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Become.comBecome Japanvia SiliconBeat, Become.com expands overseas: "Become Japan will launch sometime before the end of the year. Yang says the goal is to take Become Japan public in Japan." check the full post for details...
Become Japan
Q&A with John Glick of Become.com at ClickZ, Part 2link: Q&A with new shopping search engine Become.com, Part 1 (clickz.com)
Q&A with John Glick of Become.com at ClickZ, Part 2
Q&A with John Glick of Become.com at ClickZlink: Q&A with new shopping search engine Become.com, Part 1 (clickz.com)
Q&A with John Glick of Become.com at ClickZ
Merchant Information for Become.comI received this information for merchants from Become.com: "Merchants can sign-up directly with Become.com (there will be a link on the homepage footer at launch, or they can e-mail our Account Management Team at merchant@become.com). We also work with many of the top-tier SEM/Aggregators such as CJ, TrafficLeader, and Performics. We accept a variety of feed formats including delimited files and XML; and support several ways for merchants to send us the files: FTP to our system (we create a folder for each merchant), download from a merchant's server via a supplied URL, and automatic retrieval of files from the merchant's ftp. Become.com supplies merchant partners with a feed specification, and can also accept feeds formatted for all other comparison shopping engines. Items such as CPC bid price, tax, and shipping can be specified in the feed on a SKU-by-SKU basis; or merchants can use our Merchant Dashboard to give us overall information (e.g. bids by category, states they charge tax in, shipping schedules, etc.)." Also, they are having a launch special, 50% off Ad Campaigns for July and August 2005. For details send an inquiry email to merchant@become.com. + + + related link: Merchant Dashboard
Merchant Information for Become.com
The New Become.com Shopping Engine
Michael Yang, CEO of Become.com, explained the significance of their recent developments in terms of three main areas: 1. first significant integration of web research and comparison shopping In spite of all the new features, the first thing many people are bound to notice is the new look for the home page. Actually, the content area is unchanged, while the outer area is filled with an orange pinstripe pattern. This could come as a bit of a shock to searchers who have grown accustomed to all-white background, but it is less noticeable on the search results pages.
Become.com has also made some tweaks to the existing Research part of the site. The third-party text-link ads have been moved out of the right-side column, in favor of Become.com's sponsored product matches, which include pictures, prices and links to research or buy. I am told the text-link ads will be moved to the bottom of the pages, under the organic search results. The other new feature that is visible on the Research side, and carries over to the Shop side, is the My Favorites area. This is an area to save products for later reference or comparison.
This is the new section, labeled Shop, with product listings on the left and criteria filtering on the right. My first impression is that they manage to offer a variety of link choices in a way that does not seem overwhelming. Each product listing has the option to visit a merchant, research it, add it to favorites, and see similar results.
This is the kind of game-changing interface innovation that makes all other criteria-filter interfaces looks awkward by comparison. It has the potential to make power-users more powerful, while at the same time putting this functionality within the grasp of less-technical users. No more clicking through a half-dozen pages, or hitting a half-dozen back buttons, in order to arrive at the desired results. The downside is that shoppers will not experience the full benefit of this new interface tweak unless it is matched by a deep database of product attributes. Can a search-based system be compatible with detailed attribute-based refinement? Summary Become.com maintains an interesting position at the intersection of shopping and search. They have more flexibility to deliver shopping-flavored content than general search engines, and they have more technology to provide web-aware content than comparison shopping engines. If Become intends to compete in all aspects of the buying process, the challenge could come from avoiding middle-the-road standalone functionality, such as having less items than search-based Froogle, or less structure than labor-intensive comparison engines like Shopping.com. Thoughts? + + + related: Become.com | Help (Research, Shop, Compare) | Merchants | Feedback
The New Become.com Shopping Engine
Become.com Introduces Dynamic SuggestionsTo me, the layout is more natural than a drop-down box. Try it on the home page of http://www.become.com
Become.com Introduces Dynamic Suggestions
Become.com Raises $7.2M Series B Funding"With proceeds from the round, Become.com will unveil its price comparison shopping service this summer. Become.com will also expand and improve its shopping index which currently includes more than 3 billion pages of shopping related information." Also in the press release, conference schedules for co-founders Michael Yang and Yeogirl Yun.
