| Thunderstone Software, LLC, has announced the release of its Webinator
4 site-indexing product. This new version includes an enhancement that
eliminates junk results: search hits that match words in Web page headers,
footers, and navigation menus instead of the page's actual unique content.
Webinator now automatically ignores text repeated across multiple pages
of a site. Users thus receive more precise search results without spurious
matches on boilerplate text. Webmasters can download a free version of
Webinator from Thunderstone's Web site (http://www.thunderstone.com).
Webinator 4's other new features include the following:
-
Categorization—Pages may be automatically assigned to categories that are
searchable separately, even if the site itself is not organized by category.
-
Web-based administration—Settings such as the indexing schedule may be
controlled by an authorized user from a browser anywhere on the Internet.
-
Source code—Programmers now may modify any aspect of the program by means
of familiar SQL commands and CGI scripting.
Webinator is an application of Thunderstone's Texis system, a combination
search engine and database. Texis serves more than 30 million searches
a day at eBay, as well as millions a day for other popular Web sites such
as HotJobs, About
.com, and Master.com.
Essentially the same software that powers those sites is available free
to Web site operators. "Most Webmasters don't need to pay for a site-search
function," said Doran Howitt, Thunderstone's spokesman. "Free Webinator
will let you search up to 10,000 pages per index, which is more than sufficient
for the majority of sites."
Thunderstone Software, LLC provides solutions for text-searching in
conjunction with relational database applications. Its technology's uses
include publishing, catalogs, classified advertising, corporate portals,
and Web searching.
Source: Thunderstone Software, LLC, Cleveland, 216/631-8544; http://www.thunderstone.com. |
