• URL.com - Innovating Community Search

  Posted by randfish on Sun (11/12/06) at 10:10 PM to Vertical/Alternative Search Engines

  I ran into a kindred spirit at the SES conference in San Jose this summer - John Anderson. Smart, incredibly likable, motivated, and passionate about making the web a better place, I felt like I had known John for years after spending 10 minutes with him outside a session (this is one of my favorite parts of going to conferences). Over the past few months, John and a talented team of friends have been working on a meta-search engine with the impossibly cool address - URL.com. Let me walk you through it:

  

  URL's home page has a search box, but it also shows off members who've contributed to the results and the latest input. The idea here is to let users contribute comments and ratings to search results - something that engines have tried in the past (Google does this privately with their search quality review team), but URL is pretty slick.

  I run a search for geoengineering - a topic I read about in Rolling Stone on my flight down to San Jose:

  

  URL uses a standard metasearch system for ranking results; note that the first result is #7 at Google, #1 at Yahoo! and #6 at MSN.

  

  This is the first result I got - pretty disappointing. But, note how I can leave a comment in the frame bar at the top and give a thumbs up or thumbs down. I give this a well-deserved thumbs down and return to the results to click on #2:

  

  This second result is far more valuable - an in-depth article on the subject with some interesting examples. I'm giving it a thumbs up and some positive comments.

  

  Now when someone runs a search at URL.com, they get new rankings, ordered by the comments and criticism I've given out for the results.

  Is this in danger of being spammed? Yep... If it gets popular, I guarantee high levels of spam. But, I have to say that as a concept, it's terrific and the implementation is pretty intuitive. Assuming the spam and manipulation could be controlled, I can imagine myself really liking this type of search engine - it's almost a mix between StumbleUpon, Del.icio.us and Google.

  Kudos to John and his team - this is no easy road to travel, but they're innovating, executing, and experimenting, and the search industry could use more of that.

  
  
  Digg It Add to Del.icio.us

• vangogh99 Sun, Nov 12, 2006 at 10:43:39 PM
  
  I just took it for a quick spin and it is an interesting concept. The results came back faster than I expected and it's easy to give a thumbs up or down and add a comment.
  
  You're right about the potential for spam, but having to sign up before being able to add your opinion should help some and I've already noticed you can only give a positive vote for a site once. Spamming would mean creating quite a few usernames, depending on the search. Not impossible, but it should stop many.
  
  The user comments are a nice touch as is the recent searches.
  
  By the way how'd you get url.com? That's just too perfect.
  
  
• Reply to vangogh99 Comment Permalink
  
  
  
• Mohit Sun, Nov 12, 2006 at 11:25:00 PM
  
  Really a unique concept. And when you give any search query then it aslo shows you at what position the query result resides on Google, Yahoo and at MSN. It is really cool feature.
  
  Regarding fear of spamming, Rand people who want to do it will do it anyhow, anyway & anywhere....
  
  Wikipedia also has such possibility of spamming, but still it becomes a great resource for getting information. Same can be applied to Url.com Need monitoring by other genuine active users....
  
  
• Reply to Mohit Comment Permalink
  
  
  
• raina Sun, Nov 12, 2006 at 11:39:07 PM
  
  There should be an algorithm to check the results from GYM, for making results better. It should check overall quality of the websites and then rank them.
  
  
  
  
• Reply to raina Comment Permalink
  
  
  
• simmal_tree Mon, Nov 13, 2006 at 02:36:26 AM
  
  It's like DigGoogle! Edited by simmal_tree on Mon, Nov 13, 2006 at 02:37:30 AM
  
  
• Reply to simmal_tree Comment Permalink
  
  
  
• rebecca Mon, Nov 13, 2006 at 02:37:09 AM
  
  I also like the potential of this. It's a good way of getting a relative idea of the quality of the top search results instead of grumbling about how the top results are the best-optimized ones. Spam potential aside, it's nice to see some actual human input in the SERPs for a change.
  
  
• Reply to rebecca Comment Permalink
  
  
  
• everett Mon, Nov 13, 2006 at 06:49:35 AM
  
  It's not allowing me to vote down wiki pages.
  
  
• Reply to everett Comment Permalink
  
  
  
• Jeremy Luebke Mon, Nov 13, 2006 at 07:17:53 AM
  
  If it would let me dig down deeper I might use it, but being limited to 10 results makes it worthless in many cases. I would say I dig deeper than page 1 on 60% of my searches.
  
