Comments on: ImportGenius: The Disruptive Shipping Database

By: David

David — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 19:56:17 +0000

As a business owner in a jurisdiction outside of the US, I take great exception to ImportGenius publishing transactional data that didn’t involved an American company and was not processed by US Customs (which they claim is their focus). I have requested a removal on the basis of privacy outside of the US domain. This is the first mitigation, that may lead to more demonstrative or litiguous action if not respected.

By: Palladin5

Palladin5 — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 19:20:56 +0000

import-genius blows. dont spend your hard earned money on it. Its a rip off and a scam. keep away.

By: Watchdog54

Watchdog54 — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 03:21:25 +0000

Import Genius is neither the first nor the most extensive to provide this kind of service, there are several well established companies in the market. The Datamyne has been accumulating international trade records for more than a decade, at last check they had over 600 million records in their database, tracking imports from 42 countries.

By: Ken Goldstein

Ken Goldstein — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 00:54:29 +0000

I’ve used import genius by paying monthly fees and have to say that I am not happy at all. They don’t provide you with any real service or information worth the money. Mostly general information is provided which is of no use at all. I found it was a big waste of money. I didn’t know you can get this info for free so I will definitely be trying that.

By: Jill Howard

Jill Howard — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 19:47:20 +0000

Its nothing but a waste of time and money. Doesn’t tell you anything that i can’t already get for free. Customer service is horrific. This one will be going the way of Lehman pretty soon and I’m glad-after these scam artists took my money.

By: MindSharing | get together • go tomorrow | Import/Export Informations-System

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 06:03:14 +0000

[...] Links: buzinkay.net einkauf-und-management.at importgenius.com techcrunch.com [...]

By: Amazing New Trade Data - Islandimports

Amazing New Trade Data - Islandimports — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 06:16:41 +0000

[...] also TechCrunch on ImportGenius. It is no coincidence that I have to thank Ryan’s former econ professor, Ray Fisman, for the [...]

By: Jenny

Jenny — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 01:35:28 +0000

It’s useful !!

By: Mark Druskoff

Mark Druskoff — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 20:26:40 +0000

Riffing on the new iPhone is neat marketing gimmick to be sure, but by no means is ImportGenius the only company out there:

“But according to ImportGenius’s Managing Director Ryan Petersen, this is the first service of its kind, and one that has no shortage of potential applications.”

Either he’s being disingenuous or his competitive intel ain’t so good.

Back in June 2005 MinnesotaBusiness Magazine, where I was previously editor, we ran a story on Zepol. Founded in 2002, it offers pretty similar services on a subscription basis. According to their website, Zepol.com, the company’s database contains 58,956,000 total shipments.

By: Clyde Smith

Clyde Smith — Fri, 30 May 2008 16:26:07 +0000

“We should note that this kind of data isn’t going to be useful for security purposes - the US Customs office has invested in a $15 Billion tracking system that (hopefully) leaves this one in the dust.”

Fascinating news for a data geek like myself but what is it that Customs is tracking that’s any better?

From what I understand, you can only know what somebody’s actually moving if you look inside the boxes via tech or human surveillance.

Self reported data does not lead to a secure system.

US Customs is as pathetically incapable of meeting our security needs as were those clowns who killed New Orleans.

By: LH

LH — Thu, 29 May 2008 03:49:22 +0000

Don´t worry, it will be available soon for free.

By: Larry Chiang

Larry Chiang — Thu, 29 May 2008 00:11:57 +0000

Perhaps one street smart founder can add more value with a team of 15 guys than the US Customs office with a $15,000,000,000 budget

By: Pablo Escobar

Pablo Escobar — Wed, 28 May 2008 23:28:16 +0000

Don’t you people know that much of the paperwork for shipments are falsified? Freight forwarders who will turn a blind eye are a dime a dozen…as are corrupt customs officials.

See you at the docks tonight, Mr. Arrington.

By: Charles

Charles — Wed, 28 May 2008 22:52:48 +0000

“the US Customs office has invested in a $15 Billion tracking system that (hopefully) leaves this one in the dust.”

Hehe, key word there is definitely “hopefully”…

By: Internet Lawyer

Internet Lawyer — Wed, 28 May 2008 22:39:45 +0000

This is the kind of disruptive app that is likely to have high impact. More and more the real action will be in the use of disruptive technologies in industries that having noting directly to do with tech. All knowledge based industries will be disrupted. It is nice to see that TechCrunch is paying attention.

By: Paul

Paul — Wed, 28 May 2008 22:35:37 +0000

Mr. Kincaid has more faith in large government IT projects than many. From what we keep reading, billions of dollars in development costs only create lawsuits and reorgs. Your tax dollars at play.

By: Andrew Holt

Andrew Holt — Wed, 28 May 2008 22:19:00 +0000

This is a great concept, especially for businesses that live and die on margins through their supply chain. If your competitor is sourcing something far cheaper than you, you need to know about it.

I’ll set my self apart from the usual comments here - they doesn’t need to make APIs to let developers mash up the data. It has a very clear value proposition for real businesses. Making money does have it’s benefits.

By: Captain

Captain — Wed, 28 May 2008 22:06:22 +0000

sounds a great product for organised crime too. From that apple story you can easily work out where 44 container loads of new i-phones must be sitting. Link it to google maps , hey presto.

By: Jefferson Adams

Jefferson Adams — Wed, 28 May 2008 21:25:45 +0000

This sounds like it could be a superb tool for investigative journalists. Assuming they can afford to pay the $250/mo for database access, that is.

By: Greg

Greg — Wed, 28 May 2008 20:30:09 +0000

“No matter how secretive a company is about its products, it still has to keep accurate shipping records.”

So if you really want to be secretive, you don’t manufacture overseas. What a surprising twist that could result in at least some small increase in domestic manufacturing!

By: Nikel Spherot

Nikel Spherot — Wed, 28 May 2008 20:26:14 +0000

Well one might also look at what this place has a similar market, but covers air, trucking, sea, etc.
http://www.freightdesk.com/

I think best thing ImportGenius could do would be to open up an API and set of web services to set them apart and let developers create mashups. The one I mentioned above has a lock on the data as well and also a lock on the government marketplace so it seems from their front page bolstering.

By: Martin Edic

Martin Edic — Wed, 28 May 2008 20:23:15 +0000

Boy can I think of a lot of things you could do with that data. It’s actually a little frightening if you think about it. For example, how many Russian and Chinese made weapons are coming into the country? Gun control advocates might find this useful. Frankly I think there will be lawsuits about this as it’s business intelligence which could be considered trade secrets.

BTW, are there computers that are not ‘electronic’? Abacuses maybe?

By: Jason Kincaid

Jason Kincaid — Wed, 28 May 2008 20:19:00 +0000

@e fall

From what I gather most of it is free, but they are using (paid) licenses to access a number of databases that analyze it.

By: e fall

e fall — Wed, 28 May 2008 20:17:15 +0000

If the data is indeed available for free, you can bet there is someone who will reorganize it, and offer a product similar for free. soon.

By: Michael Dennis Smith

Michael Dennis Smith — Wed, 28 May 2008 19:55:38 +0000

Now here’s a way they could make big bucks: create pay-to-use APIs to license their data to developers for their apps.

http://www.z-portal.uni.cc/