Nowadays we have to face an incredible information overload which is difficult to handle. On the Internet information is easily available about almost any topic one can think of and there are multiple web offers for every imaginable product.

The difficulty is not to find some information, but the challenge is to find exactly that piece of information one is looking for with minimum effort. The EC3 Networks Meta Search helps to meet this challenge.

References

Visitfinland.com
Duration: November 2007 – June 2009
Currently, EC3 Networks develops a modern, up-to-date tourism portal for the Finnish tourism board, called MEK. Being part of this portal, the EC3 Networks Meta Search allows visitors of the portal not only to find ideal tourism offers but also to compare offers from different providers.

Integration of hotel meta search engines
Duration: 2005 – 2007
This research project aimed at offering a comprehensive search for accommodations with a web-based integration of various online accommodation providers.

MEMESE
Duration: October 2007 – October 2009
Within the scope of this research project, EC3 is currently developing a generic meta search engine. Furthermore, the meta search paradigm is adopted as a use case in the field of freight and transport, for which we cooperate with our partner company freecom.

Details

Nowadays many people feel overwhelmed by the flood of information to which we are exposed every day. There are many search engines that aim at helping people to get along in the world wide web, but most of them allow only a rather superficial full text search and, hence, they are only of moderate help for users, especially when it comes to the comparison of offers for certain products.

For example, if you type the words "hotel" and "Vienna" in a traditional search engine, you will get a list of links from different accommodation providers. Of course you can click on those links and book a hotel room in Vienna at one of these providers' websites but it is not possible to compare these offers automatically. Furthermore, it is difficult to perform a rather domain-specific search (e.g., based on room availability or equipment) with such a traditional search engine.

Traditionally, users have to start their search with rather general search criteria and for every research result (which is a link), they can continue their search with more detailed criteria at the individual search engine of this very accommodation provider. Finally users have to compare all those offers manually considering their particular demands and interests. Furthermore it has to be noted that the fact that providers often use different terms for one and the same search criteria makes the whole search process even more complicated.

The meta search paradigm allows for an advanced approach in order to better meet the natural human way of searching. As the particular search domain is known to a meta search engine, it is able to handle very product-specific search criteria. The big asset: In contrast to traditional search engines, search criteria have to be entered only once; users do not have to care about the complexity of different providers because technology handles this issue of different search terms all by itself; The EC3 Networks Meta Search component knows at which providers it has to look for suitable results and how to translate the user's criteria into the particular provider's criteria. It performs the whole search process and presents the results from various providers in a consistent way such that users can easily compare them.

The product EC3 Networks Meta Search emanated from a research project in cooperation with the company Tiscover in 2005. This initial project aimed at integrating different search methods that are used by various accommodation providers into one single meta search engine. The findings of this project gave rise to the project MEMESE as well as the product EC3 Networks Meta Search, as it is, for instance, implemented in the project Visitfinland.com.

• Integration of different technologies
  Thanks to our expertise in the field of meta search and to our widespread network of partner companies we are not only able to integrate basic content-focused websites in our meta search but also more complex web service interfaces. Hence we can offer tailor made integration approaches that allow to meet the requirements of any individual customer. Hence we can offer tailor made integration approaches using web service interfaces (e.g., REST or SOAP) that allow to meet the requirements of any individual customer.
• Legal independence for meta search operator
  No matter which field of search is concerned, the EC3 Networks Meta Search always focuses on the core issue – the meta search and the respective linkage; any potential transaction (e.g., conclusion of a sales contract or booking of a service) is always conducted, directly at the respective provider's website, independently from the meta search operator. The EC3 Networks Meta Search only presents links to offers and the actual transaction is finally conducted outside the responsibility of the meta search operator.
• „2-side Integration“
  Upon request of customers and based on agreements with the respective providers, it is possible to amend the functionality of the EC3 Networks Meta Search so that the results of transactions are registered by the meta search component. This may be particularly useful in environments, where the EC3 Networks Meta Search is integrated in portals that provide user profiles.

At the moment the EC3 Networks Meta Search is implemented in the transport and accommodation sector. EC3 and EC3 Networks would like to broaden the usage of the meta search paradigm to other business sectors. Further potential fields of application might be for example:

• meta search for concert tickets and price comparison for similar products offered by different providers
• meta search for recruiting