11:33 AM | Permalink

May 17, 2005

Clusty Now Offering Links to Cached Copies of Pages

I just noticed that Clusty, the meta search engine that provides dynamic clustering of results, is now offering cached copies of every url found when using the Clusty Web+ database.

You'll find the link to access a cached copy of a page directly next to the url in the search result snippet. Cached pages come from either MSN Search, Gigablast, or The Wayback Machine.

More about Clusty in this SearchDay article.

Posted by Gary Price at 6:54 PM | Permalink

May 12, 2005

Dogpile Gets New Look, Overlap Comparison Tool & Study

Dogpile has released a significant upgrade to its meta search engine, allowing easy comparison of search results across the major search engines. Dogpile has also introduced a new comparison tool that visually illustrates search engine overlap (or lack thereof) in the top results for Ask Jeeves, Google and Yahoo.

In today's SearchDay article, Dogpile Enhances Meta Search, Offers Comparison Tools, I take an in-depth look at these new services, and also comment on some new research that quantifies search engine overlap and why it's important for both searchers and search marketers alike.

Posted by Chris Sherman at 1:39 PM | Permalink

April 18, 2005

MSN Results Coming to InfoSpace Sites

InfoSpace is announcing that they've just inked a two-year deal with Microsoft to add MSN web search results to both their branded metasearch sites (Dogpile, Metacrawler) and their private label search offerings. I just ran a few searches with both engines and it looks like MSN results haven't been added to the mix yet. InfoSpace also has deals in place with Google, Yahoo, and Ask Jeeves.

We've also learned that a new version of Dogpile will be going live at the beginning of May.

Posted by Gary Price at 12:25 PM | Permalink

April 15, 2005

Copernic Will Not Be Sold to Mamma.com

Nothing like a government probe to spoil your plans.

The deal that had Mamma.com acquiring Copernic is no more. According to this news release, Copernic pulled out of the deal due to the now "formal" SEC investigation of Mamma.com that we blogged about the other day. Thanks to Eric Baillargeon for the news tip.

Posted by Gary Price at 6:08 PM | Permalink

April 12, 2005

Mamma.com Gets Formally Probed By SEC

Several sources, including this Dow Jones story, are reporting that the SEC's (Security and Exchange) Montreal-based search engine, Mamma.com, has been "converted" into a formal investigation.

The metasearch and online direct marketing service company said the SEC may consider matters related to trading in the company's securities.The SEC is also investigating whether an individual and persons acting jointly or with him may have had a significant influence on the company in the past as a result of undisclosed shareholdings.

The SEC began an informal investigation of Mamma.com about a year ago when the the government agency requested documents from the company.

Posted by Gary Price at 1:02 PM | Permalink

April 5, 2005

Jux2 Results Pages Receive Makeover

Results pages on Jux2, the 2005 Search Engine Watch Award winner for best meta search engine have just received a makeover. You can see for yourself here.

I use Jux2 as a meta engine but also as an easy way to check search engine overlap between Google, Yahoo, and Ask Jeeves. Chris explains search engine overlap in this 2004 article about another cool tool called Ranking.Thumbshots.com. More info about search engine overlap on this page.

Tabs on results pages now allow you to move easily between four types of results:

+ Best Results (Results merged into a single list from all three engines) + What "Google is Missing" (Results in Ask Jeeves and Yahoo but not Google) + Results that Only Google Found + Direct link to Google results page

Also, on the right side of the page you'll see a Venn diagram that illustrates each type of search. Jux2 used to offer some summary numbers here about the amount of overlap found in each query. I hope they bring them back.

We've also learned that Jux2 will soon add MSN Search to their service. Good news!

Posted by Gary Price at 2:18 PM | Permalink

March 24, 2005

Ixquick Adds Phone Search, Other Features

Long-standing meta search engine Ixquick has relaunched, with a new ability to look up phone numbers for people or businesses in multiple countries, shopping search results powered by various providers (such as PriceGrabber in the US) and a new "results honing" feature that lets you delete or move up pages listed in web results. Hate something? Use the X icon to move it out of the list and drop out other pages deemed similar to it. Like something? Use the checkmark icon to get similar results. A rundown of what else is new can be found in this press release (PDF format).

