Quintura: Visualizing Your Search

I have met Yakov Sadchikov, the President & CEO, Director of Quintura twice in different city: London and Paris, which was an interesting story. The first time was in Firefox2 Party in London where I saw him in the corner demonstrating the Quintura to TechCrunch UK. I thought he is from a startup based in UK. The second time is in Le Web3, Paris. I recognised him when I was talking to TechCrunch France, Yakov is just about demonstrating his cool stuff. Then we had a short conversation, wow!  he traveled around the world just to introduce Quintura! Yakov is a cool guy, so does Quintura.

I should say sorry to Yakov because I have the promise to review Quintura in Chinese which I havenot got time to do it and I am doing it now. The good news which Yakov will be quite happy to hear is that Quintura has been recognized and introduced by some nice Chinese bloggers (if you search for Quintura in Google China), and some of them understand it better than me! Never mind, I have my version followed (in Chinese).

Quintura has released an interesting Quintura for Kids. You can also download Quintura Client from here.  If you want to contact Yakov and help on broadcasting Quintura in China, please leave your comment or skype me. 

在去年年底遇到过Quintura的CEO，Yakov Sadchikov两次，一次在伦敦，一次在巴黎。很有意思的事情。第一次是在FF2伦敦聚会上，我看到他正在角落里向TechCrunch UK演示Quintura，我当时并不知道他是谁；第二次是在巴黎的Le Web3，我正在向TechCrunch的Ouriel告别时发现了他，当时他正准备开始演示。够赞的，Yakov为了Quintura全世界的奔波的确让人佩服。

先向Yakov道歉，因为答应他用中文介绍Quintura，但是之前一直没时间写。不过很高兴的是我在Google搜索时发现很多中国的博客们都已经发现Quintura这个有意思的搜索方式。他们有些对Quintura还研究的很深，我都有点不知该写什么好。

Quintura虽然公司设在美国，但是实际来自莫斯科。从表面上来看，其最大的特点在于：可视性以及社会性。

Google一直是Web2.0的标兵，但是Google搜索却并不2.0 – 用户无法自由控制搜索结果。现在有很多社会化搜索服务，比如Eurekster, Rollyo。说Quintura具有社会性，有些勉强，要在这方面做的工作还很多，但是相信你能看到它的一些社会性影子。

最让人赞叹的是Quintura的可视性，它提供给了用户完全不同的搜索使用经验。你不用在不断添加关键词以缩小搜索范围了，你只需要一次关键词，Quintura会自动分析并且显示出和此关键词相关的另一些关键词，你只需要移动你的鼠标到出现的某个关键词上，Quintura就会自动对搜索结果进行筛选（修正）。当然你也可以在搜索后添加新的关键词，Quintura主页上提供了一个很好的Flash演示其使用方法。

就Quintura的实现上来说，我想大家可以Google一下Query Refinement和Term Suggestion在搜索技术中的应用。这些技术并不是Quintura独一无二的，但是Quintura把它们和Ajax结合通过可视化表现的方式的确让人眼前一亮。

Quintura客观上来讲，我觉得它还不能算的上成品，目前还有些试验的感觉。上个月中旬Yakov给我email说他们推出了儿童版的Quintura (Quintura for Kids)，还挺有创意的！还可以试试Quintura的客户端。

如果你希望联系Yakov，请留言。