Snap.com is back

[Bleys]

Snap.com just relaunched.

It has some nifty features from a user perspective... autocomplete (that works fairly well!), large sized preview images (way bigger than Ask.com), and the ability to load page alongside search results (Browster, eat your heart out). Their search results aren't quite as fast as I'd wish, but their use of AJAX is very nice (not overdone and actually helpful).

That have launched under the power of a pretty wide-reaching online advertising campaign. Hitting major tech blogs, net banks, and ecommerce sites. And they have a pretty good management team behind them (like Bill Gross of GoTo/Overture) and are presumably very well funded.

Their results aren't treating my sites very well, and I can't find a way to submit sites to them (so I assume they're like Ask.com in this respect--and they have found my sites).

Some stuff I found in their help and about pages that is interesting:

An important difference in how we achieve relevant results to your search is that our algorithm takes advantage of the anonymous*, past behavior of millions of users. By analyzing these past searches, we can tell which result is visited more often, the average time users spend on the site, and whether or not they took any action. All of these clues help us determine if the site is right for you.

Q: How does Snap Rank work?
A: Our 'Snap Rank' algorithm combines advanced calculations involving analyses of the web itself (such as link strength and query matches) with a large body of human data to deliver results that are accurate, trustworthy, and directly related to your intentions and needs. Snap processes post-search actions from our Snap Network, started in January of 2004. Snap evaluates where users go after a search - what listings they choose and how many pages they review on that site, right after the same search you did. The overall popularity of the site also influences the ranking.

-Advertisers will like Snap, because it displays algorithmic and paid results in a mixed listing (though paid results are still marked as such).

-Users may like Snap for its helpful/innovative features.
-Users may dislike Snap because it is slow and they apparently track what you do after you leave the site (which I doubt people will care for).

What do you think, will Snap make a dent in the Google/Yahoo/MSN (Ask) controlled search market? Will this be relevant for site owners at all? Do you like Snap at all?

[stymiee]

Without even looking I can say it will be a bomb just like its first go around. With search if you don't have relevant results you die. It obvious they are years behind Google, and Yahoo and MSN have way more money to invest in search then snap does. Ask.com will prob be the only other search engine that can hang with the big boys for any length of time. Everyone else is going to go the way of the dodo (most already have).

[ShytKicka]

Well. It is a very nice search site. It is very smooth and elegant, and it seems to be very innovative such as Microsoft Live Beta. But is it a good search engine? Does it have relevant results? Is it good enough for web users nowadays?

A big fat NO.

[Bleys]

Originally Posted by stymiee

With search if you don't have relevant results you die.

What's to say they don't have relevant results? Or won't once this "exit analysis" algorithm (I'll call it) kicks in?

Or what's to say Google or Yahoo or MSN have relevant results. Results in those three search engines vary greatly (especially between Google and the other two)... and they are all so easy to manipulate, I tend to think the integrity of the search results from the big three has been somewhat sullied.

[smeagain]

Originally Posted by Bleys

What's to say they don't have relevant results? Or won't once this "exit analysis" algorithm (I'll call it) kicks in?

Or what's to say Google or Yahoo or MSN have relevant results. Results in those three search engines vary greatly (especially between Google and the other two)... and they are all so easy to manipulate, I tend to think the integrity of the search results from the big three has been somewhat sullied.

I agree... if the results of Goggle are that relevant they wouldn't sell any advertising... organic search results would get the clicks.

sme

[ShytKicka]

Originally Posted by Bleys

What's to say they don't have relevant results?

Let's be frank, a search on snap.com for the term "Wii" returns only 120 results.

A search on Google.com for the term "Wii" returns 96,700,000.


What other possible conclusion can one draw from this? That this is still a great search engine? Come on, let's be realistic. You're probably going to forget about about this Snap.com site by tomorrow.

[ArcticPro]

I'm still looking at it, and I LIKE IT!

Looks neat and I'm going to keep testing it out, thanks for sharing.

[Sparta]

Looks really nice, and once it gets some more results, I'm sure it will have a small cult following like Opera has, it will be their search engine darling.

But it is designed very nicely.

[Bleys]

Originally Posted by ShytKicka

Let's be frank, a search on snap.com for the term "Wii" returns only 120 results.

A search on Google.com for the term "Wii" returns 96,700,000.


What other possible conclusion can one draw from this? That this is still a great search engine? Come on, let's be realistic. You're probably going to forget about about this Snap.com site by tomorrow.

Well, I personally don't have any opinions formed about it yet. For the sake of argument, though, let's say their robot works quickly and they index another billion pages by the summer (or lets say they buy Alexa's database to augment their own). Now they have a larger pool of sites in their index. If their results are relevant, will their search engine be relevant?

Snap.com only just relaunched in the past few days (maybe even today, I'm not sure)... so their index is understandably small... but if it grows quickly, I think they may have the money and technology to compete.

(Also, I very much doubt there are 96.7 million pages about Nintendo's Wii already--the name was only just changed a couple of weeks ago, right?--which indicates to me that many of those results are probably useless... Maybe Snap's 120 are the most relevant out there--again, just playing devil's advocate here. )

[dreamscape]

Originally Posted by Bleys

Users may dislike Snap because it is slow and they apparently track what you do after you leave the site (which I doubt people will care for).

They can't track what you do when you leave the site unless you have one of their toolbars or plugins installed in your browser. All other search engines, including Google, that offer toolbars or plugins do the same thing. And they wouldn't be able to do that without your permission either, so even though I haven't downloaded it, my guess is that you can turn that off in their toolbar preferences too. I'm pretty sure they'd have to give you the option to turn it off.

They can sort of track what you do in the live preview pane though since you haven't left their site.

I noticed Ask.com is listed on their technology partners page too...

[OnlineGuide]

It is very interesting in the way they list sites. I did a few searches though to test their technology. It really is different and, in some respect, refreshing. There is one major flaw though, the results listed had a lot of outdated sites and information. If they can get the relavancy up, they might be able to hang in there. A Google, Yahoo, or MSN they are not, but they could possibly duke it out with Ask.com.

[ronjames]

great search engine, but i feel the design makes them look "small" it dosn't have that big corporate feeling that they will need if they want mega hits.

but I *really* like the concept, I will use them. the searches I did came back with plenty on sites to choose from.

change the look and they are onto a winner.

[Ize]

WOW ! I love it! Not only does it look good, it has some great features. I like the way you can "preview" a page before going there. Plus the keyboard navigation works very intuitive.

But, as mentioned above, it has yet to be proven this is a worthy search engine. Nonetheless, I hope it will be, I like using it.

[chimaera]

Looks great, works great - will I use it? No. Slow, search results are appalling and why would I need anything besides Google?

[chris ward]

slow as a dog, god damn no way hell on earth is this going to take off.

sooo much cpu-lag

[dave owen]

Originally Posted by OnlineGuide

There is one major flaw though, the results listed had a lot of outdated sites and information.

You got that right. I did a search for "video camera tutorial" and the #1 result was a page I moved with a 301 redirect over 18 months ago!

[hooperman]

It looks pretty and slick, but as others have pointed out it's slow and has a small database (at the moment).

Do we really need a preview pane for a returned website though? It looks nice but I don't think it adds any value. They also don't handle any adult content, which might exclude a large proportion of searchers.

[spence_noodle]

looks good

has nice idea's

new touches

but, it's too slow

i'm sticking with Google

[sugardaddy]

like the look.
the preview pane is a big bonus. will save on time going to site that have no relevance to my search...come on "Google.com for the term "Wii" returns 96,700,000." looking for quality not quantity.
will need to have better results though to stay alive.
flash in the pan maybe but hope not, some good ideas and should not be written off.
may give google a kick in the back side to re-invent it self to become more user friendly and accurate.

[Dabrowski]

Regarding number of results, I like that it has a smaller database. Of all the Internet sites out there, how many are actually useful? I think snap will be more popular with non-tech users. And they do handle adult content, but it has to be selected.

[hooperman]

I tried searching for adult content (all in the name of research of course!) but snap directed me to another search site - NightSurf.

[wienerdog]

Originally Posted by Bleys

What's to say they don't have relevant results? Or won't once this "exit analysis" algorithm (I'll call it) kicks in?

Or what's to say Google or Yahoo or MSN have relevant results. Results in those three search engines vary greatly (especially between Google and the other two)... and they are all so easy to manipulate, I tend to think the integrity of the search results from the big three has been somewhat sullied.

I think google has TERRIBLE search results. Their algorithm is totally owned by the sploggers and squatters.

The trouble is most upstarts are even worse at getting tangled in the spam web. However, the snapshots are a big help to judge if there is real content. I've been using ask.com lately. Although it's easy to fall back to google for simple things I'm trying to re-find.

[nueva]

looks ok, i like the thing with screentshots.

[TheOriginalH]

Ew. That's all I have to say on the matter.

[kiltman]

i love the design, but its just far too slow for me to use regulary