A Search Engine of Search Engine Searches

I spent the better part of this afternoon playing with a free new Google utility called Google Insights for Search. Designed for online marketers, Insights for Search is, effectively, a search engine for search engines searches.

Enter any word or phrase, and you can see not only how many times the word or phrase was searched (actually, you have to sign in to your Google account for that particular information, but it's available), but the search trend over time. You can filter by geography to get a look at where searches are coming from, and you can also filter by time period if, for example, you want to see search patterns around a specific news event.

That's powerful enough all by itself, but wait, there's more! Insights for Search will also show you the top related searches (my search on the word "database" found that "sql database" was the top related search). Further, Insights for Search will also show what it calls "rising searches," related words and phrases that are rapidly growing in popularity. In a search on the phrase "company database," I learned that there is a lot of interest around databases of software companies and databases of insurance companies.

Most of the press write-ups of Insights for Search focus on the geographical filter, which should be of tremendous value to those involved in local search marketing. But for those of us interested in competitive insights and even new product ideas, there's a lot of gold to be mined here. Check it out for yourself ... but before you do, set aside the afternoon.

Labels: business intelligence, google, insights for search

LexisNexis, LinkedIn Form Alliance

LexisNexis and LinkedIn have formed an alliance that will add online social networking capabilities to LexisNexis' Martindale-Hubbell unit, specifically on the Martindale.com website.

Martindale.com, which contains information about attorneys, will now feature LinkedIn connections. When users search martindale.com for appropriate attorneys, they will see LinkedIn icons in the profiles of those attorneys who are members of the network. The LinkedIn icons will also appear within law firm profiles when attorneys who represent a particular firm are LinkedIn members.

In addition, if a martindale.com user is also a LinkedIn member, he can access the LinkedIn connection with an attorney by clicking on the LinkedIn icon. This will present the user with more information about the attorney, including common LinkedIn connections between the user and that attorney. In the future, abstracts and links to Martindale-Hubbell articles and other content will be distributed through the LinkedIn network.

This alliance just illustrates how powerful online social networking has become in the business world. LexisNexis is always seeking new, viable ways in which to enhance its mainstay Martindale-Hubbell product, and certainly wouldn't introduce a new component that didn’t promise much potential.

Connecting Martindale.com and LinkedIn is key in making the Martindale site more of a networking platform. As business professionals increasingly utilize their social networks to make business connections, the time is definitely right for Martindale to move in this direction.

Accuity Launches New Reporting Solution

Accuity, a provider of payment routing data, AML screening software and services has added the Suspicious Activity Reporting Control (SARC) System to its portfolio of compliance solutions. The addition of SARC will enable financial institutions to more effectively manage their filing of Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs).

The SARC System is an automated batch submission solution that allows financial institutions to enter their SARs into a centralized database and upload them to the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) E-Filing System with a government-approved format. The system stores the SAR forms so they can be easily retrieved during audits or internal periodic reviews. The system also has a built-in reminder function that lets users know when filing and re-filing occurs. To reduce any reporting errors, all SAR forms created by the system are sent through a strict and automated editing process prior to filing.

Customers can use the SARC System as a standalone product or with Accuity's Currency Reporting Control (CRC) System to create an integrated platform for anti-money laundering processes.

The SARC system should be well-received in the marketplace as financial institutions are very focused on solutions that enable them to remain compliant and control costs in the process. SARC is designed to accomplish both, as well as make customers more efficient with such processes. Allowing the flexibility to enable customers to either use the new system alone or with CRC should definitely help with adoption of this new offering. Many customers may want to try it out on its own first. But knowing they can integrate it into another Accuity product to create a stronger solution platform will probably be intriguing as well, an eventually lead to an even more robust adoption of the system overall.

DealFlow Media Acquires PrivateRaise.com

DealFlow Media has announced the acquisition of both the assets and business of PrivateRaise.com LLC, which tracks private placements of equity and equity-linked securities executed by public companies. The deal includes the PrivateRaise.com website.

