Company: Browster
Launch Date: Beta in February 2005, Version 1.0 launched today, July 13, 2005
What is it?
Browster is a tool, available only for IE (damn, I just lost half of my readers right there) that pre-fetches content from links on a web page, and makes that content available by mousing-over the link. Too see it visually click here.
So we dusted off IE (used only for FTP these days), downloaded 334k of stuff and had at it.
Browster allows you to browse search results more quickly and with fewer clicks. Browster will also pre-fetch content from non-search sites if you tell it to (there are a couple of easy ways to do this).
There is a nice feature to basically scroll through search results quickly by clicking on an arrow. It’s hard to explain but works very well.
Browster has CPC advertisements on the top of its window. I don’t mind the ads, but the copyright holders of the content they are showing may. I also wish they would have focused on Firefox before IE…Even though IE still has a very large market share, it seems like most of the cutting edge users are on firefox, or macs. Not having support for those browsers is a serious mistake because your most important customers (bloggers, for instance) won’t use it.
Tom Foremski wrote about Browster a few hours ago and pointed out a number of very serious flaws (we agree with some, disagree with others). At the end of the day, our only real concerns are those mentioned above (browser support and copyright infringement issues). From a business model perspective, there’s very little that’s viral or sticky about the product. That means ultimately their liquidity event valuation may be based on their technology rather than their network.
It’s a great tool and as soon as they support firefox I’ll use it regularly.
Additional Screen Shots:
Management Team:
Scott Milener, CEO and co-Founder
Jim Kelly, Vice President, Engineering
Steven Lurie, Vice President, Business Development
Wendell Brown, Chairman and co-Founder
John Zeisler,Member, Board of Directors
Link
Investors:
First Round Capital
Wendell Brown, co-Founder and Member, Board of Directors
John Zeisler, Venture Partner, Gabriel Ventures
Ken Sawyer, Managing Director, Saints Ventures
Rick Magnuson, former General Partner, Menlo Ventures
Robert Simon, General Partner, Alta Partners
Links
Relevant Links:
How it works
Faq
Press
About
Investors
Management
Scott Milener (founder) blog
Tags: browster, search, techcrunch, web2.0, profiles, reviews, InternetExplorer
FWIW, The installer installs plug-ins for IE and Firefox.
I just installed this and it works like a charm in both browsers.
Thanks for the kind words about Browster and for including screenshots.
You bring up some good points, one of which is how publishers will respond to Browster given that we have reserved PPC real estate at the top of the product. So far publishers have told us that anything that gets them more easily found on search engines is a good thing, given the cost of AdWords and SEO. Legally, we are not breaking any copyright laws since it is an end user-selected feature set, not content redistribution by Browster. We’ve carefully researched that question.
Thanks again, we really appreciate the write up!
Scott
CEO
Browster, Inc.
415-395-2895
Scott, Thank you for taking the time to leave a comment. Great service.
FYI…Browster launched v1.0 for Firefox today (so not just for IE anymore).
Here’s the beginning of the press release:
_____
Browster Announces Instant Web Page Viewing for Firefox
Tuesday August 2, 3:00 pm ET
SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 2 /PRNewswire/ — Browster, Inc. today announces availability of its flagship product, Browster 1.0, as an extension for the Mozilla Firefox browser. Browster is the first instant-page viewing product for Firefox, providing users with the fastest way to view search results by simply by mousing over a link. With Browster’s unique Next Page feature, Firefox users can skip from result to result with zero delay. Browster users experience a faster, easier and more fun way to browse the Web. Browster 1.0 for Firefox is available now for free download from http://www.browster.com.
I’ve been wildly enjoying Browster on Firefox since last summer (’05), & have been using, in total, for about a yr now. However, with today’s upgrade from Firefox 1.5 to 1.5.0.1 — the new 1.5 dual-installing Browster refuses to install in Firefox (but it’s fine w/ IE which I detest using). What a pity! I’ve used Browster all day every day & simiply can’t find bad things to say about it. It truly enhances / enriches the internet experience, is available in numerous places—& by pressing the Alt key, is also available in most places where it’s icon is not visible. GREAT GREAT PRODUCT! Holding my breath till they can make it work w/ Firefox again.
Hello out there!
For all of you who like I really liked what they sought in Browster but just can’t seem to get it installed you might try installing it in safe mode. Oddly enough it was the only way I could get it installed. I don’t know if maybe some of my anti-spyware programs were triggered for some reason and prevented me from installing it the usual way or not. It concerns me somewhat because this program is said to have no spy ware component to it. I guess I’ll just have to see what happens the next time there is a spy ware scan. From what I’ve done with it already I can see I am going to love this program. Well, that is about all I have to contribute especially since I don’t know if anybody will read this anyway!-Gralarry
However, with today’s upgrade from Firefox 1.5 to 1.5.0.1 — the new 1.5 dual-installing Browster refuses to install in Firefox (but it’s fine w/ IE which I detest using). What a pity! I’ve used Browster all day every day & simiply can’t find bad things to say about it.