http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/technology/2008/12/kosmix_searching_for_optimism.html en-gb 30 Wed 23 Dec 2009 09:26:46 GMT+1 A feed of user comments from the page found at http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/technology/2008/12/kosmix_searching_for_optimism.html http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/technology/2008/12/kosmix_searching_for_optimism.html?page=17#comment8 Hey guys, the valley startups are not merely into the familiar B2C (business to consumer), more often than not, they are into B2B (business to business). This company, like many others, has a business case in the B2B market - if they get their tech innovation right.Making a successful B2C business case - especially for a startup - is extremely challenging. Both startups and their investors should be crazy to only target a B2C success.So, startups take the B2B route (of lesser resistance) and selloff at the right price. They even go by a fancy name - "serial entrepreneur". Journalists, especially not the ones in the valley circuit, are not endowed with the eye for spotting this difference. Bear with them. Fri 12 Dec 2008 02:45:21 GMT+1 http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/technology/2008/12/kosmix_searching_for_optimism.html?page=15#comment7 Sorry, but I really didn't like this search engine. For a start without having read this article I wouldn't have even known that the page was a search engine by default, a small search box at the top with what is basically their homepage below makes it less than obvious what the function of the page actually is (I have never liked this about Yahoo either). For an as yet small and unknown search engine, this just doesn't work.To my eye the results are cluttered, unclear and far too many assumptions are made about what the user might or might not want to see. Also far too few results are shown, both in terms of numbers of results and the range of results shown (entire sections of the results page query only a single site).As it stands I can't see this making any headway what so ever into the search market. Thu 11 Dec 2008 15:00:11 GMT+1 http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/technology/2008/12/kosmix_searching_for_optimism.html?page=13#comment6 Sorry, but I really didn't like the way this search engine worked. For a start if I just stumbled across this Thu 11 Dec 2008 14:23:40 GMT+1 http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/technology/2008/12/kosmix_searching_for_optimism.html?page=11#comment5 These are dotcom bubble-gummers, but with a difference. Their past lives have included astounding successes as the (sale of) junglee.com - a site with no success, but a concept worth a lot when in the right hands. So, yes, I wouldn't count on them to make the greatest search engine - i would expect them to make inroads into search that either microsoft or google would want to buyout their IP. Wait and watch.... Thu 11 Dec 2008 10:55:42 GMT+1 http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/technology/2008/12/kosmix_searching_for_optimism.html?page=8#comment4 i tried a search and it was not very goodas a veteran of the web industry (since 1994) i've seen and tried all the search servicesthis one isn't worth usingit's more of an aggregate of content, something that pageflakes or netvibes, or my yahoo, igoogle does way better Thu 11 Dec 2008 07:28:15 GMT+1 http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/technology/2008/12/kosmix_searching_for_optimism.html?page=6#comment3 Not my cup of tea. Any search engine that doesn't fit in 1024x768 isn't focusing on its job. From the article it seems that it's main selling point is that if you search for one thing it also brings up links to information it thinks you might also like. In other words, it gives you links to stuff you never searched for. Since when was that a good thing?Frankly Googles model is going to be extremely hard to beat. The page is simple, uncluttered, fast to load and execute your search, and it returns decent results. I admit that it works best with a well engineered search query, so the only real improvement I can think of is some conversion between "granny speak" and a proper search query to improve Googles chances of finding what you actually want. The advantage of that kind of business is Google may actually pay for your know how.How they got $20 mil I'll never know. Must be based purely on the lads name rather than any strength in the business model.Give us proper media searching (e.g. "picture of Dallas skyline at night" bringing up appropriate images based on their content rather than keywords attached to them), give us searching in foreign language sites (e.g. I seach for "dalmations inherited diseases" and it brings up not only appropriate English language sites but translated French sites about the issue too), give us searching by website class (e.g. specify that your search results should only be returned from media sites, or from consumer advice sites etc) but gluing together a few queries and returning their results in a page littered with trash isn't what people need right now. Ok, it's not what I need right now. Tue 09 Dec 2008 17:16:33 GMT+1 http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/technology/2008/12/kosmix_searching_for_optimism.html?page=4#comment2 It would appear to just be a hash of Wikipedia, Yahoo and YouTube rolled into one website. Like previous posters, if I want any of those, I'd go straight to source rather than use an middleman. Another website I'll not visit again... Tue 09 Dec 2008 16:15:04 GMT+1 http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/technology/2008/12/kosmix_searching_for_optimism.html?page=2#comment1 I found the page quite cluttered and basically a repeat of Yahoo's homepage. The search engine just returns results from Google and most of the other result sections weren't relevant to my searches. If I want to search for videos I go to a video site like youtube, if I want images, I use google images. I can't see how this site does anything differently. Oh, and it's slower than google. Tue 09 Dec 2008 12:03:15 GMT+1 http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/technology/2008/12/kosmix_searching_for_optimism.html?page=0#comment0 Hmmm...I've tried a few searches. Each search returned a nice selection of information...but not about the exact item I was searching for.It looks like you will have to be very specific in your search terms in order to find this site useful. Tue 09 Dec 2008 09:43:48 GMT+1