Can a Better Search Engine Save the Newspaper Business?
Newspapers from around the world are desperately trying to find ways to survive our shifting digital landscape and the UK’s Financial Times may be onto something. I’ve been playing around with their new Newssift Search Engine – and, although it’s still got some bugs to work out – I think it’s a great idea.
They’ve developed their own Search Engine – Smarter Searches – the ability to refine your search by quickly adding more specific business topic, organization, place, person, and theme parameters. Imagine being able to research entire catalogues of newspaper archives while avoiding all the commercial clutter.
From their own site: “Newssift streamlines the process of search and search refinement to help users become more informed. Moving beyond simple keyword search, Newssift offers search based on meaning, relationships and business themes. Content is aggregated and annotated by editors to ensure relevant and deep analysis of global business news.”
I don’t know if it’s the answer to their financial woes – but it’s a step in the right direction.
