First Semantic Search Engine?
By Leah Messinger
Business search company ZoomInfo announced today the launch of what it’s calling the first-ever semantic search engine. But is it really?
The answer depends on whom you ask. ZoomInfo vice president of products and marketing Russell Glass enthuses that it’s “the first example of really disruptive value being created with semantic search and semantic technologies.” He said big search companies return results that are too broad to be helpful, and described traditional business information companies as “dinosaurs,” which rely on time-intensive data gathering.
And marketing and business analysts laud the site’s newly available search functions that can be used to give meaning and structure to wide-ranging information already on the web. They see ZoomInfo as a boon for business-to-business marketers and others seeking detailed company information.
The company’s mission is, after all, offering free detailed information about more than 3 million companies, including essential functions, contact information, and lists of major competitors. Basic searches for people within companies are also free, with a tiered subscription service for more detailed information on as many as 35 million individuals.
The site works by applying tags to information that distinguish between key concepts, such as a person, an industry, or a company name. Semantic search often relies on artificial intelligence and the abilities of computers to learn and understand relationships.
“You don’t have to sift through all of the results that one Web search company, like a Google or Yahoo, will bring back,” explained ZoomInfo’s COO Bryan Burdick.
But search experts say semantic search means different things to different people. They favor all technology that improves search results, but questioned whether any site could claim the title of “first” semantic search engine.
Companies such as Google already use elements of semantic search, say these experts. It’s akin to describing something as “the first energy-efficient automobile,” said Doug Lenat, a semantic search expert who runs Cycorp, another semantic technology company.
Still, some analysts spoke glowingly about ZoomInfo’s semantic search engine.
“It’s the Holy Grail of what B2B marketers are looking for,” said Forrester vice president Laura Ramos.
Sapna Satagopan, an associate analyst with JupiterResearch, said the site is unusually good at looking at relationships within companies, a benefit to both marketers and recruiters that will disrupt the prevailing model of corporate data collection.
“Technology replaces what was once a formerly labor-intensive process,” she added.
Business search company ZoomInfo announced today the launch of what it’s calling the first-ever semantic search engine. But is it really?
The answer depends on whom you ask. ZoomInfo vice president of products and marketing Russell Glass enthuses that it’s “the first example of really disruptive value being created with semantic search and semantic technologies.” He said big search companies return results that are too broad to be helpful, and described traditional business information companies as “dinosaurs,” which rely on time-intensive data gathering.
And marketing and business analysts laud the site’s newly available search functions that can be used to give meaning and structure to wide-ranging information already on the web. They see ZoomInfo as a boon for business-to-business marketers and others seeking detailed company information.
The company’s mission is, after all, offering free detailed information about more than 3 million companies, including essential functions, contact information, and lists of major competitors. Basic searches for people within companies are also free, with a tiered subscription service for more detailed information on as many as 35 million individuals.
The site works by applying tags to information that distinguish between key concepts, such as a person, an industry, or a company name. Semantic search often relies on artificial intelligence and the abilities of computers to learn and understand relationships.
“You don’t have to sift through all of the results that one Web search company, like a Google or Yahoo, will bring back,” explained ZoomInfo’s COO Bryan Burdick.
But search experts say semantic search means different things to different people. They favor all technology that improves search results, but questioned whether any site could claim the title of “first” semantic search engine.
Companies such as Google already use elements of semantic search, say these experts. It’s akin to describing something as “the first energy-efficient automobile,” said Doug Lenat, a semantic search expert who runs Cycorp, another semantic technology company.
Still, some analysts spoke glowingly about ZoomInfo’s semantic search engine.
“It’s the Holy Grail of what B2B marketers are looking for,” said Forrester vice president Laura Ramos.
Sapna Satagopan, an associate analyst with JupiterResearch, said the site is unusually good at looking at relationships within companies, a benefit to both marketers and recruiters that will disrupt the prevailing model of corporate data collection.
“Technology replaces what was once a formerly labor-intensive process,” she added.
posted by Nb at
4:33 AM
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1 Comments:
My interpretation of ZoomInfo’s underlying relationship capabilities’ limit themselves to three or four relationship types which are derived from highly structured taxonomies. That can hardly claim to be the first semantic search engine. Hard core search is the domain of members of the global Special Librarian’s Association. At their international 2005 Toronto meeting they awarded their “Innovation in Technology” award to the first truly Internet accessible semantic information “filtering” search engine located within Boston Children’s Hospital’s “Center on Media and Child Health.” www.cmch.tv/research/. Their “smart search” NLP eliminates the need for “query structuring” by a user. It excels with lots of “context”- unrestricted length conversational style queries. It mediates results from ten different “social science” professions - filtered and ordered more precisely when using “jargon”, well-articulated community-informal vocabulary. Experience true semantics yourself, try some questions like: What is the impact of the media on adolescent sexual attitudes and behaviors? Or, Can parents prevent children from experiencing unwanted effects of violent television?
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