E-consultancy - Vertical Search - Internet Marketing News and Blogs

Visual book browsing with Zoomii

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 07:30:00 UT

Zoomii, launched last week, is a virtual bookstore�that displays books from Amazon.

The site is built on Amazon's Elastic Compute Cloud and uses the Amazon S3 hosted storage service. Buyers are directed to the online retail giant via an affiliate link.

Polar Rose widens beta test

Mon, 9 Jun 2008 07:32:00 UT

Polar Rose is a Swedish startup that has been developing facial recognition technology for image search since it launched at the end of 2006.

It has recently updated the look of its image search facility and made the image recognition plugin available for Internet Explorer users, so we've taken a look to see how effective it is...

Q&A: Kieron Smith of BookRabbit.com

Thu, 5 Jun 2008 07:45:00 UT

BookRabbit is a recently launched website which combines book retailing with some very useful social network features. Users can upload their bookshelves and compare these with other users.

We recently talked to MD Kieron Smith, who has�previously�managed e-commerce operations at both Waterstones and Game Group....

Q&A: Shane Lake, co-founder of hungryhouse.co.uk

Thu, 22 May 2008 08:18:00 UT

Hungryhouse, a site that helps users find and order takeaways online, came away from a Dragons' Den appearance last year with the promise of a �100,000 investment.

Unfortunately, the deal didn't work out in the end�and co-founders Shane Lake and Tony Charles have since received a �150,000�cash injection�from elsewhere.�

We talked to Shane about the Dragons' Den�experience and where they see the site heading...

Are you coping with Universal Search?

Tue, 8 Apr 2008 09:00:00 UT

Google has evolved its search results to include images, news, recent blog posts, videos and related links.

Let's build a quick to-do list to spruce up your site for Universal Search.

Travel websites need to improve usability - study

Wed, 2 Apr 2008 09:55:00 UT

There is plenty of room for improving the user experience of some of the UK's top travel websites, according to a new usability study.

Webcredible's Flights Online study looked at the flight search and booking process on 20 travel agent and airline websites.

The highest scoring website was Opodo with 67%, while Monarch came off worst on 38%. On average, travel agent websites were more usable than the airlines' sites.

Nestoria launches OpenStreetMap-backed search engine

Thu, 10 Jan 2008 14:45:00 UT

Property search engine Nestoria has launched a new version of its site that only�displays maps from community geodata project OpenStreetMap (OSM).

The move � a sign of the growing potential of the open source mapping�tool - means Nestoria users can view charts from OSM or existing provider Google when searching for properties in the UK and Spain.

Ten digital trends to watch out for in 2008

Thu, 10 Jan 2008 11:01:00 UT

A new year wouldn�t be a new year without a vast number of websites making predictions about the future of the web, and 2008 proves to be no different. From a number of different sources, we have rounded up 10 key trends that�we think are the ones to�watch out for in 2008.�

It's not all about the last click in search marketing

Fri, 14 Dec 2007 11:45:00 UT

One of the biggest challenges in paid search marketing is measuring the impact of generic keywords on your sales.

We all believe generic keywords have a brand-building benefit, but how can you accurately�measure this?

Rightmove revamps site as competition increases

Tue, 20 Nov 2007 12:01:00 UT

Property website Rightmove has unveiled a revamped version of its site, with a new look and feel as well as�improved navigation.

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Microsoft acquires shopping comparison site

Wed, 3 Oct 2007 13:24:00 UT

Microsoft yesterday acquired Jellyfish, a shopping comparison site which offers cashback on purchases for users, and ranks retailers according to the amount they agree to lower their prices.

The terms of the acquisition were not disclosed, though Jellyfish raised $5m in funding last year from Kegonsa Capital Partners and Clyde Street Investments.

Yahoo! ugrades its user experience

Wed, 3 Oct 2007 11:57:00 UT

Yahoo! has made a number of changes to its search engine, adding a search assist feature, as well as beginning to display videos, photos and other media in search results.

Local.com launches in the UK

Thu, 27 Sep 2007 08:17:00 UT

Local.com has just�launched�a UK version of its site, providing searchable local listings for a range of products and services.

Is Zillow.com the new Boo.com?

Thu, 20 Sep 2007 16:46:00 UT

Disruptive US-based real estate aggregator Zillow continues to confound and amaze with the news that it has raised another $30m, taking its total fundraising to a staggering $87m.

Yep, $87m. I normally turn instantly prickly when I hear the phrase �Bubble 2.0�, but I may have to revise my view slightly. I'd hate for Zillow to be burning cash at a rate not seen since the heady days of Boo.com.

Yet in this day and age $87m�is a fortune. Internet businesses just don�t need that kind of money to put themselves on the map. Or do they?

VibeAgent - a hotel review site

Tue, 14 Aug 2007 10:59:00 UT

VibeAgent is a hotel search and review site that's currently in private beta - users submit hotel reviews and recommendations, while the site allows you to book the hotel online.

Nestoria used as an example of Google Maps API

Tue, 12 Jun 2007 14:05:00 UT

Congratulations to UK property search engine Nestoria following the news that it has been�selected by Google for a case study on the use of the Google Maps API.

Trulia raises $10m in funding

Thu, 24 May 2007 12:50:00 UT

US vertical property search engine Trulia has raised $10m (�5m) in a third round of�funding led by Sequoia Capital. The company has now raised $17.7m (�8.9m)�to date.

Nestoria launches in Spain

Mon, 14 May 2007 14:00:00 UT

Property website Nestoria is set to launch a version of its vertical search engine in Spain.

Is mobile search set to take off?

Mon, 14 May 2007 07:30:00 UT

The release of Google Maps Mobile�last week in the UK got a distinct lack of coverage, yet it is a tool that underpins the huge opportunities for local mobile search.

These�are currently drastically under-exploited -�indeed, local mobile search is where the real value of mobile search lies, i.e. search in relation to your physical location.

Google dumps Froogle brand, cleans up UI

Fri, 20 Apr 2007 11:54:00 UT

Google has announced some fairly dramatic steps aimed at reviving Froogle, its shopping comparison service, with a redesign of its user interface and a change of name.

The service now has a much more �it does what it says on the tin� brand � Google Product Search � as well as a front end that the ad giant says will be simpler to use.