Like its counterparts, Middlespot aims to enhance searching for websites, images, news, Amazon and even Twitter by returning screenshots of results rather than just text links.

Kicking off a keyword-based search opens two columns: to the left, you’ll get standard stuff like title, summary and full link, and on the right you’ll get a visual representation of search results. In the latter column, you can make the frames bigger or smaller by using the slider or scrolling your mouse wheel, and hovering over the boxes will highlight them and offer a couple of options. It’s all pretty straightforward, so check it out.

Next to visual search, Middlespot is also somewhat of a social bookmarking service, since it lets you save search results in a so-called ‘workpad’, an extra layer that saves your favorited pages and wraps a number of social services around them, like commenting, sharing via e-mail and embedding (see below). It lets you rename the workpad results, add a custom URL and also offers related search results on-site. If you register for an account, you can backup your workpad, but if you note your workpad ID elsewhere you don’t even have to do that since you can fetch the saved results later. Last but not least, Middlespot offers a number of tools like bookmarklets and browser plugins that make it easier to remember to use the service when looking for something on the web.

The problem with Middlespot is that its overall website design is below par, and it’s horribly slow with current response times that will prove to be unacceptable for the majority of people who are used to getting search results much faster. But since Middlespot is just two guys doing this in their spare time, those gripes feel like splitting hairs and frankly it’s impressive what they’ve built without a dime of funding and limited time resources.

Check it out and let us know what you think.

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One of the problems with visual search sites is that most of them are only suited for a few specific kinds of queries. Try searching for a song on SearchMe, and you’re more likely to get a Wikipedia page than an MP3. Viewzi, a startup out of Texas, is looking to offer a more adaptive visual search that can radically change in both appearance and function depending on the search term. To check out the site, click here (for now this is the only way into the site, you’re free to adjust the search term and view mode once you’re in).

Viewzi draws its flexibility from its “views”, each of which is essentially a customized search aggregator. After entering a search term, Viewzi tries to figure out what you’re looking for, and presents the results in an appropriate view. At launch there are 16 views that include the “3D Photo Cloud”, “Album View”, and the curious “Weather View”. Each view draws results from different sources, ranging from Amazon to Weather.com.

Enter a search for “More Than A Feeling”, and you get the MP3 Search View, which lists links to the song, each of which can be previewed using an embedded Flash player. Try a search for “iPhone”, and you’ll get the Gadget View, which presents a mashup of iPhone queries on Amazon, Digg, Flickr, and Wikipedia. You’re also free to manually pick which view you’d like to use, though results can be less relevant.

For the time being, users will only be allowed to use views that have been created by the site’s developers. However, the site plans to roll out an API in the near future which will allow users to create their own views, and eventually hopes to make a WYSIWYG “View Maker” that will allow anyone to create their own views.

In practice Viewzi did a pretty good job at determining which View corresponded to a search term, though it wasn’t perfect. My biggest problem with the site at this point is that some of the views are pure eyecandy, offering little in the way of useful information. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing – I enjoy eyecandy just as much as the next guy. But it feels like a few of the views are sacrificing function for good looks (Gadget View, for example, is almost useless).

Viewzi competes with a number of other visual search engines, including SearchMe. Their custom aggregated search is similar to Rollyo.

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