The fact is that Google is unmatched and unbeatable as a search engine, however a commendable attempt to offer an alternative is offered by “Izik” created by Blekko, a tablet search engine. Of course, they know their limitations and cannot even be compared to the legendary David with his slingshot against the mighty Goliath.
Still tottering around as any two-year-old can, Blekko’s Izik hopes to fill in as a substitute for tablets if not for PCs. Izik is therefore, especially meant to be used on Apple’s iPads that are today running, thanks to Google’s Android.
Given that in all fairness, the field is open to any player, Izik (inspired by the name of the great scientist Isaac Newton) took its first cautious step with the release of apps for Apple’s iPad and other Android tablets in the market. The apps are certainly available free of cost (can it be any other way?) and any search results are displayed in neat rows consisting of tiny capsules of information.
You can scroll vertically through the information with your fingers and look for the category that you are seeking, and a horizontal scroll results in more such capsules contained within each category, directly synchronized to the kind of search you initiated.
Rich Skrenta, the enterprising SEO and founder of this new venture that operates out of Redwood City, calls his baby a specialized service that plays the role of a magazine, a discovery tool and an effective search engine, all rolled into one.
Izik reminds you of the alternative to Google from Yahoo called Axis, which did not make the desired impact in the market, and is not recognized even when named and a spark of recognition dawns only when the name Yahoo is mentioned. Well, Izik too depends on visual thumbnails for its search just as Axis does. The results for any search initiated fall into any of the categories like Tech, Reviews, News, and Images etc allowing you to choose whatever is relevant.
The strategy of Blekko seems to be that they should be prepared as more tablets sales is in the offing in the next few years, with the sales of PCs steadily declining. That leaves an entirely new market to be tapped, and Izik hopes to fill the void that will be created by increased sales of tablets that is expected to cross several hundred millions with Apple’s iPad having crossed the 100 million-mark way back in 2010 itself.
Skrenta believes that the all too familiar sight of people pouring over search results thrown up by Google is set to change with more people preferring to own the more mobile tablets, which are better suited to a search engine like Izik.
Skrenta firmly believes that Izik will not throw up a pile of results with over half being useless or mere garbage from other links that are self-promoting. Unlike a Google search that throws up millions of results, all of which are always relevant, Izik’s search results are expected to be more relevant and pinpointing to the results that were expected by the searcher.
Google, on their part have addressed this major concern and have changed their algorithms suitable to filter out the trash better. Overall, Izik should be a like a breath of fresh air and a welcome change.
