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Amazon's A9.com Search Engine Goes Live

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the competition-benefits-everyone dept.

scapermoya writes "Today was the official launch day of Amazon's A9.com search engine, which has been in public beta for some time now. It uses results from Google, and adds some personalized features, like bookmarks and search history. Its Java-heavy inteface reminds me of Gmail, which is nice. It doesn't seem like it was designed to supplant Google, but rather to flesh out some things that a certain demographic of people might like."

28 of 196 comments (clear)

  1. No Toolbar For Gecko Users by DrunkenTerror · · Score: 3, Informative

    The A9 toolbar only works in Microsoft Internet Explorer.

    A9 bowls a Googly


    Karma: Coma, mostly due to Massive Attack

  2. java!=javascript by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    not the same thing, not even nearly.

  3. Two problems... by neiffer · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I see two problems with this. First, let's face it, since they are searching text of Amazon books, it's an ad site. Sure, it's useful, but it's an ad site. Second, I tested it by typing "Helena" (my home town, the state seat of Montana) and there isn't a single picture of Helena, Montana among the first page but rather pages of women in swimsuits. I don't think adding images without asking for them adds much to searching, that's why I like Google as I can pick the content.

    1. Re:Two problems... by ClippyHater · · Score: 4, Informative

      Unclick the Images button on the right side. Problem solved. And since the service seems to cater towards personalization, perhaps it'll remember that you don't want images included in your results?

      The books button was not automatically selected for me, so you actually have to actively be looking for info in books, it doesn't just serve up Amazon results.

      So, in conclusion, pick the results you want.

    2. Re:Two problems... by dollargonzo · · Score: 3, Insightful

      what you are saying doesn't really make sense. how are you picking the content with google any more than a9? doing an image search on google gives the same results (not suprisingly) as a9 images do.

      --
      BSD is for people who love UNIX. Linux is for those who hate Microsoft.
    3. Re:Two problems... by baeksu · · Score: 4, Insightful

      So don't play with the interface, sheez... The point is that this is not taking anything away from people who prefer google. It's just something that other people might find more to their liking.

      If you love google so much, stick with it. No one is forcing you to use anything else.

      --
      Gnome: A never ending quest to make unix friendly to people who don't want unix and excruciating for those that do.
    4. Re:Two problems... by psyco484 · · Score: 4, Interesting
      Because I hadn't used it before and didn't need to search for anything, I just typed in asdf. The results contain a weird picture that may or maynot be 'safe for work.' They should think about incorporating google's safesearch if they want to include images with every result. Definitely can't use this search engine from anywhere but home if there's a chance a pair of tits are going to flash on the screen when I'm searching for something from the library or my workstation...

      Other than that it seems to work as expected (I'm not noticing the problems other firefox users are complaining about?), maybe in another few months.

    5. Re:Two problems... by ClippyHater · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Guess it depends on what's useful to you. I know a bunch of folk who despise google. They don't want to "learn" how to use an efficient search engine. They want buttons to do the majority of things they're interested in. They want a search history so that if they're repeatedly looking for things, they can find it.

      What's interesting to me is the meta data they have on sites. For instance, I typed a search on Gentoo, and, of course, the Gentoo home page was first on the list. But then I saw a "Site Info" button next to the link. Clicked on it, and was taken to an Amazon (?!) page that told me semi-interesting facts about the site. For me, very cool!

      With the A9 toolbar, the site becomes even more useful to those folk it's targeting. The ability to take notes on sites seems like it could have interesting possibilities.

      Anyway, I think the sites pretty useful. Since I have broadband, the "bloat" doesn't bug me one bit. I also compile modules into my kernel :)

  4. as someone said last time... by fresh27 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    ...A9 is pretty bloated. It looks nice, but its a little too much for me compared to the slick and minimal style that Google has. A search for 'America' yields a 52.64 KB result page in A9, while that same search yields a 4.36KB page in Google. Size isn't necessarily a problem for me, but I think A9 is trying to pack too much stuff into what should be a simple process. If I want to find movies, I'll go to IMDB, if I want to find books I'll go to Amazon. A9 complicates it rather than simplifying things.

    --
    http://ipod.fresh27.net/
    1. Re:as someone said last time... by Finuvir · · Score: 3, Interesting

      It simplifies it for people who can't or don't want to remember all of the various sites you or I would use. A single text box that can find anything is easier than a list of specially-tuned searches.

      --
      Why is anything anything?
  5. Get a 1.57% discount at Amazon too! by bgarcia · · Score: 5, Informative
    If you log into Amazon, and then go to a9.com and do a search, you will then get an automatic pi/2 discount on every purchase you make at Amazon!

    More details available here

    --
    I'm a leaf on the wind. Watch how I soar.
    1. Re:Get a 1.57% discount at Amazon too! by DrEldarion · · Score: 3, Informative

      Some people seem to be having trouble getting the cookie. Going here helps.

  6. Java-heavy interface? by jpkunst · · Score: 3, Informative

    Its Java-heavy interface

    You mean Javascript-heavy interface?

    JP

    1. Re:Java-heavy interface? by nick-less · · Score: 5, Funny

      > Its Java-heavy interface
      >
      >You mean Javascript-heavy interface?