DealFlow Media provides information and analysis on alternative investment structures, and this is the company's first major acquisition since it was founded in 2003. PrivateRaise's service simplifies monitoring, researching and analyzing private investments in public equities and those associated with those transactions (investors, placement agents, law firms).

This deal will effectively help DealFlow Media enhance the scope of its offerings. The company notes how the acquisition will enable DealFlow Media to become a viable database service provider and allow it to offer more premium services in other markets, such as insurance, equities, debt, and real estate investment structures.

The integration already appears to be moving forward at a fast pace. DealFlow has launched a new set of services on the PrivateRise platform. The new services include enhancements to PIPE tracking and new features that will analyze reverse mergers, shell vehicles and special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs). DealFlow Media has combined its own proprietary databases used in The SPAC Report and The Reverse Merger Report with the PrivateRaise platform to create a new level of service for investors, investment bankers and attorneys who specialize in such deal structures.

DealFlow Media plans to build out the PrivateRaise platform and launch new services. The company seems well on its way to accomplish those goals and more.

ThomasNet Introduces New Features

ThomasNet (http://www.thomasnet.com/) has introduced new time-saving features to help speed the research process for its site's users--purchasers of industrial parts, products and services.

The improvements begin with a new ThomasNet.com home page that brings content together in one intuitive interface. This single consolidated view provides users with access to ThomasNet's extensive database, as well as white papers, community forums and a collection of industry news.

Users can search more than 607,000 industrial suppliers, indexed by 70,000 product and service categories. They also have access to thousands of industrial product catalogs and more than 20 million CAD drawings. ThomasNet.com now offers access to more than 800 white papers and case studies by thought leaders in manufacturing on product applications, processes and technologies.

The new features and functionality include the ability to add or remove search criteria as needed so users can easily narrow or expand their searches to yield the most relevant results. For instance, they can view only suppliers with online product catalogs, CAD drawings or both.

There is also the opportunity for greater personalization through saved searches. Users can save individual suppliers or short lists of multiple suppliers and view companies side by side. When they return to ThomasNet.com for another search, their save suppliers and short lists are easily accessible on the home page. Users can also now more easily locate local manufacturers, distributors and service providers.

In addition, users now have free access to request for information/proposal/quote (RFx) and reverse action tools to quicken the procurement process. Purchasers no longer have to sort through and manage supplier responses to quotes via disparate emails and faxes. Now they can centrally manage communications and share them with colleagues. The tools can be incorporated into the user's workflow through an interface that ThomasNet says requires no additional training. ThomasNet partnered with Source One Management Services LLC, a procurement service provider, to offer these tools.

ThomasNet has also introduced a new tools and gadgets center. One of the resources in the center is a toolbar designed for the manufacturing community that gives users the option of searching ThomasNet.com or general search engines. The toolbar offers 19 different features, including the ability to view additional supplier information with one click when visiting the website of a company listed in ThomasNet's database.

Google toolbar users can add a "ThomasNet Express" button that searches ThomasNet.com. iGoogle integration enables users to add a ThomasNet search box to their personalized home pages developed through iGoogle. For Microsoft Vista users, there is a 10-in-1 conversion calculator that enables engineers to do calculations of engineering formulas.

This is quite an impressive list of enhancements that ThomasNet has launched. But this is something that is not unexpected from this company. One of the most impressive things about ThomasNet is that the company never rests on its laurels. While it continues to be a major player in its space, it never acts like it. ThomasNet is continually seeking to bolster its presence in the marketplace and become the ultimate information source for the professionals the company serves. Chances are, current customers were not contemplating leaving ThomasNet for another service provider. But now, with these enhanced features, they will most likely even stay longer--as customers. Their visits, thanks to these enhancements, will be shorter and more efficient--qualities that all web businesses must strive to provide for their visitors. What's even more impressive is the fact that ThomasNet is probably not done--the company is most likely contemplating another round of enhancements.