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 6:20 AM | Permalink

February 21, 2005

Pandia Gives Google, Others Top Search Honors

Previously, Gary mentioned Search Engine Watch was honored with two awards in the Pandia Search Engine Awards 2004. Here's a rundown on all the winners in each category:

• Best All Around Search Engine: Google
• Best Metasearch: ixquick
• Best Site On Searching: Search Engine Watch
• Best Site On Search Engine Marketing: Search Engine Watch
• Best Search Engine Discussion Forum: Webmaster World
• Best Publication On Searching: Web Search Garage, by Tara Calishain
• Best Publication On Search Engine Marketing: Unfair Advantage Book On Winning The Search Engine Wars, by Planet Ocean
• Best Weblog On Searching: ResourceShelf
• Best Weblog On Search Engine Marketing: Search Engine Journal
• Best Desktop Search Tool: Copernic

The Pandia article on its awards also recaps a number of runners-up and alternative resources, so it's worth a read-through to discover many other resources and tools not mentioned above.

What about our own Search Engine Watch Awards, that I mentioned would be happening earlier this year. Normally we do them in January, but it's been busy, and we're behind. The plan now is to open up the process in March, so that our readers can discuss what they liked best in 2004. More details to come on this later.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 12:02 PM | Permalink

February 4, 2005

GoFish Multimedia Shopping Search: IceRocket Deal & Closer Look

Multimedia shopping search engine GoFish gained its first significant partnership this week, now providing the multimedia results for meta search engine IceRocket (this PDF press release has more details). Significant is a relative term, of course -- while IceRocket counts billionaire Mark Cuban as an investor, it has practically no usage or brand reach compared to one of the major search engines such as Google, Yahoo or even Ask Jeeves.

How about some more about GoFish? We've covered it briefly here, GoFish For Meta Music Searching, but I took a closer look for this post. On the site, you'll find Audio, Video, Mobile and Games tabs. Going in turn:

Audio: Dominated mostly by bringing back matches for online music stores or audio book information. Who are the providers? GoFish didn't provide a list as requested. Looking at the site, Napster, MusicMatch, iTunes and Buy.com are just some of the music partners I've spotted. There may be many more -- and a list explaining exactly what GoFish taps into would be very useful. Audio book listings seem to come from Audible.

In short, this seems like a nice way to meta search for music you may want to buy. For example, here's a range of options for purchasing Aimee Mann's I'm With Stupid album. But when it comes to buying individual songs, choice might get more restricted, as this example for Long Shot from that same album shows.

Video: Searches here seem to be dominated by places where you can buy DVDs online, so it feels like more of a DVD shopping search engine. But some multimedia videos that can be purchased are also shown.

The key thing is, unlike a Yahoo Video or AOL's Singingfish, the content here is not originally crawled nor for free. This is more a meta search for places where you can buy video content. What would be cool is if it did meta search of some of the many free video search sites that are out there. Gary has a roundup of these here: A Look At Other Video Search Tools.

Mobile: Ringtones, wallpaper, games for your mobile or cell phone -- searching here brings back matching results. So if I want the Thunderbirds theme for my phone? Here are matching results. And as with audio and video, the results are from places where I can purchase the content, not get it for free.

Games: Like the other categories, do a search here and you'll get back matching computer game products from various vendors for sale.

In the end, calling GoFish a multimedia meta search site would be a misnomer. This is a shopping site for multimedia search -- and very promising, if you're looking to purchase that type of content. I'd like to see a list of all the providers it taps into, or at least a sampling of major partners.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 7:10 AM | Permalink

January 28, 2005

Cool Tools: Jux2 and NeedleSearch in the News

I'm happy to see that that two cool tools that we've mentioned several times on the blog are discussed in a new Forbes article: Searching For Searches.

First, you'll read about Jux2. This resource allows you to quickly compare search engine overlap between Google, Yahoo, and MSN. For those of you who do web search training, Jux2 is a wonderful resource to show students that results vary (often dramatically) between engines. Ranking.Thumbshots.com is a similar service that Chris wrote about in a SearchDay article.

The Forbes article goes on to mention a couple of plugins for Firefox including one that I've been using for over a year called NeedleSearch. This plugin allows you easily (two clicks) capture the search functionality from most search engines and map it to a toolbar. You can learn more about NeedleSearch in an overview article I wrote for SearchDay.

Posted by Gary Price at 3:36 PM | Permalink

January 26, 2005

Search Company Will Offer Secure Instant Messenging Service

News from the IDG News Service that a search company (no, not the one that we've heard rumors about (-:) will make a secured IM (instant message) service available next month.

According to IDG News, metasearch engine Blowsearch plans to launch a fee-based IM service in February called BlowSearch Secured Messenger. BSM's quarterly fee will be based on the amount of encryption desired.

$9.95/quarter, 4096-bit encryption $7.95/quarter, 256-bit encryption $2.95/quaeter, 56-bit encryption 56-bit encryption will also be available for free, ad-supported service. All fee-based versions will include support.

