Own Your own MiniGoogle and control the search results

[dataferret]

Hi everyone

I have developed a search engine which works similar to Google but allows the webmaster to index websites of their choice. In other words, you can specify which sites to spider and group them under categories. I have also set up a main gateway (http://www.minigoogle.co.uk) which will index all of the sites operating my search engine software. So the idea is to have lots of individual search engines all grouped by a main gateway engine. I think it is a different approach to SE and SE results which will be more focused and give more control to the website owner and site visitors.

My theory is that people only want results relevent to a website they are searching. So if you are looking at a property website you only want results relating to the property industry. My search engine software allows the webmaster to control this process. The index is stored in a mysql database and uses forked threads to speed up the spidering. The results pages use templates which can be designed to match any website.

I have not released the software for sale yet but recent tests have proved positive. If anyone is interested in this project feel free to email me at Jim@primedit.co.uk with the subject line PSEPro MiniGoogle.

I have also set up a demo website (one possible use of the software) at http://www.propertygoogle.co.uk although I have not included much content yet :)

Hope to hear lots of thoughts on this new approach from all you people out there. Interestingly, I approached Google with the concept but the refused to sign an NDA so I refused to give them further details (hence the minigoogle domain).

Cheers

Jim

[s0n1c3]

Hello there good job with the mini google.

Is there any chance that you can add a IP filter so it's posible so serach on IP numbers?

[dataferret]

Originally posted by s0n1c3
Hello there good job with the mini google.

Is there any chance that you can add a IP filter so it's posible so serach on IP numbers?

Hi S0n1C3

That is a great idea. I will add it to the feature request list. You have the proud position of having the first feature request in the list :)

I have recently added a Stats page in the admin interface which logs IP addresses and gives a breakdown of popular search requests etc because I thought this would be a useful admin tool. But searching by IP address would certainly be a useful feature.

By the way - does anyone have any ideas how much I should charge for this software? I want to price it so it is affordable for everyone, but I do want to be able to pay for ongoing development costs so it improves over time? Any thoughts anyone?

[Robert Wellock]

Are you sure you aren't in copyright infringement with the name and logo?

[dataferret]

Originally posted by Robert Wellock
Are you sure you aren't in copyright infringement with the name and logo?

Lots of people have asked me this question and there is a reason for the name and logo being as it is. You see, I approached Google directly and asked them for their sponsorship during development. They were initially very keen and asked for a demonstration. So I set up the MiniGoogle.co.uk Gateway.

Then before I gave them access details I asked them to sign a formal non-disclosure agreement to protect myself and my ideas. I was astonished when they refused, since it is standard business practice. So here I was left with a search engine gateway named minigoogle.co.uk specifically designed to attract the attention and interest of Google. I was out of pocket and pretty annoyed because they had messed me around.

Upon checking with my lawyers I was told it was up to Google to prove I had infringed on their trademark. Since this would prove to be an expensive legal action on their part, I figure they will probably not want to bother and would want to take the cheaper option: i.e resume discussions for a working partnership and maybe put some sponsorship behind it.

If all else fails and they decided to take legal action, I also figure the ensuing publicity would be better for me than for them which in itself could launch the product to international recognition :)

So that is why the name of the main gateway is minigoogle.co.uk and why the logo looks like it does. :)