Combine Google, Yahoo and MSN in one to get LeapFish

Any given search engine can only search as far as its own database goes. LeapFish acts as a search aggregator. Type in what you're looking for and it will deliver results from Google, MSN, Yahoo and other Web properties without you having to visit those individual sites yourself.

California-based LeapFish launched a new style of search engine last month, offering users a multi-dimensional search aggregator that combines several features to provide more focused results. This one deserves a prominent spot in your browser bookmarks.

Similar to the Gogimon Search Channel, which launched last month as well, LeapFish has a look and feel that enhances users' comfort levels with Google, Yahoo and MSN. Simply clicking one of these three search engine buttons -- they appear above the LeapFish search bar -- displays that engine's results for quick comparison.

However, LeapFish goes a step further. It eliminates the need to click a search button after entering the search terms. Instead, it displays the changing results in real time as the search expression changes. Even adding an "S" to a search term -- "iPods" vs. "iPod," for example -- instantly presents updated search results.
Not a Replacement

To help ease new users into making the switch, the search window reads, "It's OK. You're not cheating on Google" until it's replaced with search terms.

Apparently, LeapFish's goal is not to race alongside Google or Yahoo. Instead, this company wants to leverage what is already working and desired online, according to Ben Behrouzi, president and CEO of LeapFish. The engine is designed to take what already works and lend more accessibility to what is already valuable on the Internet.

"Google and Yahoo are the kings of the indexers on the Web. They provide a relevancy. The problem is that there is just too much data, so relevance is not the only criteria," says Behrouzi.

Much of the information users need is usually found on a second or third results page. But typically searchers accept the idea that the most relevant information is on the first page of results. LeapFish's results are not ranked by relevancy or popularity. Instead, it aggregates information from additional sources such as blogs and YouTube and presents them based on its hyperthreading technology. It is not limited by the relevancy ratings of traditional search engine crawlers.

LeapFish is sleek and peppy. It combines the best of standard leading search engines along with an innovative graphical user interface (GUI). For instance, I typed "Windows 7 impressions" and got a plethora of results. I could browse around for topics in various search engines simply by clicking on the button for Google, Yahoo and MSN.

The search results filled the left half of the screen. The right half displayed what LeapFish calls "search widgets." These thumbnail-sized displays give up-to-the-minute news, images and videos on every search term. Click on any one to see it full-screen.

Under each widget is a link labeled "see more." Clicking the link gets a complete list of relevant results. Hover over a video image thumbnail to view it in a small window. Click on the thumbnail image to go directly to the Web site holding that content.

LeapFish also aggregates blogs, news, Q&A, videos, images and shopping results from major online destinations including eBay and YouTube, all related to the search term and conveniently organized into a single, easy-to-use interface.

LeapFish's concept of aggregating all related content is similar to what longtime portals such as Dogpile.com have done in gathering and presenting content. The similarity ends there, however. LeapFish has a fine-tuned interface that pulls search results from some 200 Web sources simultaneously.

The search engine is based on the latest hyper-threading technology to communicate with major online portals simultaneously to deliver the various search results from across the Web to users in a single search query.

"This technology will change the way things are done online from a search perspective. We're adding functionality that will change the search world," Mark Kithcart, director of marketing for LeapFish, told TechNewsWorld.

As the Web grows with more sites and utilities each day, end users have an increasingly hard time keeping track of it all. This forces users to jump around to numerous sites and use many different engines. There are just too many of them, he explained.

"The information is too fragmented. So LeapFish is a new solution. It doesn't just index the Web. It aggregates it. We have relationships through APIs in over 200 Web sites dealing with real estate, music, consumer products, traditional search engines," Behrouzi said.

Finding something in LeapFish gets the searcher not only the results available from Google or Yahoo, but also the most appropriate other destinations of information related to what was typed, he explained.

The real key to search success is what users find on the right-hand side of the display. This is where users find the blog results, YouTube results, images and Yahoo Answers.

LeapFish conveniently gives searchers what they did not know existed about the topic. Much of this content would only be exposed through separate, more time-consuming searches on several individual sites.

Think of the search widgets as a dashboard for search results.

Another key difference with LeapFish is how the company generates a cash flow. LeapFish.com is based on a relatively new revenue model.

The company makes money through regionalized category sponsorships. A sponsoring vendor can "own" a particular search category that gives localized search results.

So the same category can have different regional sponsors around the country. In essence, the sponsor owns the category hits like a domain name and can rent or sell it to others for a share in the money action.

"We're able to penetrate the market very well with annual renewal fees for the sponsors," said Behrouzi. This opens up the online real estate for more small vendors, he explained.


It is difficult for a new Internet search company to go up against the longtime big guys and survive. When a startup can tap into what these big search engine masters already provide and add their own twist to the mix, the newcomer stands a fighting chance.

That is the case with LeapFish.com. Its agreements for API support PEER1 Managed Hosting from over 200 online entities, plus its unique search widget interface, gives LeapFish.com enough innovation over novelty to grab and keep consumer interest.

