Masterseek - New business search engine

Genie-in-the-lamp: Master, what is your command? Aladdin: Er... how many wishes do I have? Genie-in-the-lamp: You had 3, now left 2. Aladdin: What?! That wasn't a question! Genie-in-the-lamp : Yes, master, that was not a question. Your final wish? If I was Aladdin, I would be clenching my fists till they turn blue. Wishes from the legendary Genie in the lamp are so precious. Losing 2 wishes thus innocently is like mortgaging my house to buy an air ticket to Paris to see the Eiffel Tower only to be told that it had been torn down just the day before. Have you heard of Masterseek? Check it out at www.masterseek.com . This is a relatively new business search engine that has a Genie-in-the-lamp look-alike as its mascot. You may ask what the difference between this and Google is. Well, Google is more of a general search engine. No doubt it is just about the most powerful scent-sniffer in the online world, there are still perhaps times when a specialized tool works better. Masterseek's global search engine provides quick and free access to company profiles, contact information, and descriptions of products and services from more than 45 million companies in 75 countries. The figures are a bit staggering, aren't they? I ran 5 arbitrary searches to see what Masterseek turns up. And I compared it against Google's. Masterseek results Google results (1) Google (USA) Google Inc GOOGLECOM 1600 Amphitheatre Pkwy Mountain View CA 94043-1351 United States 6506234000 http://www.google.com (1) Google (USA) Google Inc. 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway Mountain View, CA 94043 phone: (650) 253-0000 fax: (650) 253-0001 (2) Ikea (Sweden) IKEA International A/S +46-42-267-100 (2) Ikea (Sweden) Casual search at homepage failed - all Swedish! (3) Siemens (Germany) Siemens Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbHSeidlstr. 22-24 80335 Bayern München Germany (089)63632500 (089)63633600 kbc@skag.siemens.de http://www.skag.siemens.de (3) Siemens(Germany) Siemens AG Wittelsbacherplatz 2 D-80333 Munich Germany Central Office: +49 89 636-00 Press Office: +49 89 636 33032 Investor Relations: +49 89 636 32474 (4) Bank of China (China) +86-10-6601-6688 (4) Bank of China (China) Many, many phone numbers but no address. (5) SingTel (Singapore) 64816231 (5) SingTel (Singapore) Tons of contacts. I am inclined to think that Google still does a better job. Admittedly though, searching using Google requires a human mind and it took me far longer than that of a simple Masterseek search. Google has also been around for much longer and search is its forte. Hence, it is perhaps reasonable to give Masterseek more time to consolidate its databases. This experiment is also inconclusive since my sample is only as small as 5 arbitrary companies. You are advised to do your own experiments. ^^ My suggestions for improvement for Masterseek: (1) Be more proactive in consolidating your databases. Approach the companies actively instead of waiting to be approached. (2) Show a "last updated" date so that users can know how current your information is. (3) Have more uniformity in the way information is displayed. Just look at the different formats of the telephone numbers. (4) To make your site more professional, you might want to drop Google Adsense ads. If you really want the extra cash, strike a deal with them to let you display adsense ads like normal looking ads. Final words... for someone needing to search business information online, I would still encourage him to use both Masterseek and Google. What one may not find, the other may. It never hurts to have more than 1 tool in the bag. =)