  
• Reply to Jeremy Luebke Comment Permalink
  
  
  
• Fluxx Mon, Nov 13, 2006 at 07:43:41 AM
  
  I'm liking the concept of this engine a lot, but as always spamming is a problem. But I think the power of the entire community moderating results could overpower 1 spammer in 10,000 users.
  
  Oh and I saw this too...
  
  Edited by Fluxx on Mon, Nov 13, 2006 at 07:44:10 AM
  
  
• Reply to Fluxx Comment Permalink
  
  
  
• wkcow Mon, Nov 13, 2006 at 07:44:01 AM
  
  1.i don't support the Frame Style, as you know, i like the Div + CSS to show results.
  
  2.just like last comments, the results are only ten,in the common time,Google,Yahoo,Msn also could not provides the correct result for human,the user has to digg deep.
  
  3.for meta-search, i do not think let's users contribute the comments is the best ways, that's a try,i also worry the potential of spam
  
  
• Reply to wkcow Comment Permalink
  
  
  
• Will Pritchard Mon, Nov 13, 2006 at 12:42:40 PM
  
  @simmal_tree
  
  "DigGoogle" heh I like that.
  
  ----
  
  The thing is that I have been fairly disappointed with google in the last few months. I won't even go into why. Partly from an SEO perspective, partly from an end-user perspective and a whole bunch from the scary corporate giant that has become of my once favorite underdog of the internet. But this is actually a neat concept and I like the aggregated results that are weighted by the social networking aspect. Sure its open to manipulation and spam, but so is every social network. I like this and hope to see more innovations in search soon. Things are getting tough out there in the googleplex!
  
  Added note - it would be nice to see what other people say more easily - like an info link next to the result. Just a thought. Edited by Will Pritchard on Mon, Nov 13, 2006 at 12:45:59 PM
  
  
• Reply to Will Pritchard Comment Permalink
  
  
  
• toofast Mon, Nov 13, 2006 at 09:29:17 PM
  
  great idea, but i have to think that it won't take off. many people say the web is experiencing a new upswing do to web 2.0 sites like this, but unfortunately i think many will die including this one.
  
  why? just don't think it's invotative enough to really draw a crowd that wants to get behind it and buildt it out. in my opinion, a web 2.0 company has to be aimed at the masses at this point in time. i think url.com is a more for techies and their aren't enough techies to make it jump off. just talking outloud
  
  
• Reply to toofast Comment Permalink
  
  
  
• simmal_tree Tue, Nov 14, 2006 at 11:57:05 AM
  
  I like it, for a few reasons.
  
  1) It allows for commentary on the websites within the search results, which is only otherwise available with StumbleUpon's plugin for search engines.
  
  2) It shows the ranking for that particular page on the other three main SE's, which is convenient for an SEO person if you're using URL.com as your main SE.
  
  3) Your feedback about the quality of the results does have some effect, although there is always the spam risk.
  
  Obviously it cannot compete with the big 3 (Google, Yahoo, MSN, but I think this SE is probably the best "other" SE - better than Altavista, or Ask, or Lycos. Edited by simmal_tree on Tue, Nov 14, 2006 at 11:58:35 AM
  
  
• Reply to simmal_tree Comment Permalink
  
  
  
• johnanderson Wed, Nov 15, 2006 at 04:32:05 PM
  
  Hey gang, I’m John from URL
  
  First, huge thanks to Rand for the post and warm compliments… I’m humbled by the fact that I have a friend like you in the industry.
  
  Second, thanks to everyone for this mindshare –by hammering our site or commentary on this thread you have all given constructive critique and support we need to learn and grow.
  
  Third, I though I’d share thoughts that may spark more discussion:
  
  1)WITH MANY. Be there no doubt – we think Google, Yahoo!, MSN each offer phenomenal results… its just that we think it’s uncomfortable to trust just one search engine, to go it alone, and not share and learn each others’ past experience. Finally, we think a collaborative, supportive, even social search experience can provide enough of a differentiated user experience to bring people onboard for searches where they care.
  
