SearchMe is a visual search engine that offers category refinements to help remove some of the opacity around broad queries. Users searching for "cornish hens," for example, can refine their search by
looking within the "cooking," "Thanksgiving" and "diet and weight loss" categories, among others; or narrow down an "HDTV" search along the lines of "sales and bargains," "online forums" and
"auctions."
As Will Paoletto says, the startup has taken what seems like an obvious concept (i.e. that words take on different meanings depending on the context), and build a search
engine around it. SearchMe also has a unique interface, as the search results show up as vivid screenshots on a black background. Users can scroll through the screenshots using a drag bar (or arrows)
in a setting reminiscent of the "cover flow" display on Apple's iTunes.
While some may like the funky display, Paoletto says that it's actually SearchMe's worst feature. "The
website preview screen is too large and distracting. If they wanted to give the user a glimpse of what a site in the SERPS looks like, they should have just copied ASK's binocular feature," he says.
SearchMe is currently in an open beta (interested users need only sign up via email), and the startup is asking for user feedback to help improve the search results.
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