GenieKnows
Encyclopedia
GenieKnows is a division of IT Interactive Services Inc., a privately owned vertical
search engine
company based in Halifax, Nova Scotia
. Like many internet search engines, its revenue model centers on an online advertising
platform and B2B
transactions. It focuses on a set of niche
search markets, or verticals, including health search, video games search, and local business directory search
.
.
but uses the proprietary GeoRank algorithm to associate potentially uncategorized web pages containing addresses with businesses listed in an internet Yellow Pages
directory by extracting addresses and geocoding
these to identify geographic coordinates for which it associates the web page.
On February 29, 2008 GenieKnows Local was launched as a completely revised local search engine extending beyond the 100 most populous US cities covered in its beta release. The local search engine utilizes processed municipal business data, road network data, national park data, and geocoding technology to provide localized search results ranked according to a business's relevance to a user's web query. As of the February 2008 release, the engine covers over 90% of Canadian and US municipalities with populations above 1000 residents.
According to SEO and search marketing expert Jim Hedger, GenieKnows' strongest, most unique and important product is its local search engine.
Web pages often describe or discuss a particular topic. In information retrieval
and machine learning
literature, classification algorithms have been used to automatically identify the subject matter of a web page. GenieKnows uses such algorithms as a focused crawler
to download web pages, identify pages that are on topic with the vertical, and index
and save those pages.
The result is a search engine that contains only web pages that are on a given topic, tailoring to a niche market of web users who have an interest in a given topic, so all pages returned for a query will be on topic with the vertical being used. For revenue generation, the engine displays advertisements beside the search results from a network of advertisers where it receives pay per click
. GenieKnows is collaborating with Yahoo!
to display targeted, contextualized advertisements to a targeted market of users.
In February 2008, GenieKnows added online community functionality to its vertical search engine. Users sharing interest in a topic can communicate and contribute content to the site in a manner similar, but on a smaller scale, to those of Facebook
, and Yahoo.
Vertical search
A vertical search engine, as distinct from a general web search engine, focuses on a specific segment of online content. The vertical content area may be based on topicality, media type, or genre of content. Common verticals include shopping, the automotive industry, legal information, medical...
search engine
Search engine
A search engine is an information retrieval system designed to help find information stored on a computer system. The search results are usually presented in a list and are commonly called hits. Search engines help to minimize the time required to find information and the amount of information...
company based in Halifax, Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
. Like many internet search engines, its revenue model centers on an online advertising
Online advertising
Online advertising is a form of promotion that uses the Internet and World Wide Web to deliver marketing messages to attract customers. Examples of online advertising include contextual ads on search engine results pages, banner ads, blogs, Rich Media Ads, Social network advertising, interstitial...
platform and B2B
Business-to-business
Business-to-business describes commerce transactions between businesses, such as between a manufacturer and a wholesaler, or between a wholesaler and a retailer...
transactions. It focuses on a set of niche
Niche market
A niche market is the subset of the market on which a specific product is focusing; therefore the market niche defines the specific product features aimed at satisfying specific market needs, as well as the price range, production quality and the demographics that is intended to impact...
search markets, or verticals, including health search, video games search, and local business directory search
Local search (Internet)
Local search is the use of specialized Internet search engines that allow users to submit geographically constrained searches against a structured database of local business listings...
.
Technologies
GenieKnows uses algorithms to download, assess, and categorize web pages and index them for later matching with web search queriesWeb search query
A web search query is a query that a user enters into web search engine to satisfy his or her information needs. Web search queries are distinctive in that they are unstructured and often ambiguous; they vary greatly from standard query languages which are governed by strict syntax rules.- Types...
.
Local Business Directory Search
In 2005, GenieKnows entered the search engine market with a local business directory search engine. Targeting only the United States in its beta release, the local search engine is similar to Google MapsGoogle Maps
Google Maps is a web mapping service application and technology provided by Google, free , that powers many map-based services, including the Google Maps website, Google Ride Finder, Google Transit, and maps embedded on third-party websites via the Google Maps API...
but uses the proprietary GeoRank algorithm to associate potentially uncategorized web pages containing addresses with businesses listed in an internet Yellow Pages
Yellow Pages
Yellow Pages refers to a telephone directory of businesses, organized by category, rather than alphabetically by business name and in which advertising is sold. As the name suggests, such directories were originally printed on yellow paper, as opposed to white pages for non-commercial listings...
directory by extracting addresses and geocoding
Geocoding
Geocoding is the process of finding associated geographic coordinates from other geographic data, such as street addresses, or zip codes...
these to identify geographic coordinates for which it associates the web page.
On February 29, 2008 GenieKnows Local was launched as a completely revised local search engine extending beyond the 100 most populous US cities covered in its beta release. The local search engine utilizes processed municipal business data, road network data, national park data, and geocoding technology to provide localized search results ranked according to a business's relevance to a user's web query. As of the February 2008 release, the engine covers over 90% of Canadian and US municipalities with populations above 1000 residents.
