The Web: Niche search tools proliferating

In fact, it may yield millions of possible links, most of which have nothing to do with the listing for the air-time of the show. You might need to use one of the more specialized search engines that have emerged. "From online video to Web-based shopping, real estate, gasoline, etcetera, there are specialized search sites and engines for a myriad of products, services and content," a San Francisco-based spokesman for Dealio.com, an online shopping comparison sight, told the Web. "Vertical search is evolving to meet consumers' needs."

In years past, there were, to be sure, specialized search engines. But they were, for the most part, for industrial or commercial applications -- sites that scientists could use to buy flasks and other specialty items or engineers could use to buy nuts and bolts. But now, there are search engines for consumers, not trade specialists, on an array of broad, but general topics, including the following:

-- Blinkx.com, a search site for TV and other video clips;

-- Dealio.com, a search site for pricing on 30 million consumer products;

-- Gasbuddy.com, which helps you find low cost gas in your city or suburb;

-- LinkedIn.com, a professional networking search and content management site for job seekers;

-- SideStep.com, a search service for travel services;

-- StubHub.com, an engine that helps you buy tickets to concerts and sporting events;

-- Zillow.com, a search site for real estate listings;

-- TrustWatch.com, a search site for consumers to identify spam and other fraudulent e-mails online.

Each site hones its links to make searching as easy as, well, the early days of the Internet. "With the explosion of video content online, users need new ways to find all of the rich media content available on the Web," said a San Francisco-based spokeswoman for Blinkx.com founder Suranga Chandratillake. "They currently have over four million hours of audio and video content from the Web."

Consumers can use the site to find clips online from MTV, the History Channel and other producers.

Since it is getting harder for some to be noticed on the general Internet, marketers have taken up the tactic of "optimizing" their content so it does indeed get picked up by the Googles and Yahoos of the world, as well as the specialty sites. Companies are writing marketing materials with "key words" in mind to be picked up by search engines online, said Sharon Dotson, founder of Bayou City, a firm in the marketing business based in Houston, told The Web. This kind of key word search crafting consistently lands clients on the front page of searches on Google.com.

Specialist search engines, meantime, are getting more savvy, collaborating with the major players in the industry, and essentially offering their services as sub-sites on the leading search engines. Google.com has a new "co-op program" to work with these kinds of companies, said Erica Sniad, an in-house spokeswoman for Epocrates.com. These kinds of deals help users get "more relevant results, based on content providers in their Google directory," she said. For example, Epocrates, a provider of clinical reference information, has developed a "front porch" for the Web which enables doctors to search for content in their specific databases via Google.com. Examples of searches could be as specific as "Paxil dosing," or other, drug-related questions, Sniad told The Web.

Copyright 2006 by United Press International

Microsoft releases beta version of Internet Explorer 8
Microsoft last week released a broadly available test version of its latest Web browser, Internet Explorer 8, including a tool to cover one's tracks across the Web.
Microsoft's newest browser may block ads
(AP) -- The next version of Microsoft Corp.'s Web browser makes it easier for people to surf the Internet without leaving a trace. Companies that sell advertisements online - including Microsoft - can electronically gather tidbits about Web surfers' habits, and then use that information to help decide what kinds of ads to show. However, in the newest "beta" test version of Microsoft's forthcoming Internet Explorer 8, which was made available Wednesday, a mode called InPrivateBrowsing lets users surf without having a list of sites they visit get stored on their computers.
Users of Yahoo Answers seek advice, opinion, expertise
One of the first large-scale analyses of how people share knowledge on Yahoo Answers has found that participants use the site to exchange advice and opinions, in addition to technical expertise.
Scientists Construct Model of the World Wide Web
Although the Internet contains well over 100 million Web sites, two electrical engineers think they know what the traffic patterns of the entire Web look like.
For the paper trail of life on Mars or other planets, find cellulose
Looking for evidence of life on Mars or other planets? Finding cellulose microfibers would be the next best thing to a close encounter, according to new research from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
New report shows college students making the grade online, in class
The lives of today’s college students have always included computers and the Internet. That technology now has moved from the ether into instruction.
UI develops free, easy-to-use web tool kit for archivists
Archivists at the University of Illinois Library believe they have built a better tool kit. Their new online collections management program called Archon has more than a few attractive features – not the least of which is that it was developed for “lone archivists with limited technological resources and knowledge,” said Scott Schwartz, one of the developers of the software program and the archivist for music and fine arts at Illinois.
Music lovers get the 'meta' of digital audio
Groundbreaking audio software developed by European researchers could help music lovers jump to the hidden beats.

The Web: Niche search tools proliferating

Related stories:

News discussion: