Comments on: Powerset Hype To Boiling Point http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/02/09/powerset-hype-to-boiling-point/ Startup and Technology News Thu, 24 Jul 2008 13:22:16 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 By: Just a random blog ! http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/02/09/powerset-hype-to-boiling-point/#comment-1423396 Just a random blog ! Tue, 12 Jun 2007 04:06:18 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/02/09/powerset-hype-to-boiling-point/#comment-1423396 [...] how their search engine works until they are ready. After some initial hype (see our posts here, here and here), the company pretty much shut its doors to the press. I did finally get in to see a demo, [...] [...] how their search engine works until they are ready. After some initial hype (see our posts here, here and here), the company pretty much shut its doors to the press. I did finally get in to see a demo, [...]

]]> By: First Public View Of Powerset Results http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/02/09/powerset-hype-to-boiling-point/#comment-1422394 First Public View Of Powerset Results Mon, 11 Jun 2007 08:47:25 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/02/09/powerset-hype-to-boiling-point/#comment-1422394 [...] showing the public how their search engine works. After some initial hype (see our posts here, here and here), the company pretty much shut its doors to the press. I did finally get in to see a demo, [...] [...] showing the public how their search engine works. After some initial hype (see our posts here, here and here), the company pretty much shut its doors to the press. I did finally get in to see a demo, [...]

]]> By: FF Cynic http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/02/09/powerset-hype-to-boiling-point/#comment-1195306 FF Cynic Fri, 09 Mar 2007 21:30:54 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/02/09/powerset-hype-to-boiling-point/#comment-1195306 Why is Powerset *really* eager to raise more financing? http://venturebeat.com/2006/12/15/the-ff-class-of-stock-for-founders-who-want-cash-early/ Why is Powerset *really* eager to raise more financing?

http://venturebeat.com/2006/12.....ash-early/

]]> By: jottos http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/02/09/powerset-hype-to-boiling-point/#comment-977799 jottos Sun, 18 Feb 2007 19:27:51 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/02/09/powerset-hype-to-boiling-point/#comment-977799 On a more prosaic note, I heard Jeff Barr of Amazon in an ITConversations podcast say that Powerset was using his compute cloud. On a more prosaic note, I heard Jeff Barr of Amazon in an ITConversations podcast say that Powerset was using his compute cloud.

]]> By: tgh http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/02/09/powerset-hype-to-boiling-point/#comment-950590 tgh Thu, 15 Feb 2007 23:18:34 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/02/09/powerset-hype-to-boiling-point/#comment-950590 I don't know how natural language search can work as most people can't spell and their grammar is atrocious. Regardless, why not create a filter that sorts through the results and spits back results more relevant to what you are looking for? Scenario: I visit web site X and fill out a series of questions about myself, my family, my general wants and needs, interests and so forth. The site shoots me back a demographic profile as a tool bar that I can put on my browser. NB: the site does not keep this information for personal security reasons. It just formats the results and creates my Personal Filter. The next day, I search "Caribbean Vacation" and G sends me back 2.5 million results. What the hell am I supposed to do with that? I hit the tool bar I have created for myself which filters 2.5 million results and the new set of results better fits my profile -- perhaps a few hundred or a few thousand. The key to adoption is security. I'm not talking about inputing credit card numbers or SS numbers, just basic stuff about myself. Personalized Search based on my demographic makeup, not what I have been searching for over the last few months. That smacks of Big Brother Google. Anyway, site X could be an ad revenue based model or it could charge a small annual subscription fee. When my situation changes or I want to customize my filter, I simply go back and make my changes. Thoughts? I don’t know how natural language search can work as most people can’t spell and their grammar is atrocious.

Regardless, why not create a filter that sorts through the results and spits back results more relevant to what you are looking for?

Scenario: I visit web site X and fill out a series of questions about myself, my family, my general wants and needs, interests and so forth. The site shoots me back a demographic profile as a tool bar that I can put on my browser. NB: the site does not keep this information for personal security reasons. It just formats the results and creates my Personal Filter.

The next day, I search “Caribbean Vacation” and G sends me back 2.5 million results. What the hell am I supposed to do with that? I hit the tool bar I have created for myself which filters 2.5 million results and the new set of results better fits my profile — perhaps a few hundred or a few thousand.

The key to adoption is security. I’m not talking about inputing credit card numbers or SS numbers, just basic stuff about myself. Personalized Search based on my demographic makeup, not what I have been searching for over the last few months. That smacks of Big Brother Google.

Anyway, site X could be an ad revenue based model or it could charge a small annual subscription fee. When my situation changes or I want to customize my filter, I simply go back and make my changes.

Thoughts?

]]> By: RazorSharp iPods & Raw Gadgets » Blog Archive » PowerHype At Powerset http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/02/09/powerset-hype-to-boiling-point/#comment-938829 RazorSharp iPods & Raw Gadgets » Blog Archive » PowerHype At Powerset Tue, 13 Feb 2007 22:16:05 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/02/09/powerset-hype-to-boiling-point/#comment-938829 [...] more I dig into the new search engine startup Powerset the more I am wondering if it is nothing more than a house of cards. They’re an odd company [...] [...] more I dig into the new search engine startup Powerset the more I am wondering if it is nothing more than a house of cards. They’re an odd company [...]

]]> By: David Mackey http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/02/09/powerset-hype-to-boiling-point/#comment-928418 David Mackey Sun, 11 Feb 2007 23:36:55 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/02/09/powerset-hype-to-boiling-point/#comment-928418 I'm not a big fan of nature language search. I use quotations often on Google and other search engines and it oftentimes leads to no results rather than refined results. I’m not a big fan of nature language search. I use quotations often on Google and other search engines and it oftentimes leads to no results rather than refined results.

]]> By: http://www.blogsaic.com/ http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/02/09/powerset-hype-to-boiling-point/#comment-928408 http://www.blogsaic.com/ Sun, 11 Feb 2007 22:31:43 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/02/09/powerset-hype-to-boiling-point/#comment-928408 wow...maxon...that blows my mind "Will you trust, if it will be said you" thats natural language right there wow…maxon…that blows my mind

“Will you trust, if it will be said you”

thats natural language right there

]]> By: kovacsk http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/02/09/powerset-hype-to-boiling-point/#comment-928407 kovacsk Sun, 11 Feb 2007 22:04:44 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/02/09/powerset-hype-to-boiling-point/#comment-928407 This Google hunter is actually using Google Analytics to track its website visitors :) This Google hunter is actually using Google Analytics to track its website visitors :)

]]> By: Steven Ickman http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/02/09/powerset-hype-to-boiling-point/#comment-928299 Steven Ickman Sun, 11 Feb 2007 08:44:42 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/02/09/powerset-hype-to-boiling-point/#comment-928299 EW, you don't really need NLP to support speech input. You might get a few extra terms in voice queries but most of the extra terms will just get dropped as noise words. You need NLP if you want to understand the relationship of all the terms and even that understanding comes in various degrees. If you look at a lot of the calendaring apps out there that seem pretty smart they're either doing keyword spotting or using Context Free Grammers (CFGs) to do their magic. Both of which are pretty simple to implement and not very magical at all... -Steve EW, you don’t really need NLP to support speech input. You might get a few extra terms in voice queries but most of the extra terms will just get dropped as noise words.

You need NLP if you want to understand the relationship of all the terms and even that understanding comes in various degrees. If you look at a lot of the calendaring apps out there that seem pretty smart they’re either doing keyword spotting or using Context Free Grammers (CFGs) to do their magic. Both of which are pretty simple to implement and not very magical at all…

-Steve

]]> By: EW http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/02/09/powerset-hype-to-boiling-point/#comment-927948 EW Sat, 10 Feb 2007 23:54:41 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/02/09/powerset-hype-to-boiling-point/#comment-927948 Danny Sullivan and commenters above make great points but I think we're thinking a little to narrow here. Why so much focus on the search box? Sure, an NLP-powered search box might only marginally improve current day searching (Google) but what if the method of input wasn't a search box at all? What if you are speaking into your phone, to your car/gps or a shopping kiosk? Powerset's biggest challenge is not getting the NLP right but the mundane task of dealing with web-scale data sets. Peter Norvig has previously commented in this regard. Danny Sullivan and commenters above make great points but I think we’re thinking a little to narrow here. Why so much focus on the search box?
Sure, an NLP-powered search box might only marginally improve current day searching (Google) but what if the method of input wasn’t a search box at all? What if you are speaking into your phone, to your car/gps or a shopping kiosk? Powerset’s biggest challenge is not getting the NLP right but the mundane task of dealing with web-scale data sets. Peter Norvig has previously commented in this regard.

]]> By: Stefano http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/02/09/powerset-hype-to-boiling-point/#comment-922518 Stefano Sat, 10 Feb 2007 11:53:45 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/02/09/powerset-hype-to-boiling-point/#comment-922518 When does this get started? When does this get started?

]]> By: C. Sexton http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/02/09/powerset-hype-to-boiling-point/#comment-920995 C. Sexton Sat, 10 Feb 2007 07:01:57 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/02/09/powerset-hype-to-boiling-point/#comment-920995 12.5 Million, Ouch. As an average geek, I am so dependent on the array of Google services that search results alone would never woo me away. I think the same is for Yahoo! users and all of our MSN loving cousins in the UK. "But we're trying to make it better for average people to search using natural language" Average people don't know how to change their homepage. What's the number one searched term on the number one search engine in the world? You know it ... Yahoo! 12.5 Million, Ouch. As an average geek, I am so dependent on the array of Google services that search results alone would never woo me away. I think the same is for Yahoo! users and all of our MSN loving cousins in the UK.

“But we’re trying to make it better for average people to search using natural language” Average people don’t know how to change their homepage.

What’s the number one searched term on the number one search engine in the world? You know it … Yahoo!

]]> By: Steven Ickman http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/02/09/powerset-hype-to-boiling-point/#comment-919797 Steven Ickman Sat, 10 Feb 2007 02:53:34 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/02/09/powerset-hype-to-boiling-point/#comment-919797 So I personally think NLP does have a place in search but at this point in time you have to be realistic what it's capable of. Take the recall problem of finding things on your local machine first (Vista, WDS, GDS, YDS, etc.). The query "messages from tom about reviews" is a lot more natural to type then "kind:email from:tom reviews" and results in the same query if you enable Natural Language Search in Vista. The queries "music by rush" and "documents modified this week" also return what you'd expect (or at least I hope they do :) Add to this a good set of synonyms for everything and NLP can be great at bulding complex constraints over metadata heavy content. And it goes a long way towards replacing the Advanced Query Syntaxes (AQS) supported by most search engines. On the discovery side (Google, Live, Yahoo, etc.) I think it's a little less clear how current generation NLP adds value but it can certainly help on the filtering side of things at a minimum. The query "english pages about search created this month" seems pretty useful to me and easily formed... -Steve So I personally think NLP does have a place in search but at this point in time you have to be realistic what it’s capable of.

Take the recall problem of finding things on your local machine first (Vista, WDS, GDS, YDS, etc.). The query “messages from tom about reviews” is a lot more natural to type then “kind:email from:tom reviews” and results in the same query if you enable Natural Language Search in Vista. The queries “music by rush” and “documents modified this week” also return what you’d expect (or at least I hope they do :) Add to this a good set of synonyms for everything and NLP can be great at bulding complex constraints over metadata heavy content. And it goes a long way towards replacing the Advanced Query Syntaxes (AQS) supported by most search engines.

On the discovery side (Google, Live, Yahoo, etc.) I think it’s a little less clear how current generation NLP adds value but it can certainly help on the filtering side of things at a minimum. The query “english pages about search created this month” seems pretty useful to me and easily formed…

-Steve

]]> By: Jeremy Thomas http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/02/09/powerset-hype-to-boiling-point/#comment-919124 Jeremy Thomas Sat, 10 Feb 2007 00:49:21 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/02/09/powerset-hype-to-boiling-point/#comment-919124 I'm sure Google is actively looking at how to enhance Search. Let's face it, Search is their core IP, and certainly they understand there is plenty of room for improvement. I applaud those who are trying to compete, but Google has an army of smart engineers, 60% of whom work on Search, and I'm sure they'll come out with something natural language-oriented. David Berlind (over at ZDNet.com) recently pointed out that Sun is getting into the mix as well with a 3d Search concept (http://blogs.zdnet.com/Berlind/?p=219). Pretty interesting stuff. I’m sure Google is actively looking at how to enhance Search. Let’s face it, Search is their core IP, and certainly they understand there is plenty of room for improvement. I applaud those who are trying to compete, but Google has an army of smart engineers, 60% of whom work on Search, and I’m sure they’ll come out with something natural language-oriented.

David Berlind (over at ZDNet.com) recently pointed out that Sun is getting into the mix as well with a 3d Search concept (http://blogs.zdnet.com/Berlind/?p=219). Pretty interesting stuff.

]]> By: Shortshire http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/02/09/powerset-hype-to-boiling-point/#comment-918575 Shortshire Fri, 09 Feb 2007 23:27:46 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/02/09/powerset-hype-to-boiling-point/#comment-918575 Everyone is aiming for Google without taking out the small fries. They are building a natural language search which to someone people sound wonderful but I don't think it will work the way they want it to work. The search engines remove the in, by, the, a just to limit searches. That is why this is done. They may find a way to limit this at the beginning but they will soon learn that optimizing will be a pain for those words. This should be entertaining though. Everyone is aiming for Google without taking out the small fries. They are building a natural language search which to someone people sound wonderful but I don’t think it will work the way they want it to work. The search engines remove the in, by, the, a just to limit searches. That is why this is done. They may find a way to limit this at the beginning but they will soon learn that optimizing will be a pain for those words. This should be entertaining though.

]]> By: Rod King http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/02/09/powerset-hype-to-boiling-point/#comment-918098 Rod King Fri, 09 Feb 2007 21:58:46 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/02/09/powerset-hype-to-boiling-point/#comment-918098 It's interesting that some people think that Google Search is infallible. Our natural or intuitive prompt for a search is a question rather than a theme, phrase, or keyword. In future, theme or keyword-related searches will be largely replaced by question-led searches. The relevance of search engine results and consequently, the quality of search engines can be more easily determined if one poses questions rather than use keyword-queries. At the moment, search engines encourage a few keywords just like "baby talk:" (:-)! I'd like to talk to a search engine like an adult. In my view, any startup search engine that facilitates "adult talk" will pose a serious threat to Google Search. With regard to beating Google Search, the most effective strategy may be to attack Google Search at its weakest spot. Incidentally, the weakest spot of Google Search is an "open" secret: it is clearly visible but in the absence of an alternative, nearly everyone accepts what Google Search does. To paraphrase a recent comment by a CEO: "All these years, I was satisfied with using Google Search ... until I saw your search engine!" I am still working on the development of this Google-beating search engine which works in a way that the brain naturally processes information. Regrettably, I have to be in stealth mode. It's painful keeping this new search engine as a 'secret.' But if that secret puts me in a position to better challenge Google Search, then the pain would certainly be worth it. For now, just take note of this space ... I'll be back! It’s interesting that some people think that Google Search is infallible. Our natural or intuitive prompt for a search is a question rather than a theme, phrase, or keyword. In future, theme or keyword-related searches will be largely replaced by question-led searches. The relevance of search engine results and consequently, the quality of search engines can be more easily determined if one poses questions rather than use keyword-queries. At the moment, search engines encourage a few keywords just like “baby talk:” (:-)! I’d like to talk to a search engine like an adult. In my view, any startup search engine that facilitates “adult talk” will pose a serious threat to Google Search.
With regard to beating Google Search, the most effective strategy may be to attack Google Search at its weakest spot. Incidentally, the weakest spot of Google Search is an “open” secret: it is clearly visible but in the absence of an alternative, nearly everyone accepts what Google Search does. To paraphrase a recent comment by a CEO: “All these years, I was satisfied with using Google Search … until I saw your search engine!” I am still working on the development of this Google-beating search engine which works in a way that the brain naturally processes information. Regrettably, I have to be in stealth mode. It’s painful keeping this new search engine as a ’secret.’ But if that secret puts me in a position to better challenge Google Search, then the pain would certainly be worth it. For now, just take note of this space … I’ll be back!

]]> By: Andrew http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/02/09/powerset-hype-to-boiling-point/#comment-918035 Andrew Fri, 09 Feb 2007 21:46:29 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/02/09/powerset-hype-to-boiling-point/#comment-918035 Don't you think G is working on this type of stuff? You cannot beat G. It is not even worth mentioning. This company is looking to sell the technology behind the service. If anything it may help Yahoo but G is just laughing because they understand search like no other. Don’t you think G is working on this type of stuff? You cannot beat G. It is not even worth mentioning. This company is looking to sell the technology behind the service. If anything it may help Yahoo but G is just laughing because they understand search like no other.

]]> By: Damon Billian http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/02/09/powerset-hype-to-boiling-point/#comment-918022 Damon Billian Fri, 09 Feb 2007 21:43:20 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/02/09/powerset-hype-to-boiling-point/#comment-918022 "To put it quite simply, people might not know how to use a natural language search engine." Even google has pointers about using the search engine. I don't think that this is an issue. Having worked around some of the investors, I can honestly say that they probably wouldn't throw money down for something that wouldn't have a chance at working. Note: Even if nobody creates a "google killer", there's still money to be made if you can shave off some percentage of their base. “To put it quite simply, people might not know how to use a natural language search engine.”

Even google has pointers about using the search engine. I don’t think that this is an issue.

Having worked around some of the investors, I can honestly say that they probably wouldn’t throw money down for something that wouldn’t have a chance at working.

Note: Even if nobody creates a “google killer”, there’s still money to be made if you can shave off some percentage of their base.

]]> By: whoopee http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/02/09/powerset-hype-to-boiling-point/#comment-917780 whoopee Fri, 09 Feb 2007 21:01:34 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/02/09/powerset-hype-to-boiling-point/#comment-917780 jon - true, although lets be honest, none of these bubble2 operations cares about monetization because their exit of choice, actually their only exit, is to be acquired. there is nothing else. none of these sites will ever grace any exchange save the amex or some other otc garbage dump...none of these will ever manifest revenues that multiply to the satisfaction of the stakeholders...acquisition is it for these firms. jon - true, although lets be honest, none of these bubble2 operations cares about monetization because their exit of choice, actually their only exit, is to be acquired. there is nothing else. none of these sites will ever grace any exchange save the amex or some other otc garbage dump…none of these will ever manifest revenues that multiply to the satisfaction of the stakeholders…acquisition is it for these firms.

]]> By: Steve Morsa http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/02/09/powerset-hype-to-boiling-point/#comment-917765 Steve Morsa Fri, 09 Feb 2007 20:59:13 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/02/09/powerset-hype-to-boiling-point/#comment-917765 As promising as their natural language platform sounds, the greatest threat to Google's growing hegemony in the search/paid search arenas...given that about 1/2 of all searches are known to be for products and services...may actually spring not from better search, but from patent pending (#11/250,908) paid match, which will target people's actual demographic and psychographic traits and characteristics (keytraits) instead of just the words we all type into little search boxes. Though paid match is not yet an operating system, our own US Dept of Labor does run a very popular service (over 500,000 users/month) which provides an enlightening and instructive peak at the potential that such a paid match search/ad platform possesses. Called GovBenefits (available at govbenefits.gov), it utilizes a personal profile and a match engine to determine what government benefit programs people qualify for. Were such a system populated with the 100's of thousands to millions of products and services companies provide nation/worldwide instead of just the 400-odd government programs it includes now, one can only imagine what its public popularity would be... ...and with the world’s advertisers having the ability to pinpoint target and control; via bidding directly on those keytraits most relevant and applicable to their products and services, exactly who sees their ads (goodbye click fraud); one can also only imagine the deleterious effects that such an elegant and superior system/platform would have on a 95% PPC income dependent company like Google... …and as for the million+ users such a system would ideally initially need to appeal to the largest number of advertisers? …just one simple invite e-mail to their 100+ million e-mail users...along with one to their 50-100,000+ advertisers by Microsoft and/or Yahoo...and look... ... instant new billion+ dollar advertising marketplace. As promising as their natural language platform sounds, the greatest threat to Google’s growing hegemony in the search/paid search arenas…given that about 1/2 of all searches are known to be for products and services…may actually spring not from better search, but from patent pending (#11/250,908) paid match, which will target people’s actual demographic and psychographic traits and characteristics (keytraits) instead of just the words we all type into little search boxes.

Though paid match is not yet an operating system, our own US Dept of Labor does run a very popular service (over 500,000 users/month) which provides an enlightening and instructive peak at the potential that such a paid match search/ad platform possesses.

Called GovBenefits (available at govbenefits.gov), it utilizes a personal profile and a match engine to determine what government benefit programs people qualify for.

Were such a system populated with the 100’s of thousands to millions of products and services companies provide nation/worldwide instead of just the 400-odd government programs it includes now, one can only imagine what its public popularity would be…

…and with the world’s advertisers having the ability to pinpoint target and control; via bidding directly on those keytraits most relevant and applicable to their products and services, exactly who sees their ads (goodbye click fraud); one can also only imagine the deleterious effects that such an elegant and superior system/platform would have on a 95% PPC income dependent company like Google…

…and as for the million+ users such a system would ideally initially need to appeal to the largest number of advertisers?

…just one simple invite e-mail to their 100+ million e-mail users…along with one to their 50-100,000+ advertisers by Microsoft and/or Yahoo…and look…

… instant new billion+ dollar advertising marketplace.

]]> By: Proximity http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/02/09/powerset-hype-to-boiling-point/#comment-917728 Proximity Fri, 09 Feb 2007 20:53:31 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/02/09/powerset-hype-to-boiling-point/#comment-917728 WEB 2.0? WHAT?!?!?What?? No way?!? $12.5 million from Foundation Capital for Powerset. You got to be kidding me. Natual Search Engine. Trust me, it's waste of venture capital's money. All the search engine they can't find correct stockquote. For example, Type "y" in Hakia.com. -- you get error Type "y" in Google.com -- you get "Yahoo! Mail - The best web-based email!" Type "y" in Yahoo.com -- you get Yahoo! (Nasdaq: YHOO) Type "y" in Ask.com -- NFL.com - NFL Players Type "y" in live.com -- Urban Dictionary: Browse Y Type "y" all the search engine. You get wrong informations. My search... http://alt.active.ws Type "y". You get "Alleghany Corporation". This is my "wow" search engine. I start the tiny company less than penny. Venture capital should've invest DNA search engine where scientist & researcher can find cure for Parkinson's disease, AIDS, HIV, etc. WEB 2.0? WHAT?!?!?What?? No way?!? $12.5 million from Foundation Capital for Powerset. You got to be kidding me. Natual Search Engine. Trust me, it’s waste of venture capital’s money. All the search engine they can’t find correct stockquote.