  2)SPAM. Boy, if there's a crowd that knows this... it's here. Spam WILL happen, but the benefits may far outweigh the risks... even in the short term. Today the risk is mitigated b/c results must first pass Y/G/M’s filters before hitting our results. Long run, we think collaborative filtering and more careful technology will keep much of the abuse at bay.. even moreso than on the search sites themselves.
  
  3)COMMUNITY. Despite the super-techy url, we’re much more focused on the people. I've seen “search apathy” (reluctance to change search engine) first hand and know how hard it will be for us to build this community. We’re not totally sure what to do once the viral growth tapers… perhaps url.com belongs as part of a bigger, existing community? Would LOVE your input here!
  
  Thanks again Rand and team… keep searching with many, and contact me anytime at
  
  john (at) clipclip.org
  
  
  
  
• Reply to johnanderson Comment Permalink
  
  
  
• meaghan parker Thu, Nov 16, 2006 at 04:52:09 AM
  
  I like it. I just took it for a test run. I think it's a wonderful concept.
  
  I think in time this could be realy wonderful. Thanks for sharing this.
  
  
  
  
• Reply to meaghan parker Comment Permalink

• URL.com - Innovating Community Search

  Posted by randfish on Sun (11/12/06) at 10:10 PM to Vertical/Alternative Search Engines

  I ran into a kindred spirit at the SES conference in San Jose this summer - John Anderson. Smart, incredibly likable, motivated, and passionate about making the web a better place, I felt like I had known John for years after spending 10 minutes with him outside a session (this is one of my favorite parts of going to conferences). Over the past few months, John and a talented team of friends have been working on a meta-search engine with the impossibly cool address - URL.com. Let me walk you through it:

  

  URL's home page has a search box, but it also shows off members who've contributed to the results and the latest input. The idea here is to let users contribute comments and ratings to search results - something that engines have tried in the past (Google does this privately with their search quality review team), but URL is pretty slick.

  I run a search for geoengineering - a topic I read about in Rolling Stone on my flight down to San Jose:

  

  URL uses a standard metasearch system for ranking results; note that the first result is #7 at Google, #1 at Yahoo! and #6 at MSN.

  

  This is the first result I got - pretty disappointing. But, note how I can leave a comment in the frame bar at the top and give a thumbs up or thumbs down. I give this a well-deserved thumbs down and return to the results to click on #2:

  

  This second result is far more valuable - an in-depth article on the subject with some interesting examples. I'm giving it a thumbs up and some positive comments.

  

  Now when someone runs a search at URL.com, they get new rankings, ordered by the comments and criticism I've given out for the results.

  Is this in danger of being spammed? Yep... If it gets popular, I guarantee high levels of spam. But, I have to say that as a concept, it's terrific and the implementation is pretty intuitive. Assuming the spam and manipulation could be controlled, I can imagine myself really liking this type of search engine - it's almost a mix between StumbleUpon, Del.icio.us and Google.

  Kudos to John and his team - this is no easy road to travel, but they're innovating, executing, and experimenting, and the search industry could use more of that.

  
  
  Digg It Add to Del.icio.us

• vangogh99 Sun, Nov 12, 2006 at 10:43:39 PM
  
  I just took it for a quick spin and it is an interesting concept. The results came back faster than I expected and it's easy to give a thumbs up or down and add a comment.
  
  You're right about the potential for spam, but having to sign up before being able to add your opinion should help some and I've already noticed you can only give a positive vote for a site once. Spamming would mean creating quite a few usernames, depending on the search. Not impossible, but it should stop many.
  
  The user comments are a nice touch as is the recent searches.
  
  By the way how'd you get url.com? That's just too perfect.
  
  
• Reply to vangogh99 Comment Permalink
  
  
  
• Mohit Sun, Nov 12, 2006 at 11:25:00 PM
  
  Really a unique concept. And when you give any search query then it aslo shows you at what position the query result resides on Google, Yahoo and at MSN. It is really cool feature.
  
  Regarding fear of spamming, Rand people who want to do it will do it anyhow, anyway & anywhere....
  
  Wikipedia also has such possibility of spamming, but still it becomes a great resource for getting information. Same can be applied to Url.com Need monitoring by other genuine active users....
  
  
• Reply to Mohit Comment Permalink
  
  
  
• raina Sun, Nov 12, 2006 at 11:39:07 PM
  
  There should be an algorithm to check the results from GYM, for making results better. It should check overall quality of the websites and then rank them.
  
