AdaptiveBlue Rolls Out SmartLinks
by
on October 23, 2007,
AdaptiveBlue, the smart browsing company, just announced that SmartLinks for blogs and websites now provide more relevant information from the best sites on the Web. SmartLinks are inserted next to links of supported sites like Yahoo! , CitySearch , Amazon and others. These automatic additions are intelligent contextual shortcuts to related sites and services that allow users to browse and discover more efficiently.
Smartlinks add value and discoverability for visitors to Web sites by intuitively analyzing each link and delivering added resources for acting on information. As an example, a visitor is looking at a particular book review at Amazon, clicks the SmartLinks and is given a pop-up of relevant info about the book, Author and even buying information. SmartLinks essentially speed the process of discovering supportive data. SmartLinks are easily integrated into TypePad and Blogger, via a downloadable plugin for WordPress or a single line of code to paste inside other sites.
SmartLinks showing various features and function
AdaptiveBlue is the brainchild of Alex Iskold whose vision since 2006 has been to invent new browser technologies utilizing semantics and attention power. Alex's benchmark product "BlueOrganizer" has been downloaded over a million times and is a recommended FF add-on. Alex is a brilliant and progressive technology author as well and our readers might appreciate his views on the semantic web or other extended technologies on any number of blogs from ReadWriteWeb to his own tech blog.
My Take on SmartLinks
SmartLinks are similar to Snap Shots, which also add contextual info for some links. The differentiation between the two is that SmartLinks goes beyond a simple "preview" mode like that of Snap Shots. The relevant info from SmartLinks is only added where applicable and within SmartLinks' understanding of selected data. The bottom line is, Snap Shots render previews of everything and SmartLinks inform and direct based on known relevance.
The number of supported sites is rather limited at the moment, but continued additions of varied sites will make this a powerful helper for many websites. SmartLinks help visitors discover more about their interests, and site owners retain visitors who use them. I know Alex and Co, will be refining these pop-ups to include more helpful information and features. Alex's "Top Down" philosophy for a semantic web is readily seen in this latest development. Essentially, SmartLinks are designed to understand a rather narrow type of information and add semantic (all be it seemingly simplistic) meaning in a capsule. I think the theory is sound and by building upon these "SmartLink capsules" perhaps AdaptiveBlue can build an ever bigger/better mousetrap.
