INTERNATIONAL

CONTENTS:

• Searching in China
• The Open Press
• Previewseek

SEARCHING IN CHINA

Let's keep a research eye on Internet developments in China. You may have heard that Yahoo recently invested heavily in Alibaba.com, a Chinese cousin-in-the-making to EBay. Amazon made a similar investment in Joyo.com a year ago. Did you know that China's Internet population is primarily young people? And that there are 10 million businesses that are the target of the large search companies? The most recent counts have Internet users in China at over 100 million. Don't blink -- the changes are coming faster than any we've seen yet.

Search engines search for success
http://www2.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-08/15/content_469125.htm

China gripped by Internet revival
http://www.computerpartner.nl/article.php?news=int&id=1180

Internet users top 100 million in China
http://english.people.com.cn/200507/22/eng20050722_197759.html

THE OPEN PRESS

Most researchers know that most press releases never make it to the mainstream news. Did you realize that it might be as much as 98 percent of those submitted through newswire services? Open Press is a free press release portal that aims to beat those odds. And, for international researchers, you can sort press releases by country. Just click on the menu tab below the top menu bar.

http://www.theopenpress.com/

PREVIEWSEEK.COM

It isn't hard to believe that there could be a new kid on the search block. Previewseek may just be that kid. Hardly shying from the usual new kid poke in the eye, this young engine is touting its smarts and agility. Previewseek's proprietary algorithms discern meaning, rank results, offer previews and organize results based on concepts.

Here's my test, using Starbucks as my lab rat. Search results include a brief "Previewseek knows this" box with a clever info-connects and a quick company summary (how many stores worldwide). The first result among the 15.9 million pages retrieved is the company homepage, including a small image shot. I have the option to review search results via the groups Previewseek created, such as Coffee, Fair Trade, Workers, Howard Schultz, SBUX (financial information), and more. Each result's Preview feature allows me to see a larger shot of the result's page, making visit-or-skip decisions easier. And search results can be saved. My keyword becomes the saved folder’s name. Just in case I'm not impressed yet, Previewseek lets me add my own rating to the search results I save.

This UK-based engine plans to go head-to-head with the big dogs in the global search neighborhood. Special features have a way of pushing the regulars to show up with their best stuff and even more. Previewseek might just be a worthy challenger.

http://beta.previewseek.com/

Cecilia Hogan

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