WebMynd, a Y Combinator company that launched early last year, has released a new plugin that is looking to streamline the way you search. The plugin, which is available for Firefox and Internet Explorer, enhances the search results on most popular search engines by inserting a handy sidebar with related search results from a variety of other sites. You can test out a web-based version of the feature here, or download the plugin on the site’s homepage.
WebMynd isn’t the first browser plugin to offer complementary results from other sites, but what it lacks in originally it makes up for with its polished execution. After installing the plugin, users simply visit one of the supported search engines (which include Google, Yahoo, and Live Search), and search for a query as usual. The plugin inserts a handful of small widgets at the right hand of the screen, each of which includes the first few matches of the same query from sites like Twitter, Amazon, or Digg. Users can choose from over 25 different search sites that they’d like to include in their results. The inserted widgets take some getting used to, but in practice they’re surprisingly useful.
The Firefox version of the new plugin also incorporates WebMynd’s historical archiving technology, which was the company’s primary focus when it launched (The IE version doesn’t offer this yet, but it is on the way). The archiving feature allows users to search through a comprehensive history of the pages they’ve visited, including the full text of each recently visited page (users can choose to turn the feature off during the plug-in’s initial setup process or at any time down the line).
CEO Amir Nathoo says that the company plans to monetize the new search enhancement by offering a white-labeled version of the plugin. Companies are able to set their search results as the default widget in the sidebar, though users are still free to customize the widget with their favorite sites after installation. A branded version of the widget can be seen at Fluther.com, and WebMynd is currently seeking other partners.
Tech Crunch makes it seem as if 75% of interesting new startups come from YCombinator.
Idea itself is interesting but a tough sell. Not sure if enough value add to make customers install it – doesn’t solve a glaring problem for them though it might ultimately be useful.
Looks like a nice idea. But how does google feel about their sponsored area being taken up with other search engine results?
Also, whats with all the negative comments below? Some seem to have no basis at all, other than pure spite.
There’s more information about the new features we’re launching on our blog: http://blog.webmynd.com
If you’re a publisher and interested in having your content available through WebMynd, we’d love to hear from you. We currently handle around 350K searches per day.
Looks interesting, but not something I would write home about.
With that said, I quite like the Amazon linking listing feature – certainly saves me the trouble of Googling something and then doing a search on it on Amazon. This will certainly make research quite a bit more convenient.
Good luck to the devs!
http://www.tech...ur-web-history/
reminds me of Infoaxe.
So many plugins have tried this before… all have failed.
Webmynd failed with their previous plugin and will fail with this one as well.
Stop being a dick. Seriously.
Atleast they had the guts to create something and run with it. What have you done? You don’t even have the balls to link your name to anything.
So, does google like the fact that you are getting rid of their sponsored links and replacing them with your own content? im sure they appreciate that…
Isn’t this the same thing Juice does?
why would i want this? like google ain’t smart? like after years of searching i haven’t figured it out now.
We love WebMynd at Dawdle and you can see another example of how they partner with publishers at http://www.webm...tml/dawdle.html
What makes this awesome is that you get to search 20 different sources without changing your workflow. Install it and you get all the sources when you hit Command-K just like you do now.
Ah yes, Dawdle… the place to sell games that has no traffic. I tried selling games there and was getting 20% less money than on eBay.
Nice idea. I also wonder about google’s position on covering up their ad area though.
On a side note. Is it “be a dick” week? It seems that the number of useless negative comments on the web have increased drastically as of late. If you do not have anything nice or constructive to say/ask then stfu.
I’m guessing you’re addressing me.
How about we say what we think and not just spew marketing/PR crap that companies are pushing? Isn’t truth a more noble goal than purely marketing messages?
way ahead of you Daves! This is constructive comments we’re giving man.
Nope. I was not addressing your post.
I was referring to many posts I read, with these being the ones that stood out in this topic:
Daves – March 1st, 2009 at 5:56 pm PST
“So many plugins have tried this before… all have failed. Webmynd failed with their previous plugin and will fail with this one as well.” = what an a$$.
lemonobrien@yahoo.com – March 1st, 2009 at 6:46 pm PST
“why would i want this? like google ain’t smart? like after years of searching i haven’t figured it out now.” = A child could tell that WebMynd are offering a service which is different (and adds value for some people) to Google’s standard search results.
Sure, your post may be off topic, but at least it is factual and based upon your experiences and not just a “downer” post.
Unless u are the same Daves as above. In which case yes I am addressing your post.
Not the one you made just above at “March 1st, 2009 at 7:09 pm PST” though.
Interesting…. doesn’t surf canyon do the same?
TechFilipino
Both are browser extensions modifying the major search engines to personalize search.
The difference is that WebMynd organises the results by source and embeds them in the right-hand side of the page. Surfcanyon only effects the results on the left side of the page by looking at what sort of results you click on.
So WebMynd has a different approach to the interface and allows you a much higher level of control over your personalization.
The idea of recording navigation is really interesting. But as to me the question is rather: what for?
Here stops webmynd and starts pearltrees.
Pearltrees is the community of a new generation of web users: the web editors
*web editors turn their daily navigations into maps
* web editors edit their maps in pearltrees to organize their web
* web editors share their maps to guide their friends through the web
* Collectively web editors build the living map of the web
http://www.pearltrees.com
Javascript only links = fail.
A browser plugin needs to do a proper job, so that other plugins will be able to interact with their content.
Your tags should have href. Stop relying on javascript only.
Nice implementation, simple, and nice.
The lack of “real” links makes it unusable for me though.
LOL… didn’t know HTML was supported here.
The above says your ‘A’ tags…
Iran war Mulla Nasruddin
Geez, another company built on about 200 lines of JavaScript with a 400k funding?
You can get all that and probably more with a basic and customizable Greasemonkey script like this one for example:
http://userscri...ipts/show/11888
Look at the screenshot there… For the curious geeks here, open the actual script too… About 200 lines indeed.
Would we even talk about this “company” if the YCombinator hype machine was not behind?
sorry sir bt this plugin failed in my system.tell me the right way…
http://www.face...Singh/711714216
Interesting idea.
I installed it, so far looks ok for me, however, the google ad is not there anymore, covered by the results from this plugin.
don’t know what will Google do about it.
maybe nothing…
here is another plugin that performs some semtech across website,nytimes,flickr and twitter:
http://beliefne...works.net/bnws/
t-
Webmynd looks like a cool addition to search.
I think I’d like it more if it was accessible from any webpage, and not only from search pages. A bit like the Headup addon (http://Headup.com).
Cheers,
Mike
“I tweet @pop_art”