Users will also be able to access AIM (AOL), YIM (Yahoo), ICQ, and MSN Messenger with the Blowsearch client but for encrypted conversations to take place, both parties will need to be BlowSearch Secured Messenger users.

The company initially will target individual users who want to protect the privacy of their IM communications, and, after doing some further development to the product, the company will also pitch BlowSearch Secured Messenger to government agencies and corporations, said Richard Kahn, the company's chief operating officer. "We provide enterprise-level IM security" over the public IM networks, Kahn said.

More in the article: BlowSearch to launch IM service featuring encryption

Posted by Gary Price at 10:45 AM | Permalink

January 18, 2005

Dogpile Adds New Features

I spotted this news release today announcing that Dogpile has added a few new features that build on the IntelliFind technology that launched last November (see: Dogpile Enhances Search Results). What's new?

+ The integration of yellow pages entries (beta release) on web search results pages if the yp info is relevant to a query.

+ Web Site Match WSM matches every query against a database of the most popular Web sites and "suggesting" exact matches at the top of serp.

Posted by Gary Price at 5:59 PM | Permalink

January 15, 2005

A Special Logo from Clusty

A quick note for those of you who like "special" search engine logos.

Clusty, from Pittsburgh's Vivisimo, has a special logo on their homepage today to help cheer the Pittsburgh Steelers onto a playoff victory. If you miss it, a screen capture is here. Clusty debuted at the end of September. Here's an overview overview article from Search Day.

Posted by Gary Price at 11:28 AM | Permalink

November 10, 2004

Dogpile Enhances Search Results

Dogpile rolled out new "IntelliFind" technology today that focuses on gaining a deeper understanding of user intent at query time and limiting searches to sources that will likely provide the best results for each query. The company also announced partnerships with vertical content providers Topix.net for news, Singingfish for streaming media, as well as deals to include Yahoo!Images and Yahoo! News links in search results.

The company says that the new approach will make searches more responsive, particularly with queries related to current events and popular culture.

In addition to meta search results provided by partners Google, Yahoo, Ask Jeeves and a number of paid placement networks, Dogpile now displays links to news, video and other specialized content when relevant, similar to what Ask Jeeves has been doing with its Smart Search results since early 2003.

Posted by Chris Sherman at 12:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

October 18, 2004

New Metasearch Engine: Info.com

The Chicago Sun-Times reports that a new metasearch engine from Info.com (great domain name) is launching today.

Info.com employs 10, mostly Web designers and engineers. [Steven] Scarr, 41 [Info.com CEO], and one other employee are based in Chicago, with two more expected to be added here soon. Scarr said Info.com so far has received $8 million in backing, primarily from angel investors.

I haven't had much time to check out the site but here's what I was able to learn.

+ Web engine engine pulls results from 14 web databases including Google, Teoma, AltaVista, Fast, Overture, Inktomi, Ask Jeeves and Yahoo. Note: AV, Fast, Inktomi, Overture and Yahoo share the same underlying database but use different relevancy algos. Ask Jeeves and Teoma also share the same database. Unlike some other meta engines the database where an item was found is not provided.

+ News Search powered by Topix.net + Shopping database powered by Shopping.com + White and Yellow Page lookups.

Scarr said Info.com expects soon to offer access to proprietary health and flight information. "Our model is to have the best search engines in any given sector. We want to be an umbrella brand for an intuitive, fast and simple gateway."

Posted by Gary Price at 9:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

October 13, 2004

Jux2 Adds New Features

Jux2, the web tool that allows you to quickly identify search engine overlap, has added a couple of new features.

+ You're now able to compare results from three databases (Google, Yahoo, Ask Jeeves) with a single click.

+ The new "browser button" allows you to run a search with Jux2. No big deal. However, it also offers you the option to click from a serp and identify what you're not seeing in the other databases. For example, when you're on a Google results page you can the quickly see the results that aren't duplicated at Yahoo. Very cool!

+ They've also improved the quality of results (fewer dupes) via the "What am I missing?" button. It allows you to quickly identify unique results in two or three databases.

Jux2 compares ten results at a time. It would be great if they added an option to quickly determine if a result appears anywhere in the first 100.

Look from a Q&A interview with Jux2's Aaref Hilaly soon.

Ranking.thumbshots.com offers a similar service that allows you to "visualize" overlap in the first 100 results of a query. Here's a overview from SearchDay.

