ManagedQ is a new search search that provides a visual interface to Google’s results (see our full review on AltSearchEngines here). Since ManagedQ’s results come directly from Google, there’s no loss in result quality, but the service adds a semantic layer to search, by automatically determining the key Person, Places, and Things for your search.
When you begin a query on ManagedQ, your results appear as tiled screenshots with an information bar on the left. The screenshots, powered by Snap.com have the link to the web site above them and a summary, the same as you would see on Google, beneath them.
If that was all ManagedQ did, it would just be another visual search engine, not offering much more than a similar service like that of RedZee, except that its visual previews are real-time.
However, ManagedQ has a unique feature in its “Executive Summary” bar to the left of the results. This is where you’ll find the important ideas in your search grouped by people, places and things. If you’re the first person to search a particular keyword, these take a little time to load, but summaries for repeat queries are instantaneous. As you mouse over an idea in the Executive Summary, it finds each occurrence in that term in search results and highlights the full matches in yellow and the partial matches in light yellow.
You can also search for a particular term in your search results, even if it’s not listed as one of the terms in the Executive Summary. You simply begin typing in the search box and the Instant Find feature begins matching with every keystroke. In this way, the real-time feedback very much resembles the “Ctrl” + “F” functionality you have your own web browser today.
When you see a result that looks promising, you can click on it and you’ll see the page as they are calling a “Managed Result.” A Managed Result just renders the important info on the page, mainly text, with all the slow code trimmed out, so exploring results is fast. Of course, you can still visit the web site itself by clicking the web site’s title.
The service also supports regular expressions, something that may be too geeky for most consumers, but an interesting and useful add-on for those who know what they’re doing.
With ManagedQ, the result is more than that of just a visual search experience. Instead, this fast, flexible service hones in on what you’re looking for with ease. With the addition of the People, Places, and Things in the Executive Summary and by making the search results themselves immediately searchable, it’s as if it already knew what you were hoping to find.