According to SEO and search marketing expert Jim Hedger, GenieKnows' strongest, most unique and important product is its local search engine.
Vertical Search Engine
GenieKnows entered the vertical search market in 2006 with a vertical search engine for video games-related web pages and another for health-related web pages.Web pages often describe or discuss a particular topic. In information retrieval
Information retrieval
Information retrieval is the area of study concerned with searching for documents, for information within documents, and for metadata about documents, as well as that of searching structured storage, relational databases, and the World Wide Web...
and machine learning
Machine learning
Machine learning, a branch of artificial intelligence, is a scientific discipline concerned with the design and development of algorithms that allow computers to evolve behaviors based on empirical data, such as from sensor data or databases...
literature, classification algorithms have been used to automatically identify the subject matter of a web page. GenieKnows uses such algorithms as a focused crawler
Focused crawler
A focused crawler or topical crawler is a web crawler that attempts to download only web pages that are relevant to a pre-defined topic or set of topics. Topical crawling generally assumes that only the topic is given, while focused crawling also assumes that some labeled examples of relevant and...
to download web pages, identify pages that are on topic with the vertical, and index
Index (search engine)
Search engine indexing collects, parses, and stores data to facilitate fast and accurate information retrieval. Index design incorporates interdisciplinary concepts from linguistics, cognitive psychology, mathematics, informatics, physics, and computer science...
and save those pages.
The result is a search engine that contains only web pages that are on a given topic, tailoring to a niche market of web users who have an interest in a given topic, so all pages returned for a query will be on topic with the vertical being used. For revenue generation, the engine displays advertisements beside the search results from a network of advertisers where it receives pay per click
Pay per click
Pay per click is an Internet advertising model used to direct traffic to websites, where advertisers pay the publisher when the ad is clicked. With search engines, advertisers typically bid on keyword phrases relevant to their target market...
. GenieKnows is collaborating with Yahoo!
Yahoo!
Yahoo! Inc. is an American multinational internet corporation headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, United States. The company is perhaps best known for its web portal, search engine , Yahoo! Directory, Yahoo! Mail, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Groups, Yahoo! Answers, advertising, online mapping ,...
to display targeted, contextualized advertisements to a targeted market of users.
In February 2008, GenieKnows added online community functionality to its vertical search engine. Users sharing interest in a topic can communicate and contribute content to the site in a manner similar, but on a smaller scale, to those of Facebook
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
, and Yahoo.
Accomplishments
- Ranked 10th on Progress Magazine's Best Places to Work Survey for 2007. The Best Places to Work program recognizes companies with 25 employees or more who demonstrate best practices in Atlantic Canada.
- Listed 29th on Progress Magazine’s 2008 Fastest Growing Companies list for the 4th consecutive year.
- Listed 204th in Branham Group business technology publication, Backbone Magazine's Top 250 Canadian IT Companies for the years 2005-2007. The 'Branham 300' list is comprised in part of Canadian companies ranked on their gross revenues for 2007 financial reports.
- Awarded project funding of $2,023,773 in January 2007 for GenieKnows Personalized Local Search via the Atlantic Innovation FundAtlantic Innovation FundThe Atlantic Innovation Fund is a financing program run by the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency to help Canadian organizations in Atlantic Canada to develop innovative products and services. This program is highly-competitive...
(AIF).
Philanthropy
GenieKnows has donated resources and money to many organizations including:- Make-a-Wish FoundationMake-A-Wish FoundationThe Make-A-Wish Foundation is a 501 non-profit organization founded in the United States that grants wishes to children who have life-threatening medical conditions. The charity now operates in forty-seven countries around the world through thirty-six affiliate offices.The president & CEO of this...
- IWK FoundationIWK Health CentreThe IWK Health Centre is a hospital in Halifax, Nova Scotia that provides care to women, children, and youth from Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island.-Location:The IWK Health Centre is located in the south end of Halifax...
- World VisionWorld VisionWorld Vision, founded in the USA in 1950, is an evangelical relief and development organization whose stated goal is "to follow our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ in working with the poor and oppressed to promote human transformation, seek justice and bear witness to the good news of the Kingdom of...
- Junior AchievementJunior AchievementJunior Achievement or JA or JA Worldwide is a non-profit youth organization that was founded in 1919 by Horace A. Moses, Theodore Vail, and senator Winthrop M. Crane. JA focuses on educating kids in K-12 about the free enterprise system...
- Fashion Targets Breast CancerNational Breast Cancer FoundationThe National Breast Cancer Foundation is the leading community-funded national organisation in Australia, supporting and promoting research for the prevention and cure of breast cancer....