Today
hakia added a hakia highlighter to their “meaning-based” search engine, producing a highlighted sentence
inside a search result. The bigger announcement is tomorrow, when hakia will launch a scoop button – a browser plug-in that not only highlights text, but when you click on a result page it scrolls automatically to the highlighted passage, enables you to save data to your computer, and more customization features that we’ll discuss below.
Both of these new tools allow for faster more relevant result selection and additional
utility for users.
hakia highlighter
The hakia highlighter upgrade addresses what Melek Pulatkonak, COO of hakia, termed ÄúClick-Thru-ItisÄ? – or clicking through a link to determine relevance. Traditional search engines often force users to click links excessively in
order to determine (based on limited information) which result is relevant. The hakia highlighter alleviates the need for excessive clicks by displaying
meaning-based, uninterrupted sentences in the search result. Determining
relevance and providing an educated selection of URLs is
improved because of the added content and context provided by these sentences.
Broken keywords and phrases simply do not provide enough information.
LetÄôs examine what typically
happens when we do a search on Google. For the search query: ÄúWhat
does it mean to cross the Rubicon?Ä? the Google results are almost always more
difficult to “filter” because of fragmented meaning. The real problem
is in the disparity between relative results and how people are forced
into making decisions based on this broken information. The Google results to this query vary from the rule of habeas corpus to a metaphysical discourse, but the bold
keywords do not signal this wide disparity.
Note: fragmented keywords and phrases
Invariably, selecting from broken sentences
will lead to unwanted visits to those URLs. LetÄôs now look at what is revealed with
the same search on hakia. The highlighted sentences provide more
information and relevance for deciding. Results that display no
sentences on hakia are ruled out all together and more obvious examples become
readily apparent. In this example, extra
clicks aren’t necessary in order to significantly “narrow” a subject.
Note: I followed the highlighted sentences as much as I
did the links
The hakia highlighter examples demonstrate the
engine’s ability to “think” semantically and display the process in a way that
narrows selection options.
Scoop Bar
The scoop bar is a browser plugin that lets users
apply semantic results in a unique way. Currently it is only available on Windows, but Mac support is coming.
When installed, clicking the scoop browser
icon reveals a pull-down with several options. The home option refers back to hakia,
where a search for “What is the specific gravity of lead?” renders a highlighted result as before;
but clicking on a desired result reveals the page AND scrolls the page
to the highlighted passage as below.
Note: The scroll bar is about 1/3 down a very long page
on ballistics
The button in front of the highlighted passage has several functions. Clicking the
pull-down arrow allows the user to highlight desired text and save the link and
text to a custom folder. Alternatively, clicking the “scoop
and save” icon saves the link and text to a default folder or file.
Note: Additional highlighted paragraph and saving to a
created folder
Additional buttons and functions allow for more
customization and navigation. The options button at top center of the tool bar
brings up the scoop and save functions, while the “my results” pull-down lists
saved results and navigates to them as illustrated below.
My result function and destination folder
Perhaps a real world example is in order. If I were doing a post on
ballistics, Hakia (even in
beta) has provided me with faster and more relevant results, a method for saving/customizing results, and a point for the study of all the data gleaned.
A user could perform the same function in any browser, but it is obvious that
time and function would be lost comparatively.
Conclusion
Hakia is progressing to the point of expressing
results in true “natural language” terms. Make no mistake, the
comparative results of Google, Yahoo and hakia are not conclusively
differentiated yet, but the progress of hakia is fairly clear in these examples.
The way the “scoop” function directs the user to relevant links and then
“scrolls” to the pertinent passage is evidence of the semantic engine at work
locating relevant data. The
implications of this are powerful and exciting for hakia and the rest of us.
There is a long road ahead for hakia, but predicting
outcomes is so often a function of watching the little things.
