Semantic search can improve search accuracy by adding contextual meaning to terms and better understanding the user’s intent. DollarDays is an online wholesale distributor and closeout company that serves small businesses. The company has adopted EasyAsk, which offers semantic search, in hopes to boost its back-to-school shopping experience for customers. Details of the announcement can be read in the MarketWatch.com article, “DollarDays Delivers a Solid Back-to-School Season with EasyAsk Semantic Search.” The CEO of DollarDays explains the change to EasyAsk,

DollarDays CEO Marc Joseph attributes DollarDays’ continued success to many key variables, including a growing number of price-sensitive shoppers, dominant marketing as seen in the company’s back-to-school programs and an overall exceptional customer experience, led by strong site search, merchandising and analytic capabilities. ‘As the volume of traffic and the total number of items increases, the more important it is to present the right items to the visitor as quickly as possible,’ says Joseph.

The change is understandable, but time will tell the success of the EasyAsk adoption. The benefits of the open source community may be missed, such as the cost-effectiveness and the community support and innovation. For those trying out various search systems, the open source arena delivers powerful search systems worth checking out when weighing options, including the industry standard, LucidWorks.

Philip West, October 3, 2012

Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext.