StumbleUpon, the web browsing and social bookmarking tool owned by eBay, announced this week that it would be adding SearchReviews, a feature allows search engine users to see a site's rating by application users.
The service will work with Google, Yahoo, AOL, MSN, Ask, Flickr, Wikipedia and YouTube searches, integrating a star ranking system based on Stumbler ratings. So far, there have been 13 million pages reviewed by 3.7 million registered "stumblers."
StumbleUpon is a web surfing toolbar requiring a membership to make random browsing online more tailored to your needs. After listing your interests, users can "Stumble Upon" millions of sites and videos reviewed by other community members. They can either give it the thumbs up or the thumbs down. The more positive reviews a site gets, the more it gets passed on. A site can only receive so many thumbs down before its adventures bouncing around cyberspace end. There are a wide variety of other tools as well.
When registered Stumble users use any of the mentioned search engines, SearchReviews kicks in. "If any of the resulting websites have been reviewed by the StumbleUpon community, they will be denoted by a logo, star rating and link to user reviews," Techland said.
"The stumbling technology could eventually be a welcome innovation for the startup's parent company. As eBay faces a dropoff in sales growth in its domestic online auction business, SearchReviews could potentially help people window shop on eBay and discover products they wouldn't have found otherwise," the blog said.
"For now the startup is launching SearchReviews without the collaboration of the search giants."
"The new SearchReviews feature was born of the realization that the company can't compete with the major players like Google and Yahoo," Techland said, then quoted StumbleUpon CEO Garrett Camp, "But StumbleUpon can improve what's already there,"
eBay bought StumbleUpon in May for $75 million.
For a video review of StumbleUpon, check out the clip embedded.
StumbleUpon Personalizes Site & Video Search
SearchReviews
Trend Themes
1. Personalized Search - The integration of user ratings in major search engines provides opportunities for personalized search solutions.
2. Community Rating Systems - Community rating systems offer potential for more reliable and authentic user feedback on various content and services.
3. Social Bookmarking - The use of social bookmarking and user-generated content can be leveraged to improve search experiences and discoverability.
Industry Implications
1. Search Engines - Search engines can benefit from the integration of user-generated ratings to improve search quality and engagement with users.
2. E-commerce - The use of personalized search solutions can enhance the discovery and sales of products in e-commerce platforms.
3. Online Content - The integration of community rating systems can improve the quality and relevance of online content across various industries.