Where are you going - Google Latitude?

Google has added functionality to its mobile mapping service that lets users opt in to be tracked and have their mugs displayed with location information to a select group of friends. There are different levels of privacy controls, but the idea of adding one's minute-by-minute whereabouts to Google's vast storehouse of knowledge still has a certain creep factor.

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Until now, it seemed the only thing Google didn't know about you was where you were. Now that its mission to capture and categorize all information online is well in hand, Google has taken steps to add that missing piece with the introduction of Latitude. Built into Google Maps for Mobile and iGoogle, this location-sharing feature tracks users' comings and goings.

After they sign up for the opt-in service and activate the friend-sharing feature, Google follows users by means of signals from nearby cell towers. The service then superimposes their profile pictures or icons on a map that is accessible to friends via a computer or mobile device.

There are two ways to use Latitude right now: downloading Google Maps for mobile with Latitude to a smartphone's mobile browser; and adding the Latitude gadget to a iGoogle homepage. To access the service from a computer, the user has to install Google Gears or use Google Chrome.

Latitude builds on functionality Google introduced in November 2007, when it location-enabled Google Maps for mobile phones, wrote Charles Mendis, software engineer with the Google mobile team, in Latitude's official blog.

"Using My Location, millions of you have been able to easily find yourselves on a map at the touch of a button. But what about finding other people? Lots of you have been requesting to see where your friends are on a map, too."

The service lets users call, text, email or IM a friend by clicking on the photo. Depending on the privacy controls selected, driving directions to a friend's current location may also be provided. The service lets users dole out information on a user-by-user basis. One friend may be approved to get an exact location; others may just be given the name of the city or town.

Latitude can automatically detect and update a user's location on most smartphones -- but there isn't a fixed or set update frequency. That is determined by factors such as a phone's battery life and, of course, how recently a location has changed.

Google points out this caveat: Continuous location sharing uses a lot of data. It recommends that users opt for an unlimited data plan before using this feature.

Latitude is available in 27 countries and 42 languages. Right now, it supports several smartphone platforms including Android, Blackberry, Symbian S60 and Windows Mobile. Google intends to add Latitude to Google Mobile App for the iPhone "soon."

Despite Google's highlighting of Latitude's opt-in controls, the privacy implications are arguably creepy, at least to people who have not acclimated themselves to having every aspect of their lives plastered online. There is a big online constituency, though, who will relish the real-time, 360-degree openness that Web 2.0 delivers. It is these people Google -- and marketers -- want to attract.

To truly harness the application's potential, Google will need to work with other service providers to integrate it into larger social networks, making it a checkbox feature, Dan Shust, director of emerging media at Resource Interactive, told TechNewsWorld.

"We have tested numerous Web 2.0 applications here and have found that one-off offerings like this really should be part of a larger service ... to be widely adopted," he said. "Standalone solutions are just too hard to get off the ground -- and, consequently, people don't use them."

Similar services, such as Brightkite and Loopt, are faced with the same issues, said Shust. "All of them have tremendous potential to help you see what your friends are up to, stage impromptu meet-ups, crowdsource, etc. But, they also all have a similar problem. ... They make me manage another -- always smaller -- set of friends. We won't realize the true power of location awareness until this functionality is built directly into the major social networks."
Sticky and Getting Stickier

Assuming Latitude remains just a fun, one-off feature, it will still meet another of the company's goals: making Google and its wide range of tools as sticky as possible. Commercial artist John T. Unger, for instance, is familiar with the business value-add that Google's services can deliver because he uses Google Maps to illustrate all the locations that have purchased his handmade firebowls.

The map "informs me where my sales are best and where to focus my marketing," Unger told TechNewsWorld. I knew I had a lot of West Coast sales, but had no idea that sales were so good on the East Coast before the map. It also helps prospective wholesale buyers see that there is a market in their area or if they have an exclusive in their area."

Unger plans to use Latitude as sort of a "presence" service for his clients once it becomes available for the iPhone. "The more up-front and transparent I am with my clients, the smoother it goes. It would be great for them to see where I was -- if I was across town or away from my office -- so they could plan accordingly."

Redefining the websearch with Yahoo Search Pad

Doing an in-depth Internet search often involves a lot of note-taking -- copying and pasting, saving URLs, keeping PDFs open, or even jotting down notes on actual, real-life, non-electronic, made-from-trees paper. Yahoo hopes its new Search Pad tool, currently in limited beta tests, will attract users by automating and tracking certain research activities.

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Yahoo introduced a new feature Wednesday designed to help make online research easier. Dubbed "Search Pad," the new companion search tool will enable users to keep track of Web sites and take notes when conducting online research.

Currently in beta, Search Pad will allow students, information workers and Internet surfers on a mission to do away with cutting and pasting content to a word-processing document or email; bookmarking the search results or a bevy of sites; or simply writing pertinent results down on a sticky pad or notebook. These extra steps, in addition to being sometimes unwieldy, consume a good bit of time and can prove to be a distraction, according to Yahoo.

