Use any of the top search engines and they all have one thing in common, the first page of results is generated by an internal ranking engine – based on what it thinks you’re looking for. It’s not a bad method really, assuming your inquiry is phrased properly. But sometimes it’s helpful to start with a broader topic and narrow it down from there. If this sounds like a better way of getting at information then allow me to introduce Clusty. As the name suggests this search engine is all about clusters. The first page of results appears just as they would with any other search engine, only with Clusty you can easily filter your results for better context. For example, if I type “Global Warming” I can easily use the cluster bar on the left to filter for global temperatures, causes of global warming, facts about climate change, and some of the more popular proposed solutions to the problem. And I can do this without having to start a new search for each sub-topic. In the business world this is often referred to as the ‘drill down’ approach. To me, it’s a much more intuitive way of organizing hundreds of pages of search results. After just a minute or two of using Clusty you’ll see just how much you can cut down on search time and wearisome scanning of so many irrelevant pages.
This clustering method has been implemented with other categories as well. Image searches let you easily sort by things like size, name and type. Click the Wikipedia button to focus solely on related Wikipedia articles, or do the same for blog posts to see what bloggers are saying on a given topic. For easier reading you can even adjust the font size on the fly at the click of a button.
Based on Vivisimo’s proven search platform Clusty pulls from multiple engines, giving you top results from across the web. And in my view it does a great job transforming internet searches from a massive shotgun approach to something far more focused and intuitive…even if it isn’t what everyone else is using.
