Blinkx (www.blinkx.com), one of the first search engines to incorporate desktop search, announced on April 15 that it has updated its search engine, integrating search results from the Web, desktop, TV and the news in a single, combined list. The service also features a new look, updated security, a built-in document preview feature that supports more than 200 file formats. Blinkx 3.0 also indexes local Lotus Notes content and email.
The search engine giant Google Inc. (www.google.com) announced on April 13 the launch of their test service for finding local places of interests like restaurants and stores through Web-enabled mobile phones and other devices. It is currently only available to customers in United States and Canada. Users can access the service from Google’s homepage or from a custom page on the Google’s Server (http://mobile.google.com/local/).
Rocketinfo Inc. (www.rocketinfo.com), a leading international real-time business news search engine, announced on April 12 the release of the world's first desktop news search application, the Rocket Desktop 1.1. The free Rocket Desktop, available for BETA download from www.rocketnews.com, is a lightweight application that provides a convenient way to search for the latest news from the thousands of sources in the Rocketinfo news database.
Userplane (www.userplane.com), a provider of enterprise social software for online communities, announced on April 11 the launch of Userplane Sitesearch, a powerful search engine easily integrated into any community-based site. Userplane Sitesearch is a next-generation hosted search technology, which can dramatically increase the quantity and quality of results in nearly every category of search. With features like "similar-search" and "double-match," Sitesearch provides users with immediate results and eliminates the zero-result set. Sitesearch also supports "advanced-keyword" search. This feature lets users search by both metadata and keyword simultaneously. In addition, Sitesearch is easily and seamlessly integrated into existing member databases through fast and simple XML and any Web scripting language: PHP, .NET, ASP, ColdFusion, XML, JSP, etc., and is compatible with all legacy databases, including Oracle, DB2, MySQL, Sybase, Informix and more.
The search engine giant Yahoo Inc. (www.yahoo.com) announced on April 8 that it will supply hardware and other resources to the Wikipedia Foundation (www.wikipedia.org) to support that nonprofit organization's free Wikipedia online encyclopedia. Yahoo Search also will feature abstracts of Wikipedia content at the top of relevant search results in the form of shortcuts, which are either factual information or links to factual information. Yahoo Search plans to begin serving up shortcuts with Wikipedia content in the coming weeks on its US site and on other select country sites.
The search technology provider Lycos (www.lycos.com) announced on April 6 that it is partnering with the New York-based media and ad technology firm AlmondNet (www.almondnet.com) to distribute its paid search ads. AlmondNet will distribute Lycos' InSite AdBuyer paid search ads throughout its Post-Search network. The network delivers ads to consumers on websites based on their recent search queries. AlmondNet's technology uses anonymous cookies that do not gather personally identifiable information and offers consumers an opt-out link within ads delivered via Post-Search.
The search engine giant Google Inc. (www.google.com) announced on April 4 that it will expand the Google Video search service to incorporate people’s personal movies. At the annual cable industry convention in San Francisco on April 4, Google co-founder Larry Page said that Google is going to start taking video submissions from people.
The search engine giant Google Inc. (www.google.com) announced on April 5 a new feature that will enable its users to zoom in on homes and businesses using satellite images. The satellite technology, which Google is offering at http://maps.google.com, is part of the package that Google acquired when it bought the digital map maker Keyhole Corp. (www.keyhole.com) six months ago.
SiteLab International, Inc. (www.sitelab.com), a full service interactive agency and a founding board member of the Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization (www.sempo.org), announced on April 5 that Dana Todd of SiteLab has been elected as President of SEMPO. Todd, one of the original founders of the organization, was one of four officers elected by the Board of Directors. She had previously served as Vice President of the outgoing Board.
The search engine giant Yahoo Inc. (www.yahoo.com) announced on April 4 the beta of its Yahoo! FareChase hotel product (http://farechase.yahoo.com), which is an important extension of the Yahoo! FareChase travel search offering announced in August 2004. The new Yahoo! FareChase hotel product offers a variety of powerful search, sorting, and refining capabilities, which are presented to users through an easy-to-use interface. The customized, dynamic sorting instantly redisplays results by price or distance from specified location and automatically lists hotel amenities, address and distance in miles. The hotel beta also provides features and tools that help make choosing a hotel easier, such as hotel photos, user ratings and reviews, interactive maps that display hotels and attractions, and other useful travel content.
