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Google and Yahoo used to compete mightily in the site search category, but now the two have turned their focus toward search advertising, which makes them more money. Dozens of smaller players have emerged to fill the void -- and to make money. Other site search solutions may have looked like diminutive Davids when they first appeared next to the Goliaths, but many of the smaller tools offer special functionality the giants don't have. Like the big guys, however, smaller solution providers know that prospective buyers are attracted by the word "free."
This is a nice overview, an eclectic but interesting choice of search engine, and some good quotes.
Site search has been around at least as long as Yahoo and longer than Google, and it does have some advantages over webwide search engines. The most important is that they can trust the metadata, which has been ruined by spammers for web search engines. Being able to tag things like sizes, colors, version, author, and/or price means that the search engine can sort on those things, filter, group and otherwise make good use of them.
The search analytics can be incredibly enlightening -- the Champagne Bubbles jelly bellies is a particularly good example, but not unique. However, there's an ongoing cost for the analysis, which people really need to budget for.
If you ever have questions about site search (or intranets for that matter), please feel free to take a look at my info site, searchtools.com (free, no ads), or contact me via the form on the site. I'm happy to talk about search until the cows come home.
Avi
(here via Steve Arnold's Beyond Search blog)
Site search has been around at least as long as Yahoo and longer than Google, and it does have some advantages over webwide search engines. The most important is that they can trust the metadata, which has been ruined by spammers for web search engines. Being able to tag things like sizes, colors, version, author, and/or price means that the search engine can sort on those things, filter, group and otherwise make good use of them.
The search analytics can be incredibly enlightening -- the Champagne Bubbles jelly bellies is a particularly good example, but not unique. However, there's an ongoing cost for the analysis, which people really need to budget for.
If you ever have questions about site search (or intranets for that matter), please feel free to take a look at my info site, searchtools.com (free, no ads), or contact me via the form on the site. I'm happy to talk about search until the cows come home.
Avi
(here via Steve Arnold's Beyond Search blog)
