Exalead Unveils First Semantic Search Service that Lets People Find, Organize, Share and Enhance Content Online

BAAGZ(TM) Represents First Live Network of Shared Interests

    SAN DIEGO, Sept. 25 /PRNewswire/ -- Today at DEMOfall 07, Exalead(R), a
 global provider of search software for business and the Web, introduced
 BAAGZ(TM), the first service to bring together semantic search and social
 networking in a powerful, yet simple, consumer-friendly experience. BAAGZ
 fosters a collaborative environment where users can connect with others on
 the Web who have similar interests - whether hobbies, travel, music or news
 - to share and enhance this content with new ideas, in effect contributing
 to the expansion of the Semantic Web.
     At the foundation of BAAGZ (www.baagz.com) is an ultra-powerful Web
 search engine based on Exalead's patented Semantic Web search technology,
 Search By Serendipity(TM), which is already available at www.exalead.com.
 However, BAAGZ is much more than a search engine. It is a new form of
 social network that represents the first live network of shared interests.
 These shared interests are characterized by the public content contained
 within individual folders, called baagz, that act as shortcuts to your
 favorite Web sites, articles, pictures, videos, RSS feeds and notes.
     "BAAGZ represents more than a decade of R&D and aims to capture the
 very essence of what is referred to as Web 2.0," said Francois Bourdoncle,
 founder and chief executive officer of Exalead. "We've applied our
 expertise in search and user interfaces to the elements of sharing,
 personalization and social networking to allow people to use the Web as a
 place to find information and people with similar interests or goals, or
 are experts in a given field or subject."
     Until now, there were only three ways to find useful information on the
 Web: through a search engine, by bookmarking favorite Web sites, or
 verbally through face-to-face conversations with friends and family. With
 BAAGZ' simple, integrated user interface, it's easy to store and organize
 the content that interests you most in a format that can be easily
 retrieved, shared and searched by you and other users, or "baagerz," as you
 choose.
     Build Your Own "baagz"
     Once a registered user, it's easy to begin creating your own baagz.
 Simply type a topic or search query into the search box and instantly
 connect to content from various Web data sources, including Exalead's Web,
 Video, Image and Wikipedia vertical search applications. You can then
 populate your baag with relevant Web pages and content, or your own
 personal content.
     All of your baagz are automatically saved to your personal homepage so
 they can be quickly accessed to retrieve the information contained within
 and also continue to grow as new, relevant content becomes available. If
 you choose to make your baag public, its contents can be searched by other
 users, or by you, all from a single search box.
     Easily Stay in Touch with Your baagz and Others' baagz
     Leveraging Exalead's expertise in indexing the Semantic Web, BAAGZ uses
 its semantic description of every Web site stored in a baag to determine
 what a given baag is about - whether or not a given Web site is
 specifically tagged by baagerz. The system then uses this knowledge about
 every baager to connect him or her to other baagerz with shared interests.
 The ability to immediately notify baagerz when something new and exciting
 appears on the network is the pulse of BAAGZ.
     In addition, BAAGZ allows its users to engage in real-time interaction
 with other users through innovative collaboration and communications tools.
 Through these tools and the central BAAGZ dashboard - the pulse of this
 live network - users can watch their own baagz evolve and grow through
 contributions from others on the BAAGZ network, as well as those they have
 subscribed to that are managed by other BAAGZ users. As a result, users
 have a visual, interactive real-time content feed on their BAAGZ homepage
 and have an exciting environment to learn about their favorite hobbies and
 interests from other experts and fans around the Web.
     "BAAGZ fundamentally alters our view of what search is and does," said
 Chris Shipley, executive producer of the DEMO conferences. "BAAGZ combines
 the best of Web search and social networking to bring users a brand new way
 to interact with content and people."
     BAAGZ Now in Beta
     Along with the introduction of the new BAAGZ search service, Exalead
 announced a special by-invitation-only beta session. "Our goal for the
 private beta period is to give people an exciting chance to discover all
 that BAAGZ is and can be for them as well as to begin to build the
 multi-facetted social network that will serve to benefit our next phase of
 users or, as we like to call them, baggerz," Bourdoncle said.
     For more information or to request your invitation to the BAAGZ private
 beta, please visit www.baagz.com or stop by Exalead's station, number 17,
 at DEMOfall.
     About Exalead
     Founded in 2000 by search-engine pioneers, Exalead is a global provider
 of search software for business and the Web. Based on the first and only
 unified search technology platform for desktop, intranet or Web search,
 Exalead's products provide users with a single access point to information,
 regardless of format or location. Its patented Search by Serendipity(TM)
 navigation system adapts to user habits for a less frustrating and uniquely
 satisfying search experience. The exalead one:search(TM) line of software
 products - designed for desktop, workgroup, enterprise, datacenter and Web
 environments - are in use by leading banking and financial services, media,
 consumer packaged goods, research, retailing and telecommunications
 companies around the world. Exalead is an operating unit of Qualis, an
 international holding company, with offices in Paris, New York, San
 Francisco, Milan and Munich. For more information, please visit
 http://corporate.exalead.com.
     Exalead, BAAGZ and Search by Serendipity are registered trademarks or
 trademarks of Exalead SA. All other trademarks are the property of their
 respective owners.
     Media Contact:
     Maureen Shaw
     Euro RSCG Magnet
     212.367.6847
     exaleadpr@eurorscg.com
 
 

SOURCE Exalead