Exalead: Right Brain Search Perfection

Exalead is a search engine that takes right brain search (i.e. combines text and images to help users find what they're looking for) to a new level. It has an array of very impressive features that make the search process a lot easier. Search results can be viewed in three different ways: text, text+ website thumbnail, and text+thumbnail+extra info. The last option shows you how a site is categorized in a directory and also displays an RSS feed if one is available.

However, what's really cool is the side panel that lets you refine a search. When you click on More choices at the bottom, you'll see an expanded list of refinement options. For instance, it'll show you a list of languages and the percentage of search results that they occupy, and let you narrow results down that way. A search for DNA shows that 83% of pages are in English with 3% in German and so on. Not too surprisingly, 78% of the files indexed are in PDF format. You can also filter results by country and date. Another neat option I really like is the ability to narrow results down to sites with RSS feeds.

While some of these features are available in Google, Exalead makes them very easy to access. Its use of Ajax makes the UI very responsive and fluid which makes working with these tools a lot easier. I'm seriously considering replacing Google with Exalead, at least for research purposes.

Exalead

Labels: Technology

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Exalead: Right Brain Search Perfection