  
  
  
• Reply to raina Comment Permalink
  
  
  
• simmal_tree Mon, Nov 13, 2006 at 02:36:26 AM
  
  It's like DigGoogle! Edited by simmal_tree on Mon, Nov 13, 2006 at 02:37:30 AM
  
  
• Reply to simmal_tree Comment Permalink
  
  
  
• rebecca Mon, Nov 13, 2006 at 02:37:09 AM
  
  I also like the potential of this. It's a good way of getting a relative idea of the quality of the top search results instead of grumbling about how the top results are the best-optimized ones. Spam potential aside, it's nice to see some actual human input in the SERPs for a change.
  
  
• Reply to rebecca Comment Permalink
  
  
  
• everett Mon, Nov 13, 2006 at 06:49:35 AM
  
  It's not allowing me to vote down wiki pages.
  
  
• Reply to everett Comment Permalink
  
  
  
• Jeremy Luebke Mon, Nov 13, 2006 at 07:17:53 AM
  
  If it would let me dig down deeper I might use it, but being limited to 10 results makes it worthless in many cases. I would say I dig deeper than page 1 on 60% of my searches.
  
  
• Reply to Jeremy Luebke Comment Permalink
  
  
  
• Fluxx Mon, Nov 13, 2006 at 07:43:41 AM
  
  I'm liking the concept of this engine a lot, but as always spamming is a problem. But I think the power of the entire community moderating results could overpower 1 spammer in 10,000 users.
  
  Oh and I saw this too...
  
  Edited by Fluxx on Mon, Nov 13, 2006 at 07:44:10 AM
  
  
• Reply to Fluxx Comment Permalink
  
  
  
• wkcow Mon, Nov 13, 2006 at 07:44:01 AM
  
  1.i don't support the Frame Style, as you know, i like the Div + CSS to show results.
  
  2.just like last comments, the results are only ten,in the common time,Google,Yahoo,Msn also could not provides the correct result for human,the user has to digg deep.
  
  3.for meta-search, i do not think let's users contribute the comments is the best ways, that's a try,i also worry the potential of spam
  
  
• Reply to wkcow Comment Permalink
  
  
  
• Will Pritchard Mon, Nov 13, 2006 at 12:42:40 PM
  
  @simmal_tree
  
  "DigGoogle" heh I like that.
  
  ----
  
  The thing is that I have been fairly disappointed with google in the last few months. I won't even go into why. Partly from an SEO perspective, partly from an end-user perspective and a whole bunch from the scary corporate giant that has become of my once favorite underdog of the internet. But this is actually a neat concept and I like the aggregated results that are weighted by the social networking aspect. Sure its open to manipulation and spam, but so is every social network. I like this and hope to see more innovations in search soon. Things are getting tough out there in the googleplex!
  
  Added note - it would be nice to see what other people say more easily - like an info link next to the result. Just a thought. Edited by Will Pritchard on Mon, Nov 13, 2006 at 12:45:59 PM
  
  
• Reply to Will Pritchard Comment Permalink
  
  
  
• toofast Mon, Nov 13, 2006 at 09:29:17 PM
  
  great idea, but i have to think that it won't take off. many people say the web is experiencing a new upswing do to web 2.0 sites like this, but unfortunately i think many will die including this one.
  
  why? just don't think it's invotative enough to really draw a crowd that wants to get behind it and buildt it out. in my opinion, a web 2.0 company has to be aimed at the masses at this point in time. i think url.com is a more for techies and their aren't enough techies to make it jump off. just talking outloud
  
  
• Reply to toofast Comment Permalink
  
  
  
• simmal_tree Tue, Nov 14, 2006 at 11:57:05 AM
  
  I like it, for a few reasons.
  
  1) It allows for commentary on the websites within the search results, which is only otherwise available with StumbleUpon's plugin for search engines.
  
  2) It shows the ranking for that particular page on the other three main SE's, which is convenient for an SEO person if you're using URL.com as your main SE.
  
  3) Your feedback about the quality of the results does have some effect, although there is always the spam risk.
  
  Obviously it cannot compete with the big 3 (Google, Yahoo, MSN, but I think this SE is probably the best "other" SE - better than Altavista, or Ask, or Lycos. Edited by simmal_tree on Tue, Nov 14, 2006 at 11:58:35 AM

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