      Thats slashdot logic: if its slow and ugly, it must be java...

  7. THIS SOUNDS GREAT!!!! by ferrellcat · · Score: 5, Insightful

    You mean I get to tie ALL of my web searches to a verified identity of myself (Amazon account) complete with credit card and mailing address??? OH BOY!!!!

  8. so basically.... by SpootFinallyRegister · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ...its google repackaged with some amazon ads thrown in and plenty of bloat. gee, where do i sign up?

  9. CNET- by thewldisntenuff · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Had a blurb on this....Apparently it brings porn to your searches.....

    For example, if you search "Frontpage SEO", pr0n shows up in the image toolbar....I've seen it, but haven't played around with it much.....

    Link to the story
    http://news.com.com/2061-1032-5371766.html?tag=xtr a.ml/

    --
    My MythTV HowTo
  10. Old News by moofdaddy · · Score: 4, Informative

    Didn't we already read about this a couple of days ago?

    --
    Be better in bed. Wikiafterdark!
  11. Er... by herichon · · Score: 5, Insightful
    From their current privacy policy here:
    Use of Third Party Service Providers: We may, from time-to-time, employ other companies and individuals to perform functions on our behalf. Examples include sending e-mail and analyzing data. They have access to personal information needed to perform their functions, but may not use it for other purposes.
    Business Relationships with Third Parties We Do Not Control: We work closely with some third parties. In some cases, we will include offerings from these businesses on A9.com. In other cases, we may include joint offerings from A9.com and these businesses on A9.com. Click here for examples of co-branded and joint offerings. You can tell when a third party is involved in the offering, and we share customer information related to those transactions with that third party.
    My Amazon history + my credit card number + my web searching history (all searches are saved on A9 servers) + Amazon's stated intent to share information with third parties = a little too close to home for me. No thanks, A9... I'll stick with the relative anonymity of Google.
  12. Re:The wrath of Google? by Eriky · · Score: 3, Informative
    You can use google commercially like this if you pay them. You can actually use google with the use of API's for free, for non commercial use.

    See Google APIs for details

  13. search for "amazon" by coshx · · Score: 3, Informative

    A search for "amazon" gives me the ad:

    How to Cheat Amazon

    and a search for "used books" doesn't even show amazon on the first page of results.

    so either:
    1) they're being fair and not taking advantage of their position (yet)
    2) they're not business savvy enough

  14. insane? by gstone · · Score: 5, Funny
    Here is my user experience:


    ummm ... OK? Seriosuly, are these guys insane including unfiltered image search results by default?
  15. Blame NetScape by dozer · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This confusion is intentional. NetScape's client-side scripting language was originally going to be called LiveScript. A fine name. However, just before shipping it, they decided that they wanted to tie in with Sun's new marketing juggernaut even though, aside from some superficial syntax similarities, the two languages have nothing in common. Hence Java/JavaScript. Pure unadulterated idiocy!! Don't blame clueless users for this one -- this confusion is exactly what NetScape had in mind when they chose the name.

  16. JSP = Java; Re:java!=javascript by g_braad · · Score: 4, Informative

    But the page IS made on Java Server Pages/Servlets. So the reference to Java is correct. That it also uses Javascript is very normal... (Still, Sun and Netscape made the first implementation of Javascript together (First Netscape named it LiveScript). Javascript would 'supplement' Java applets. Javascript looks even a little similar to Java itself. Netscape even had a project to write Java dynamically in the form of Javascript: LiveConnect)

    --
    F/OSS & IT Consultant
  17. Go Anonymous by GeorgeH · · Score: 4, Informative

    If you don't want Amazon tracking your searches, use http://generic.a9.com/, which doesn't look like it even sets any cookies.

    --
    Why can't I moderate something "Wrong" or at least "Grossly Misinformed"?
  18. Resist A9! by comforteagle · · Score: 4, Insightful
    DataLibre

    Amazon, or any other one entity, must not own the semantic web:

    Applying Distributed XML to The Open Source Paradigm Shift,
    DataLibre (was: Resist A9),
    & The Future of the Semantic Web is Here Today and is Evenly Distributed

  19. Site Speeds by toddestan · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Something I discovered is when you click on the "Site Info" button, one of the statistics it gives out is a site's speed. I found this pretty interesting. Amazon.com is listed as "Slow". Microsoft.com is "Very Slow". A9.com is merely "Average", but Google.com is "Fast". Gentoo.org is "Very Fast", so go figure.

    The slowest site I could find so far is Tripod.com, in the 4th percentile. The fastest site so far is goat.cx (don't ask) in the 97th percentile.

  20. generic.A9.com by starling · · Score: 4, Informative
    From the same policy:

    If you would prefer not to be recognized on our site, we recommend that you use our alternate service located at generic.A9.com. On generic.A9.com, we will not recognize your Amazon.com cookie and we will not save any information stored in your A9.com cookie other than your column preferences, which are stored in your A9.com cookie and used by generic.A9.com. Information we gather on generic.A9.com will not be used in our data analysis (other than to detect abuse) and will not be used to personalize the services we offer you.


    That seems anonymous enough.