Previous Attempts At 'Social Search' Showed What Friends are Searching for;
Multiply's Search Engine Finds Content, Such As Photos, Blogs And Movie
Reviews, Published by People Connected to the User
BOCA RATON, Fla., April 25 /PRNewswire/ -- Multiply Inc.
( http://multiply.com ) has introduced the first search engine that finds
information that's been published in one's social network. Conventional search
engines attempt to catalog the Internet at large and display search results
purely in order of content relevance. Multiply's search returns content
published by people that have a relationship with the person searching, and
relevance is based not just on the content, but also on the social
relationship of the content owner to the searcher.
"If you are planning a vacation to Rome, a search on Multiply may yield a
photo album taken by your cousin's neighbor during his vacation, and a blog
entry written by your co-worker's nephew when he was backpacking through
Europe," according to Peter Pezaris, Multiply's founder and CEO. "People often
turn to Multiply first as an information resource because search results are
more personal, trusted, and interesting than what one would find in a generic
web-search on sites such as Google and Yahoo!. Multiply is the only place you
can find these types of personal search results."
The search algorithm uses Multiply's proprietary proximity index, as well
as traditional ranking systems when sorting results. Rather than measure how
socially close people are only by "degrees of separation," as many other
social networks do, Multiply takes into consideration numerous real-world
dynamics such as the real relationship between people (wife, roommate, co-
worker, etc.) and the number of mutual relationships two people may share.
"On Multiply my spouse is considered socially closer than an acquaintance
that I've only associated with on-line, and somebody that five of my friends
know is closer than someone that only one friend knows," says Pezaris.
"Because relationships actually mean something on Multiply, search results do,
too."
Since search results are presented with a description of the relationship
between the content producer and the searcher, a comfortable forum for
discussion is created. With Multiply's technology, search has evolved from
being a stand-alone task to being a catalyst for social communication, and
it's the follow-up communication that often increases the chance of the
searcher finding the information they need.
According to an August 2004 study by the Pew Internet & American Life
Project, "the use of search engines usually ranks only second to e-mail as the
most popular on-line activity." Pezaris says Multiply has combined those two
activities.
About Multiply Inc.
Multiply Inc., based in Boca Raton, FL, is privately owned and operated.
The company's flagship product, Multiply ( http://multiply.com ), is at the
forefront of the growing field of social communications.
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