Yamli
Encyclopedia
Yamli.com is an Internet start-up focused on addressing the problems specific to the Arabic web. Yamli currently offers two main products: the Smart Arabic Keyboard, and Yamli Arabic Search. The Smart Arabic Keyboard allows users to type Arabic without an Arabic keyboard from within their web browser. This technology is based on a real-time transliteration
engine which converts words typed with Latin characters to their closest Arabic equivalent. Yamli Arabic Search is a search engine focused on providing more relevant search results for an Arabic query by expanding
it to its most frequently used Latin representations.
engine is designed to be:
It is also possible for other websites and blogs to use Yamli's typing technology through a free Javascript
API. The Arabic Keyboard API allows a website publisher to easily convert text input fields to accept Arabic input in Latin form.
and Arabic dialects
content on the web exists in two forms: in Arabic Script and in ad-hoc Latin phonetic representations (Arabic Chat Alphabet
). Finding relevant content for an Arabic query on a traditional search engine can be difficult because it requires trying many Latin variations of that query. Yamli Search seeks to address this problem by expanding an Arabic search query to its most frequently used Latin spellings. The search query is forwarded to a traditional search engine, returning a larger number of relevant results than the original query would have.
The following are examples of Latin query expansions automatically performed by Yamli Search:: Mohammed Bin Rashid, Mohamad Ben Rached, Mo7amed Bn Rachid, etc …: Habibi ya nor el ein, 7abibi ya noor el 3ayn, etc …
Yamli Search queries are forwarded to Google
for web and news, Wikipedia
for encyclopedic searches, Bing
for image searches and YouTube
for movie and video searches.
. This first search engine did not include the expanded query capabilities of Yamli Arabic Search. The typing technology was made to third-party websites in March 2008 in the form of a free API. The search engine was updated to include the query expansion capabilities in December 2008.
's 2009 Young Global Leader List.
2. Onkosh Closed down in Aug. 2010
Transliteration
Transliteration is a subset of the science of hermeneutics. It is a form of translation, and is the practice of converting a text from one script into another...
engine which converts words typed with Latin characters to their closest Arabic equivalent. Yamli Arabic Search is a search engine focused on providing more relevant search results for an Arabic query by expanding
Query expansion
Query expansion is the process of reformulating a seed query to improve retrieval performance in information retrieval operations.In the context of web search engines, query expansion involves evaluating a user's input and expanding the search query to match additional documents...
it to its most frequently used Latin representations.
Smart Arabic Keyboard
Yamli's Smart Arabic Keyboard was launched in November 2007. It allows users to type Arabic by spelling their words phonetically using Latin characters. The real time transliterationTransliteration
Transliteration is a subset of the science of hermeneutics. It is a form of translation, and is the practice of converting a text from one script into another...
engine is designed to be:
- flexible to accept many ad-hoc input spellings for the same output word.
- accurate to allow the user to type quickly without the need for constant corrections.
- adaptive to learn from the input patterns and dialects of the users
It is also possible for other websites and blogs to use Yamli's typing technology through a free Javascript
JavaScript
JavaScript is a prototype-based scripting language that is dynamic, weakly typed and has first-class functions. It is a multi-paradigm language, supporting object-oriented, imperative, and functional programming styles....
API. The Arabic Keyboard API allows a website publisher to easily convert text input fields to accept Arabic input in Latin form.
Yamli Search
ArabicLiterary Arabic
Modern Standard Arabic , Standard Arabic, or Literary Arabic is the standard and literary variety of Arabic used in writing and in most formal speech....
and Arabic dialects
Varieties of Arabic
The Arabic language is a Semitic language characterized by a wide number of linguistic varieties within its five regional forms. The largest divisions occur between the spoken languages of different regions. The Arabic of North Africa, for example, is often incomprehensible to an Arabic speaker...
content on the web exists in two forms: in Arabic Script and in ad-hoc Latin phonetic representations (Arabic Chat Alphabet
Arabic Chat Alphabet
The Arabic chat alphabet, Arabizi, Arabish or Araby, , is an alphabet used to communicate in the Arabic language over the Internet or for sending messages via cellular phones when the actual Arabic alphabet is unavailable for technical reasons...
). Finding relevant content for an Arabic query on a traditional search engine can be difficult because it requires trying many Latin variations of that query. Yamli Search seeks to address this problem by expanding an Arabic search query to its most frequently used Latin spellings. The search query is forwarded to a traditional search engine, returning a larger number of relevant results than the original query would have.
The following are examples of Latin query expansions automatically performed by Yamli Search:: Mohammed Bin Rashid, Mohamad Ben Rached, Mo7amed Bn Rachid, etc …: Habibi ya nor el ein, 7abibi ya noor el 3ayn, etc …
Yamli Search queries are forwarded to Google
Google
Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
for web and news, Wikipedia
Wikipedia
Wikipedia is a free, web-based, collaborative, multilingual encyclopedia project supported by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation. Its 20 million articles have been written collaboratively by volunteers around the world. Almost all of its articles can be edited by anyone with access to the site,...
for encyclopedic searches, Bing
Bing
Bing is a web search engine from Microsoft.Bing may also refer to:* An onomatopœia of a bell sound* Bing cherry, a variety of cherry* Bing , Chinese flatbread* Bing , a German company that manufactured toys and kitchen utensils...
for image searches and YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
for movie and video searches.
History
Yamli's typing technology originated during the July 2006 war in Lebanon, when co-founder Habib Haddad was looking for news about the war online . Without access to an Arabic keyboard and not being used to one, Haddad had difficulties finding up-to-date information, which is generally first available in Arabic. After working on prototypes of an Arabic transliteration engine for several months, Haddad, along with co-founder Imad Jureidini, founded Language Analytics LLC in July 2007. In November 2007, Language Analytics launched Yamli.com, featuring the Smart Arabic Keyboard to allow users to type Arabic without an Arabic keyboard, as well as a basic search engine front end to GoogleGoogle
Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
. This first search engine did not include the expanded query capabilities of Yamli Arabic Search. The typing technology was made to third-party websites in March 2008 in the form of a free API. The search engine was updated to include the query expansion capabilities in December 2008.
Timeline
- Language Analytics LLC founded in July 2007
- Yamli.com launched on November 15, 2007
- Arabic keyboard API beta released in March 2008
- Arabic keyboard API officially launched on October 8, 2008 .
- Yamli Arabic Search launched on December 15, 2008
Awards
Yamli has won the "Best Web Technology Award" at the "Pan Arab Web Awards 2008" , and the audience choice award at the WebInnovatorsGroup 17. Yamli founder Habib Haddad was featured on the World Economic ForumWorld Economic Forum
The World Economic Forum is a Swiss non-profit foundation, based in Cologny, Geneva, best known for its annual meeting in Davos, a mountain resort in Graubünden, in the eastern Alps region of Switzerland....
's 2009 Young Global Leader List.
Competition
1. Yabhath2. Onkosh Closed down in Aug. 2010