Dorthy.com Search: Somewhere near a Rainbow There Is a Pot of Gold
February 28, 2009
Another Google killer is moving from the lab to my laptop. The new search system is called Dorthy, and it makes use of whizzy new technology. I haven’t seen the system in action, but the write up in eWeek here presents an interesting description of the system. Among the points I noted were:
- NLP and semantics
- User asks a question as opposed to typing a key word or two or picking a topic from a list
- An online community angle.
Sounds tasty. In my experience, there may be one or two sticking points. First, users seem to be willing to type two or two and a half words to get information, but an increasing number are happy to let the system display a list of choices. Google’s engineers have disclosed “I’m feeling doubly lucky.” The system “knows” what the user is likely to want and presents the results. No search required.
Second, the natural language processing and semantic engines are not new. In fact, most search systems incorporate some type of smart software, semantic plumbing, and even a touch of NLP. You can give these systems a whirl by navigating to Ask.com, Hakia.com, and, yes, even Googzilla itself.
When I get a chance to play with the system, I will provide more information. What interested me is that I just wrote about a silly assertion that search is stable and features are dropping away like feathers from a molting parakeet. What do you know? Another new search engine with three hot features. My hunch is that Dorthy.com is more in touch with the times than the naïf who sees search as simple, stable, and a been there-done that technology.
Stephen Arnold, February 27, 2009
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One Response to “Dorthy.com Search: Somewhere near a Rainbow There Is a Pot of Gold”
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Hi Stephen – happy to hear Dorthy.com caught your interest. We couldn’t agree more that search has so much more potential than simple, been there done that technology, and we’ll be in touch when we open up the destination to the world. While several keyword-based search engines are turning profits and NLP isn’t brand new, the concept of achieving your goals through search and social media features is what we’re focused on. Users want real answers, not bolt-on features or hoping they get lucky with their search. Jim Anderson – Dorthy.com CTO