In The David Vs Goliath Battles Of Search - Will Blinkx Change The Future Of Search

While the Titan’s battle it out, there's sometimes an opportunity for a mouse to change the world. That could well be just what's happening right now in the world of search. Since Google's very public listing on the stock exchange and the continuous stream of speculation from and about Microsoft’s search ambitions, a small technology start up named Blinkx may have just changed the way we see search.

If people downloading and using the software is an indicator, then the more than million downloads in under two months, means Blinkx is a very hot topic. Of course that doesn’t count the hundreds of thousands more that are probably using it after downloading Blinkx from other websites or from CDs pasted onto magazine covers etc. Like Google in its early days, the number of users is multiplying fast. There is huge interest from venture capitalists eager to invest and grab a share of what could be the next hi-tech money-spinner.

Blinkx is not necessarily activated by the user asking it to carry out a search on a topic. Rather, if the user begins working on a subject, it will automatically start a search. It is said to be an approach where technology should take care of all the key words and be able to bring all the information to us before we ask. It’s about technology serving us.'

So is this brand new, hasn’t anyone else thought of these ideas yet?
Almost all of Blinkx's functionality sounds very similar to projects currently underway in Microsoft's, and others, research labs. The difference is, Blinkx is out there and working right now, not a couple of years from now or some mystical time in the future.

The difference between Blinkx and other search engines is that it does not just search the Web; it combs everything from personal emails on your desktop through to video clips from TV stations such as the ABC etc.

Ironically, the big draw for Blinkx seems to have more to do with finding the right piece of information on your own desktop computer rather than necessarily making the Web easier to search. Regardless, the same technology powers both types of searches and introduces a shift in search styles for all those who use search technologies.

So is Blinkx just like any other “Search Engine” do you just type in keywords and ask the system to search for them?
Well no, not really, it tries to use concepts more so than Words - Blinkx takes the idea of search a step farther than the keyword bound systems used by Google and every other engine. Rather than asking the user to interpret what they're looking for into a string of keywords and then launch a search query, Blinkx examines the context (i.e. the meaning) of their current activity and tries to work-out the desired concept from that.

For example, if you're on a Web site about collecting 1970 Volkswagen Beetles, Blinkx will have a look at and use all the relevant content on that page to create the key concept of what you might be looking for. It will then suggest matching sites based on the entire concept, rather than just two or three words. The sites authors point out that this gives a much more accurate match, because you're using the entire text of a page. If you want to restrict the text used to provide the match, just highlight the desired content and Blinkx will refine the query.

Does Blinkx act like other Search Engines, that is search and list Web sites only? Or is it different in some way?
Yes it is different in the sense that the content used to create the concept doesn't have to be a webpage. The source of the search results could be in an e-mail, a Word processing document or even a spreadsheet. Once Blinkx is installed, it will take a screen shot of whatever you're working on and quietly suggest both local files and web sites that seem to match the key concept of your file. The Blinkx tool bar loads icons on the top right of the toolbar and when it finds a match, the appropriate tab changes colour. Blinkx has tabs for 7 different channels, including News, Products (shopping), Web, E-mails, Video Clips, Blogs and Local Files. The suggested links appear in a window when you hover your mouse pointer over the tab.

Does Blinkx change the way we actually “interact” with the Internet?
One of the interesting results that Blinkx found with the original users is a dramatic increase in the number of Web site links visited in a day. Traditionally, most users may turn to a search engine 5 to 10 times a day. This means most users might see 50 to 100 links. But when Blinkx is always there, suggesting relevant links, the number of links seen by the user rises dramatically. The average Blinkx user generally sees 200 to 250 links a day. This certainly opens up some real potential in the area of search marketing. It is suggested that when search is ubiquitous (or just an every day event), users will look at it more. They don't have to stop what they're doing, go to the Web and search. In contrast Blinkx will always there, making suggestions.

Is Blinkx ready to go right now?
Blinkx isn't perfect. According to the sites authors "There are still a lot of bits to figure out. The biggest hurdle for us right now is the size of our index, but that's improving every day." Perhaps the question is how will the likes of Google, Yahoo!, and Microsoft respond.

This is potentially the biggest innovation in search in the past eight years. And the fact that it came from a small start-up rather than a major player indicates that the frontier of search is still alive and well. Copernic also has a similar search appliance out and working, see Copernic's Desktop Search tool.

Arthur Hissey
Computer Research & Technology
www.crt.net.au