Inktomi makes searching more relevant

Inktomi has today launched a customisable and automated directory engine to allow Web portals to produce more relevant search results.

The Inktomi Directory Engine lets websites enhance their search engines to produce categorised search results, rather than an endless string of results. It uses a technology called Concept Induction to assign documents to categories by context instead of just keywords.

The Directory Engine is customisable allowing a portal site to add or delete categories or individual documents, making its suitable for the growing number of specialised or vertical portals.

Initial categories can are set up manually and key documents placed in them. Then the Directory Engine learns from the initial documents how to assign content to catagories and in turn produce more relevant search results.

Directory Engine builds on Inktomi's existing portal services - its caching software Traffic Server and search engine which is used by sites including AOL, Yahoo, and Hotbot. Inktomi has also built a European search cluster in conjunction with BT to provide European customers with less US centric content.

According to Joe Frost, European product marketing manager at Inktomi, a search engine's strength lies in its relevance and not its size. "Relevance is the most important part of search," he said, adding that eventually all search engines will search by context and not just keywords.

Existing Internet directories offered by Yahoo and Looksmart are compiled manually by large teams of editors. By automating the process, portals can free up staff to work on revenue generating tasks.

More relevant searching will allow portals to track users preferences more efficiently to better target ecommerce services and adverts.

The first six companies to adopt the Inktomi Directory Engine are: goto.com, gonow.com, goprofit.com, Verticalnet, Aeneid and Knight Ridder Real Cities.

To comment on this story email newswire@vnu.co.uk