Become.com Raises $7.2M Series B Funding
Become vs. Google - Refrigerator KeywordIn my chat with Michael Yang, he mentioned several examples of what he thought were good search results on Become.com. The first of these, refrigerator, was a shocker. Maybe he cherry-picked the worst search result in all of Google. I don't know. But it is certainly a wake-up call for people who think all search engines are interchangeable. Here are the top results of both sites for the "refrigerator" keyword: To be fair, Google found mostly relevant sites on a search for the "refrigerators" keyword. Then again, their #1 result on the plural version is a site called Women in Refrigerators... p.s. - if any googlers would like to provide a counter-example, I am open to suggestions.
Become vs. Google - Refrigerator Keyword
Become.com Goes Live With 3.2 Billion PagesBecome.com goes live and removes their registration requirement. SearchEngineWatch.com provides an overview of Become.com.
Become.com Goes Live With 3.2 Billion Pages
Interview With Michael Yang of Become.com
Starting To "Click" People have asked me, "what do you see in Become.com?" That, plus reactions ranging from "huh?" to "hmm..." from friends, reminded me to guard against any irrational exuberance here. I asked Michael Yang, Co-Founder and CEO of Become.com, how they plan to convert people who are unconvinced by the beta site. "Time will take care of that," Michael responded, "when people use it for their own shopping." He proceeded to illustrate this point with a recent Become.com success story. A frustrated shopper was trying to find product information and online retailers for a boat part. She spent over an hour searching Google and visiting their top results without success. Enter Become and their shopping-flavored search results. Within five minutes, her search was satisfied. That is all well and good, but what about people who do not look deeper than design? What if these people equate no new interface with no new functionality, and they do not dig in and discover the differences? To address these questions, Michael said they will roll out a "seamless integration of search and shopping" in the middle of this year. Favorite Searches In an interview at ZDNet.com, Michael mentioned the keyword "television" as a example of how Become.com was different than other search engines. For me, this example hit home better than any technical explanation, so I asked for more of his favorite search keywords, and he rattled off refrigerator, lcd projectors, hdtv, and laptop/notebook computers. I have linked these searches below for ease of comparison:
International Expansion Non-U.S. comparison shopping has been a hot topic this year. All of the established U.S. players have sites in the U.K., and many of them are launching or planning a pan-European expansion. However, at the recent Search Engine Strategies conference, none of the companies in attendance said they had plans to expand into Asia. I found this topic interesting considering how soon Yeogirl Yun's WiseNut expanded from English to Korean and Japanese. Would this company be on the same fast track to international expansion? And could they take a different path than the other shopping engines that originated in the U.S.? Although he said it was too early to talk about specific countries, Michael was able to supply the following information: (1) they would like to expand internationally as soon as they are firmly established in the U.S. (2) this expansion would include both the research side and the comparison shopping side (3) they are evaluating both Europe and Asia. Sean's Thoughts I think Become.com could be one of the most interesting combinations of opportunity, technology and philosophy since Google at Stanford... this coming from one of the biggest cheerleaders of early Google. But don't take my word for it. Try some searches. Research the shopping landscape. You might come to a different conclusion. If so, let me hear about it. For my part, I'll try to overhaul my opinions and start fresh when Become.com introduces comparison shopping. + + + see also:
Interview With Michael Yang of Become.com
Email Q&A With Michael Yang of Become.com