"One of the big time-wasters for information workers is cutting and pasting. What does that do in terms of time usage? We looked at how much time people spend looking for information, and it's roughly nine to twelve hours a week. That number has not changed since 2001, and that's just at work. One-third of that time is wasted looking for information and not being able to find it. Searches conducted from home require additional time," explained Susan Feldman, an analyst at IDC.

"Searching is an art as well as technology," she told TechNewsWorld.

Search Pad attempts to mitigate search time by "intelligently detecting users' research intent," according Yahoo. The feature automatically collects visited sites and provides users with simple tools to organize searches and take notes.

Once triggered, users can edit, delete and re-order notes they have taken about a particular search topic. That information can then be printed out or sent in an email to coworkers, friends and families. Notes can also be saved and accessed at a later date via a user's Yahoo ID.

Although this is not the first time a company has attempted to create an application to make saving search projects easier, said Feldman, this is the first time that all the components have been tied together.

"The problem has been that you needed to have [a feature] that tracks all different kinds of formats, including URLs, PDFs, documents, etc. It's got to have some collaborative capabilities; got to have embedded search because information workers are always looking for stuff, and once they find it they want to use it, share it, move it around, and you also need access to good content," she noted.

The new feature should help attract new users to Yahoo's search engine, and also help differentiate that aspect of Yahoo's business from competitors including Google, Microsoft Live Search and Ask.com.

Although some people classify Yahoo as a search engine provider, that's a misnomer, according Feldman.

"Unlike Microsoft Live and Google, Yahoo is a much more diverse company. A lot of people think of it as just a search engine, but that's a mistake. The potential for tying it across their other services is huge," she pointed out.

"Having a research tool that will allow me to go about my research and not have to worry about ... what is the right tool, cutting and pasting, and all that goes into research means we can do what humans do best and not be working until 12 midnight on a Friday night. What we're looking for today is aggregation and not being scattered and floundering during search projects," Feldman concluded.

From the oceans to the Mars, Google Earth has it all..!!

Google Earth has taken to the high seas with version 5.0. The popular geo-mapping application now contains more detail and information about the ocean floor, rather than the plain bluish green photos of the surface included in previous versions. The search provider teamed up with several scientific organizations to string together maps from under the sea.

Google unearthed the latest version of its Earth mapping tool Monday at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco. Google Earth 5.0 adds a number of new features to the geo-mapping service, perhaps the most significant of which is providing some definition to the world's great bodies of water with Google Ocean.

Although the application had always included a representation of the Earth's oceans, they were simply blue expanses with occasional low-resolution shading to provide some depth, said John Hanke, director of Google Earth and Maps. The addition of Google Ocean adds more than just a representation of the ocean's depths. Rather, it provides users with much more detailed maps that go beneath the water's surface.

Also in the offing for the fifth iteration of Google Earth are historical maps that allow users to look into the past and view images and changes to the planet over the course of time. There is also a new 3-D Mars mapping feature and a new touring function that enables users to document and share their virtual journeys.
Mapping the Seven Seas

Google created Google Ocean over a three-year span with the help of a host of individual and organization partners, including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the U.S. Navy, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, the Japan Hydrographic Organization, Scripps Institute of Oceanography and General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans.

With data provided by its scientific partners, Google was able to create dynamic images of water surfaces as well as 3-D representations of the terrain on the sea floor. It also includes 20 content layers, each containing information from leading scientists, researchers and ocean explorers from around the world. For instance, users can view the "Explore the Ocean" layer that contains photos and videos of ocean hot spots; take a National Geographic Magazine geo-quiz and check out overlays from its new Atlas of the Ocean, or view videos of expeditions by famed oceanographer Jacques Cousteau.

The addition of Google Ocean to Google Earth corrects an oversight when the company initially launched the application, according to Hanke.

"It was a serious omission on our part not to include a better treatment of the oceans when we launched Google Earth, and I'm very happy that we've been able to address that. We now have a good substrate for publishing and exploring data about the 'other' two-thirds of the planet," he explained.
Swimmin' With the Fishes

The addition of oceans makes Google Earth richer and more complete as an information resource, Greg Sterling, principal analyst at Sterling Market Intelligence, told TechNewsWorld.

"It also enables Earth to become a better teaching tool to students and users generally about the importance and role of the oceans in the planetary ecosystem. It's great that Google sought to include Ocean in Earth and to bring all these content partners together. It will help build awareness about climate change and its impact on the ocean. In addition, it's just a fun and interesting tool," he continued.

The addition will also help Google gain users for its Chrome Web browser, said Caroline Dangson, an IDC analyst.

"Oceans in Google Earth is a new attraction to lure more consumers to download the Google Earth desktop application, which conveniently includes Google's Chrome Web browser. The business goal here is for Google to keep gaining market share. For example, many of the ocean sites link back to YouTube," she told TechNewsWorld. Google owns YouTube.

Business aside, Dangson said, Google Earth still serves as a great learning tool for curious minds about Earth sciences. "The depths of the oceans are definitely one place few of us would see otherwise."