For example,

Type “y” in Hakia.com. — you get error
Type “y” in Google.com — you get “Yahoo! Mail - The best web-based email!”
Type “y” in Yahoo.com — you get Yahoo! (Nasdaq: YHOO)
Type “y” in Ask.com — NFL.com - NFL Players
Type “y” in live.com — Urban Dictionary: Browse Y
Type “y” all the search engine. You get wrong informations.

My search… http://alt.active.ws
Type “y”. You get “Alleghany Corporation”. This is my “wow” search engine.
I start the tiny company less than penny.

Venture capital should’ve invest DNA search engine where scientist & researcher can find cure for Parkinson’s disease, AIDS, HIV, etc.

]]> By: Jon http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/02/09/powerset-hype-to-boiling-point/#comment-917645 Jon Fri, 09 Feb 2007 20:42:15 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/02/09/powerset-hype-to-boiling-point/#comment-917645 Who cares if they have better search than google? They need a better interface and a better ad delivery system. That's where google really won. Who cares if they have better search than google? They need a better interface and a better ad delivery system. That’s where google really won.

]]> By: Ranjit Padmanabhan http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/02/09/powerset-hype-to-boiling-point/#comment-917494 Ranjit Padmanabhan Fri, 09 Feb 2007 20:14:02 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/02/09/powerset-hype-to-boiling-point/#comment-917494 Another thing... as noted by Otis G, the objections about short queries etc. are an insufficient refutation of Powerset's potential. Search can also be substantially improved by using sophisticated NLP during the indexing process. With a sufficiently rich index (contextual meta-data, conceptual relationships, and that sort of thing) short queries can produce great results. And that's not counting personalization. A hybrid approach that uses deep NLP on the indexing side, and opportunistic, lightweight NLP (rules) for handling queries probably has the best chance for success. Another thing… as noted by Otis G, the objections about short queries etc. are an insufficient refutation of Powerset’s potential.

Search can also be substantially improved by using sophisticated NLP during the indexing process. With a sufficiently rich index (contextual meta-data, conceptual relationships, and that sort of thing) short queries can produce great results. And that’s not counting personalization.

A hybrid approach that uses deep NLP on the indexing side, and opportunistic, lightweight NLP (rules) for handling queries probably has the best chance for success.

]]> By: Colin Dowling http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/02/09/powerset-hype-to-boiling-point/#comment-916960 Colin Dowling Fri, 09 Feb 2007 18:34:08 +0000 http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/02/09/powerset-hype-to-boiling-point/#comment-916960 I think that it is short sighted to imagine that people have "learned to use Google" and figured out how to more quickly get the results they desire. Everyone here knows how to do that, but the TC group of early adopter types is a far cry from the common user. I know a large number of people who astound me daily by how they use computers, including the fact that many of them still "ask" google questions or type in phrases and don't understand why that often produces worse results (relative to what they are looking for) then if they just typed in a single topic. Like most folks, I think that the surface of search has just been scratched. While there will be a tendency for Google to remain the big dog on the porch, there is plenty of room for other players, particularly those that can successfully deliver a different way of looking for information that produces satisfactory results for the user. I think that it is short sighted to imagine that people have “learned to use Google” and figured out how to more quickly get the results they desire. Everyone here knows how to do that, but the TC group of early adopter types is a far cry from the common user.

I know a large number of people who astound me daily by how they use computers, including the fact that many of them still “ask” google questions or type in phrases and don’t understand why that often produces worse results (relative to what they are looking for) then if they just typed in a single topic.

Like most folks, I think that the surface of search has just been scratched. While there will be a tendency for Google to remain the big dog on the porch, there is plenty of room for other players, particularly those that can successfully deliver a different way of looking for information that produces satisfactory results for the user.

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