I recently emailed some questions to Michael Yang, the Founder, President & CEO of Become.com. We had exchanged emails before, but had not found time to talk. Not knowing when our schedules would cooperate, I went the email route to get the ball rolling, and Michael was kind enough to answer the following questions about their direction. We are planning to talk later this week, and I will try to add detail on these and other topics. If you would like to pass along any ideas before then, feel free to contact me. + + + Do you see much room for innovation on the "comparison" side, or will the bulk of the innovation come from the "crawler" side... or the integration of the two sides? Right now many of the comparison shopping engines have very similar offerings, so we definitely see the opportunity to innovate on the comparison side. Likewise, there hasn’t been a real quantum shift in web search technology since Google introduced PageRank, and that was in the late ‘90s. Become is first and foremost a technology company, and we are looking to revolutionize both these areas, as well as being in a unique position to combine them. Besides the reliance on outgoing links (in addition to incoming links), can you provide any more detail on what is different about the Affinity Index Ranking algorithm? AIR ranks web pages based on their level of interconnection with web pages on the same topic. Both inlinks and outlinks are evaluated to understand the level of interconnection among the sites. Links from valuable web pages on the same topic work to increase the score of a web page; links from off-topic sites do not help. Linking to spam pages or off-topic pages can reduce the score of the page generating the link. Advanced mathematics and concepts from Applied Physics and Engineering Dynamics are used to calculate specific scores. Do you think standalone link-based algorithms will eventually be supplemented by direct visitor feedback? Is your five-star rating system a hint in this direction? Link-based connectivity is an important aspect of evaluating web pages, and we believe that our methods of evaluating connectivity are significantly more accurate than the methods used by major search engines today. Direct visitor feedback is another indicator of the value of a web page. While direct visitor feedback may be used to supplement connectivity information, we do not believe that it will replace link-based algorithms in the near term. How many pages do you estimate Become.com would index if you did not filter non-shopping pages? We have specifically focused our crawling efforts on US-based content which is oriented toward shoppers. We do not have an accurate estimate of the number of pages indexed if we conducted a worldwide crawl of all types of content. Do you plan to extend the upcoming shopping-comparison service into other countries or languages? Yes. We plan to expand internationally after establishing our service in the US market. + + + see also:
Email Q&A With Michael Yang of Become.com
Become.com Interview Podcast at ZDnet.comIt is Friday afternoon, time to kick back with an audio interview. Will Become.com become the next Google (MP3) (Answers a lot of my questions -- back to the drawing board, heh.)
Become.com Interview Podcast at ZDnet.com
Become.com on Affinity Index Ranking (AIR)Become.com issued a press release touting their new AIR algo. see also: Become Talks on AIR at John Battelle's Searchblog.
Become.com on Affinity Index Ranking (AIR)
More Background on Become.comMore background on Become.com at SiliconBeat.
More Background on Become.com
MarketWatch's Bambi Francisco Interviews Become.com CEO Michael YangBecome.com became less mysterious after this six-minute interview, but no less impressive. You can find a summary and a link to the video clip in the February 23rd edition of Net Stocks. Highlight: Become.com also plans to add a comparison shopping service. Implications for the consumer... vs. comparison shopping engines, Become.com could try to cover more stages of the buying cycle, especially the under-served early stages. vs. Yahoo/Yahoo Shopping and Froogle/Google, Become.com could try to offer more compelling integration of the earlier and later stages. Implications for their business... * They can pick the low-hanging arbitrage fruit like everyone else for a base of revenue. * They could also exploit the weakness of other shopping comparison partner programs. * Plus, they still have plenty of upside potential for the organic, repeat (free) visitors. Net Stocks has additional details related to funding.
MarketWatch's Bambi Francisco Interviews Become.com CEO Michael Yang
Become.com Bug Fix UpdateThe bug I found yesterday was fixed sometime today. Nice!