Posted by Gary Price at 11:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

October 7, 2004

IceRocket Launches Blog Search

IceRocket, the new search engine that investor Mark Cuban calls his "toy" now offers weblog search. Loren over at Search Engine Journal has the details along with an interview with IceRocket CEO, Blake Rhodes.

Posted by Gary Price at 8:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

October 1, 2004

Feedster's Rafer Not Happy With Clusty

Feedster's Scott Rafer isn't happy that the new Clusty search engine is hitting his site without a licensing agreement, in comments he's left at Welsh View.

For its part, Vivisimo CEO Raul Valdes-Perez told SEW, "We did speak with Feedster in February 2004 and were told that meta-search is OK. We are using their RSS feed, clearly giving attribution, and linking back to Feedster. We haven't been contacted by anybody there, but are happy to remove them upon request."

The issue over the legality of meta search isn't new. eBay succeeded in a "trespass case" against Bidder's Edge. More about that and related articles here and here.

UPDATE: Scott Rafer just sent an email letting us know that he's updated his comments on Welsh View after having a phone conversation with Vivisimo's Valdes-Perez. It sounds like everything will be worked out between the two companies.

Posted by Gary Price at 12:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

September 30, 2004

Vivisimo Launches New Meta Search Engine

Vivisimo, known for its clustering technology that automatically categorizes web search results on the fly, has launched Clusty, a new meta search engine with some novel and exciting features that are well worth a look. In addition to searching a number of web search engines, you can also use Clusty to search news, blogs, yellow pages listings, "gossip" sources and much more.

Today's SearchDay article, Reducing Information Overkill, covers Clusty's cool new features in depth.

Why the awkward name? Apart from being a play on the company's clustering technology, the domain name and its variations (.com, .net, etc) were available for a mere $9, according to Vivisimo CEO Raul Valdes-Perez. This is clearly a company not in any danger of flaming out due to extravagant excesses we saw during the heyday of the Dotcom craze.

Posted by Chris Sherman at 9:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

September 29, 2004

iZito & Ujiko: Meta Search With Personality

iZito is a new meta search engine with a clever feature. Click on any listing you are interested in using the P icon next to the listing title. That "parks" the listing into your to do list. Click on the P tab, and you can see all the pages you've culled.

It's an easy, handy way to make a custom result set. Also interesting is the ability to show listings in up to three columns across the screen, letting you see more results at once. Seen a site before?

Want an easy rundown? If you've got Flash and broadband, watch the demo. It only takes about a minute. Don't have Flash? Then don't bother with iZito, because it's required.

The iZito to do list is almost as good as my current favorite feature, the trash/heart icons at Ujiko. Do a search on that meta search engine, and you can easily eliminate any listing you hate by clicking on the trash can icon. Very slick -- it immediately is removed from the screen.

Love a listing? Give it a few hearts. Similar to Eurekster, the next time you search, it will be at the top of the list. You can also edit the description of any listing and organize results into folders.

These features sound similar to "personal search" features out recently from Ask Jeeves and a9, though Ujiko outdates them by several months. Unlike those services, I like how the Ujiko "memory" of a page you've annotated shows up right within the regular search results.

In other words, say you did a search, found a page you loved and gave it a couple of hearts plus a custom description. If that page comes up again in another search, you'll see your custom annotations shown.

On the flipside, Ujiko requires Flash. Ask Jeeves and a9 do not. So be sure to try out the features there, if you lack/dislike Flash. Personally, I've been playing much more with a9 recently, liking the fact that I can get Google results and also have it automatically keep track of things I've selected from the results.

I've done a short write-up of Ujiko in the past here. Gary's done a longer one here: Kartoo Launches a New Search Product: UJIKO. As for Ask Jeeves, my thoughts on the new product were blogged in Ask Jeeves Personal Search Goes Live. Also be sure to also read Gary's write-up: Ask Jeeves Serves It Your Way. For more on a9, see Gary's coverage: Amazon's a9 Launches.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 5:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

September 15, 2004

Dogpiles You Want To Step In

I couldn't resist adding on to what Gary blogged about Dogpile changing its name in the UK.

The article he mentions references that Dogpile has a different image abroad than in the US. Indeed. I live in the UK, and when I mention the service to those I train in searching, strange faces appear. That's because dog piles are those things left behind by dogs that have done their business. You know -- the stuff you don't want to step in.

The faces immediately change when I explain that it's actually a game in the US where kids all jump on each other. For a meta search engine, it's a great name -- as long as you understand the context.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 2:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A New Name for Dogpile in the UK and Europe

Dogpile fetches new name Source: PC Pro

The UK and European versions have been renamed WebFetch. Woof woof!

Posted by Gary Price at 1:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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