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Software
Finding Meaning In A Google World NEW YORK - Like many of us, R.J. Pittman is a heavy Googler. The Web search site is fast, simple and uncannily accurate at finding exactly the site needed. But Pittman, chief executive at a software startup called Groxis, has always had a problem with Google and other search engines like it: Your results come back without any meaning or context. If you were a venture capitalist, journalist or marketer setting off blind in a hunt for understanding about nanotechnology, Google's top several links would be a good start, but it doesn't help your mind categorize the ocean of data out there. Pittman is doing something about this flaw in the information flow. Groxis of Sausalito, Calif., built up some buzz among the digerati at the recent Demo conference and will be presenting at the upcoming PC Forum. Its $99 desktop software application called Grokker creates a colorful knowledge map out of raw masses of data by sorting them into themed silos. Grokker acts as a plug-in that sits on top of a search engine and, by reading tags written into the data with the XML software language, arranges the results of a search into a ring of spheres or an array of squares labeled to show each one's relationship. Inside each sphere or square are more spheres or squares, subdividing data into finer categories. So a broad search for "nanotechnology" would return thousands of spheres representing groups such as "financing," "research and development," "criticism," "science fiction" and so on. By clicking repeatedly on a particular sphere or square, you can drill down to the exact site you want. No more endless bookmarking of relevant sites. You can save or edit a knowledge map and send it to a friend. Information design gurus have tried for years, mostly unsuccessfully, to help users organize their data in a better way than the file-and-folder metaphor dreamed up at Xerox PARC in the 1970s. Efforts such as Thebrain.com, Mirror Worlds' ScopeWare and Inxight's Star Tree were intriguing, but have had only limited success finding customers. "We were acutely aware of the graveyard of data visualization products," says Groxis Chairman and Cofounder Paul Hawken, who started the tony gardening equipment retailer Smith & Hawken. On March 19, after nearly two years in business, Groxis landed its first customer for an enterprise product. The customer is Interface (nasdaq: IFSIA - news - people ), the world's largest seller of commercial carpet tile. Interface has a new line of residential carpet tile for design buffs, called Flor, that lets decorators and homeowners mix and match up to 50,000 tiles of different colors, patterns and textures. The Groxis search tool loads onto a PC as a Java applet (it doesn't support Mas OS 9.x), and helps users quickly search for the right product from what works out to be millions of combinations of carpet tile. Pittman hopes to sell product licenses to companies and institutions that need help mapping their mountains of structured data, such as an Oracle (nasdaq: ORCL - news - people ) database, as well as unstructured data such as e-mail and instant messages. Stanford University was an early customer to allow easy searches of its Socrates online library catalog. Partnerships are underway to deploy Grokker inside many of the major search engines and big online retailers. But the real money will come from the corporate market. Pittman claims he has little competition there, since other so-called knowledge management software firms, such as Autonomy (nasdaq: AUTN - news - people ) and Verity (nasdaq: VRTY - news - people ), would likely license Grokker to add some visual pop to their software suites. More From ForbesGoogle Goes Blog-Crazy 02.18.03The Web-search juggernaut sees potential in the Web-log phenomenon. Can blogging be profitable? Ask Jeeves Still Answering Questions 02.03.03 Remember the Web search firm with the butler? It's still hanging on and may be on the road to recovery. Yahoo! Buys Inktomi For $235 Million 12.23.02 Fearful of Google's growing ambitions, Yahoo! grabs Inktomi to boost its search capabilities.
The Year In Scandals - 12/10/03 12:00:00 PM ET 2003 will be remembered as a year in which a raft of new financial fiascos surfaced. Most Significant Trends Of 2003 - 12/9/03 7:00:00 AM ET In 50 years, what will be considered the most important business story of the year? Vote now. Dow Hits 10,000: Was It Good For You? - 12/12/03 10:00:12 AM ET It was better than the alternative, but you still may or may not feel like a party. Growth Stocks With A Story - 12/12/03 8:30:00 AM ET Evergreen Investment's Maureen Cullinane looks for stocks that appeal to the right side of the brain. Exploiting The Flat Screen Frenzy - 12/12/03 7:00:00 AM ET The sleek TVs are finally a mass-market product; time to buy or time to invest? A Tricky Time Saver - 12/12/03 10:00:00 AM ET Franklin Covey's organizational software is meant to save time, but takes time to set up. Ross Stores Booms From Bargain Hunting - 12/11/03 12:00:00 PM ET Its customers want to dress for less but, with fierce competition, will its success continue? Six Tips On Surviving The Office Party - 12/11/03 8:00:00 AM ET Never let your guard down. Have a well-rehearsed plan of attack. And lay off the eggnog.
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