Friday, June 26, 2009

Google Squared !!

It makes me keep an eye over Google lab. Every now and then they keep adding stuffs, hmm..rather intelligent stuff. i found a new one.. have a look at it - GOOGLE SQAUARED
I always try to be in new technology and features - especially when it comes to Google (they can be extremely innovative and think way out of the box when it comes to usability and features for web experience!). So check out Google Squared Labs!Google Squared is an experimental search tool that collects facts from the web and presents them in an organized collection, similar to a spreadsheet. If you search for [roller coasters], Google Squared builds a square with rows for each of several specific roller coasters and columns for corresponding facts, such as image, height and maximum speed.The great thing is that it combines all the information on the web on to one place, so you’re not clicking on multiple links (and then the back button) when looking for information.This technology is by no means perfect, enabling you to respond to the initial result and get a better answer. If there's another row or column you'd like to see, you can add it and Google Squared will automatically attempt to fetch and fill in the relevant facts for you. As you remove rows and columns you don't like, Google Squared will get a fresh idea of what you're interested in and suggest new rows and columns to add.
Just try giving gaming consoles, and you get gaming consoles all around the world properly arranged in a spreadsheet. If you feel some information is lacking, just click add more columns and fill in thats it. Just for eg, in my case there was no price displayed initially, i just added a column with name price and bingo it displayed the current prie of all devices..amazing..really a cool link to play with and fullfill your desirations.
If you click on any fact, you'll see the sources Google Squared gathered it from as well as a list of other possible values that you can investigate. So even if your square isn't perfect at the beginning, it's easy to work with Google Squared to get a better answer in no time. Once you've got a square you're happy with, you can save it and come back to it later.This type of technology has obvious applications for many types of targeted searches, including product search, health search, scientific searches, you name it. There are dozens of semantic search startups trying to impose structure on the Web to perform similar tricks. Another high-profile search startup which is launching is Wolfram Alpha, takes a slightly different approach in that it simply ingests massive amounts of information into its own databases where it can query it to its heart’s delight. Already there is a bit of a rivalry between Google and Wolfram because getting back structured results is a major new direction for search.