Multiply Introduces First Search Engine That
Finds What's Been Published in Your Social Network
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, FLORIDA, APRIL 25, 2005 -- 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 rank 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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