Become.com Bug Fix Update
Become.com - First LookFirst Impression, Pre-Search Become.com reminds me of a yellow Froogle. Lean, mean, clean... all about the search results. I (heart) minimalism, but I'm also hoping to find at least a hint of new features. The Authority On Authority? Michael Yang claims that "Google basic approach... was highly limiting" and the new Become.com ranking algorithm overcomes "many of the short comings" of the PageRank algorithm. He might be right. I was not expecting a beta search engine to have such a good grasp of authority on Day One. The "usual suspects" are not always in the top spot, but they are usually in the top ten. (Compare it to the early MSN Search beta, which had problems ranking ebay.com in the Top 100 for the generic "auctions" keyword.) This is all the more impressive considering Become.com does not have the resources of a Microsoft. What can they do with a flood of eyeballs and a slick feedback system? Then again, the latest Google update might have overcome some of the shortcomings of PageRank, too. Even the new MSN Search is starting to look more authoritative, maybe even turning some knobs a bit too far. No matter. A diversity of authority algorithms is good for searchers. What I like about Become.com, based on my limited testing, is they have a interesting blend of authority sites within many search results. It is like the BecomeBot is saying, "instead of showing you ten uber-authority sites that are all the same, I'm going to show you several different kinds of authority sites." Then again, it is now past midnight, maybe I am reading to much into this. I would not want to put words in the BecomeBot's mouth based on less than fifty searches. I need more searches. I need more sleep. more later... To-Be-Fixed-Soon? Clustering - it does not look like they are grouping multiple results from the same domain. I initially thought this had to do with sub-domains (i.e. About.com), a common dilemma for search engines, but I've since found multiple deep links from the same site, even the same folder within the same site, all appearing for the same keyword. Don't get me wrong, it is not bad. To-Be-Fixed-Soon! I did find one true bug, a real doozy, and quickly reported it via the feedback form. No sense airing the dirty laundry here, we've all made those kinds of mistakes. My hope is someone is monitoring the feedback form, and they fix this glitch before anyone else sees it. Final Thoughts, Post-Search The beta is solid and I'm sure Michael and Yeogirl had several tricks up their sleeves when they chose to build a shopping search engine instead of another shopping comparison site. Congrats to the team, and best of luck.
Become.com - First Look
Blogging the Become.com BetaJust a reminder that Jason Dowdell is covering the Become.com launch from sunny Cali-for-ni-ay. "I got some good info from a source that must remain anonymous until after the prelaunch even this evening." This is one of those rare instances when Bloglines is not fast enough to feed my need for new posts. Refresh, refresh, refresh.
Blogging the Become.com Beta
Become.com Beta Goes LiveIt is official! Michael Yang has announced the official beta launch of Become.com. Shopping information from 2.2 billion web pages from 22 million sites. Beta testers must limit activity to 50 queries per day, must be able to accept cookies, and must refrain from using any automated systems to send queries to Become.com or scrape the Become.com site.
Become.com Beta Goes Live
Is Become.com starting to sound like......the dynamic realization of Organized Shopping? I have added "or Become.com" to my mini-manifesto on the home page, just in case. ;-)
Is Become.com starting to sound like...
Pre-Launch Q&A with Michael Yang of Become.comJason Dowdell has the scoop on Become.com in the form of a Q&A session with CEO Michael Yang. Become.com will be interesting because it promises to be more like a "classic" search engine than a shopping comparison site. I'll be doing an in-depth comparison of Become.com and its most-related competitors (to be determined) after next month's launch. added: a clarification of Become Crawler Info For Webmasters
Pre-Launch Q&A with Michael Yang of Become.com
Become.com - Spider Sightings and Blog SpottingsThe BecomeBot fist visited Organized Shopping on Decemeber 5th, and since then it has been back on more than a dozen days. Become.com's hungry spider is finding hard-to-find sites, but it is also being banned by some sites. In other news, co-founder Michael Yang has resumed posting to his blog.
Become.com - Spider Sightings and Blog Spottings
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Without spending much time on the live site, it is difficult to get a feel for the synergy between Research and Shop, or the stickiness of My Favorites. But if there is one love-at-first-sight feature, it is the Multi-Critera Filtering. (see right)
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