Posts Tagged ‘t-info’
t-info is now Searchteq
28 Jan. 2009 | Author: The operators of the local search engine suchen.de has changed its name: Munich-based company t-info GmbH is now called Searchteq. This was announced by the company in a press release.
“With this rebranding, we wish to strongly emphasise the competence of our undertaking”, explains director Andreas Arndt. As t-info before it, Searchteq is a daughter company allied with German telephone directory publishers and Deutschen Telekom Medien GmbH, DeTeMedien.
Along with suchen.de, Searchteq’s portfolio, the company also offers also project-specific web content searches for businesses, search engine optimization and other innovative technologies, such as as software for protection from unauthorized data copying.
suchen.de now with new look
More modern and functional: the local search engine suchen.de has reinvented itself with a new look and features.
In a press release, the operators (t-info GmbH) explain that users have been given an optimal mix of function and flexibility.
Through the relaunch, map search now stands even more central than before. Whereas previously it was only accessed via its own tab, it is now directly integrated into local search. Users can for instance, access found results after a desired search as text-based or viewed on the map. Swapping between text and map versions is also possible, without having to restart a search. This is achieved simply via a click of either icon in the new grey navigation bar over the search results.
The navbar also serves as a sort of central service element. Here all the components for use of the search results and map display are accessible, thus offering a new overview. One can find links to the various display modes (map, hybrid, birds eye) as well as the dropdown menu “Interesting Points”, which accesses display of significant places on the map. Additionally one can tweak the search results using “Refine Search” and “Sort Results” features.
Furthermore, the results list has been pepped up with new icons, which serve to optimize the display, according to t-info. One can now see at a glance for example, whether opening times info is available, or if a service provider can be called for free. Unfortunately there is no longer the possibility to print out all or individual search results, however this will be rectified shortly. As Ben Broshi of t-info informed Lokale Suche Blog, the innovations are actually only the first stage of a relaunch. Several new features, such as an improved print function, are to be added shortly.
Live Search Maps: Update brings improvements
Almost exactly a year ago Microsoft launched the local search service Live Search Maps, in cooperation with suchen.de (see our post). In the interim, much has happened, and recently there has been a further update.
New on the scene is the “Collections” feature – as explained by Microsoft business manager Toni Pelg in Windows Live Blog – which is a collection of interesting locations, including attractions, parks or good restaurants. These Collections are accessible either through the “Collections” link or via the menu item “Erkunden Sie die Welt” [en=discover the world] which is visible on the start page of any map view, as long as one has zoomed in sufficiently. On clicking, a results links list appears alongside the map view, gathered from various websites, and can be sorted and displayed according to distance, relevance or date. Simultaneously, these external links are localized on the maps view with icons which one can open per mouse-over.
In a press release, Microsoft details that these Collections are gathered from users the world over. This is noticeable as entries are displayed in all possible languages, which is actually not always helpful, unless one is a languages wiz! Contrary to what Microsoft says, the contents is not exclusively generated by other users (UGC) but obvious exceptions that we discovered included data from tagesschau.de. Something else we noticed is that when we clicked on “More Info” [de=Mehr Info] where the user should be taken to ‘external sources with additional information’, we frequently landed on an empty page devoid of search results – merely a further map view. And often one finds a page with multiple copies of the same link. All in all this new feature seems still half baked.
More practical are some of the other improvements on Live Search Maps. The user can now display labels in Bird’s Eye/Aerial view, including street names, building notations etc., which certainly aids navigation. And the Pedestrian-Feature [de=Fußweg] works well -using this one can calculate foot routes up to 30km. Live Search Maps takes into account many paths through parks and green zones. Also access to local companies has been improved, that is local search results lists now often include detailed information such as opening times. The user can also call the listing gratis, as well as import contact details with a few mouse clicks directly into mail programs accepting vcards [Windows = Outlook; Mac = Entourage or Mail].
Posted in Local Search per PC, Local Search, News, Local Search Engines, Practical features | 
Tags: Live Search Maps, lokale Informationen, Microsoft, suchen.de, t-info | 
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Google Maps now with pedestrian navigation
Google Maps now appears not only in a new, simplified layout. Approximately a week ago, the search engine giant integrated a new service. Until now, route planning on Google concentrated exclusively on the needs of motorists; now this has expanded and pedestrians are also now able to find their way…
On the newly revised layout and now predominantly blue start page of Google Maps, the user is now able to access the pedestrian feature by a click on “Calculate Route”. Using a dropdown menu, users can choose whether to generate directions per car or foot.
As laid out by Google programmer Andy Schwerin in the Google Lat Long Blog, for a pedestrian route plan (contrary to those for motorists) one-way streets or “no left turns” are of course ignored, and parks and pedestrian zones are now included in the results.
At present, not everything functions correctly. In our own test, conducted by Lokalesucheblog.de searching for a route in Stuttgart, Google for example ignored paths through major city parks, such as the Schlossgarten, and completely missed smaller green areas. Suggested were also routings where no paths exist. This problem has been recognized by the Googlers… Schwerin explains that for this and other reasons, the program is still in beta-testing. the Googlers are working on the issues, actively gathering new data on footways. Google also encourages user feedback, so that this feature can be improved upon.
Interestingly in the post, Schwerin mentions that the link “Footpath” [de=Fußweg] only appears when the foot-route result is no longer than ten kilometers. This was not the case on the old site, but has apparently now been changed. However, one can actually view the foot-route from Stuttgart to Hamburg, which takes five days and 17 hours, assuming the walker does not take any breaks. According to the site (at present) a walker could wander from Munich to London in eight days and ten hours.
Google Maps is not the only local search service offering pedestrian navigation. Services such as the local search engine suchen.de has long offered a pedestrian option, limiting the distance of the route to twenty kilometers. Suchen.de, contrary to Google, does indeed cover parks, and doesn’t deliver routings without sidewalks. Live Search Maps, Microsoft’s local search service also offers foot ways up to 30 kilometers.
Posted in Local Search per PC, Local Search, News, Local Search Engines, Practical features |
Tags: Fußgänger, Fußweg, Google, google maps, lokale Informationen, Maps, Microsoft, Navigation, Routenplaner, suchen.de, t-info, zu Fuß |
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suchen.de receives Internet award
In mid-June 2008, the organization of German internet commerce Eco announced their Internet-Awards 2008. Among other prizewinners was local search engine provider suchen.de.
The Internet Award[s] were awarded for the eighth year. The Eco-Organization announced that they had received entries from just short of 250 undertakings as candidates for the award.
suchen.de was awarded its prize in the “Best Content Format” category. t-info GmbH, operators of suchen.de, in a press release, detailed that this prize was awarded to the commercial provider who produced and presented its information offering in an original and special way for the Internet. Among the evaluation criteria was the requirement that the offering should use the newest technologies and should present its content in an up-to-date, contemporary and media-compatible manner.
Immowelt.de: Maps with local information from suchen.de
The result of a cooperation between the Real Estate portal with the local search engine suchen.de, Immowelt.de announced the launch in a press release.
For many properties, it is possible to see their location on a map, and also their surroundings (by clicking on the “Umgebungsinfos” (en=Surroundings info), and discover where to find nearby bakeries, kindergartens, doctors or restaurants. In addition the searcher can select various categories (such as Health, Shopping, Training or Recreation) from a pop-up menu, or enter a special key word in the search field. The results of the research are generated a results list, and can also be viewed on a map in map-mode or aerial view. One can also sort the generated results by distance or relevance, a feature already enjoyed by suchen.de users.
Posted in Local Search per PC, Local Search, News, Local Search Engines |
Tags: DeTeMedien, Immowelt, Immowelt.de, lokale Informationen, suchen.de, Suchmaschine, t-info, Umgebungsinfos, Local Search |
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Live Search Maps: new bird’s eye view photos
Microsoft has further expanded the German-version of its local search presence Live Search Maps, by adding many new “Bird’s Eye” views.
As referred to by Tony Pelg, Business Manager at Microsoft, in a posting in the Windows Live Blog, for the first time there are high resolution oblique views available for the Ruhr-area, including for Bottrop, Dinslaken, Dorsten, Duisburg, Essen, Gladbeck, Marl, Moers and Wesel. Newly included is also Duusseldorf, and also new pix of Berlin. The capital city was already viewable from above in this web-presence, as of the launch of the service in August 2007 (see our post).
Well-timed for the coming vacation period, Pelg also mentioned Microsoft’s numerous aerial views of best-loved vacation destinations and cities outside of Germany – such as Sydney (Australia), Calgary, Montreal and Toronto (Canada) or Las Palmas, Telde and Santa Cruz de Tenerife (Spain). Areas and cities in the USA, Greece, Great Britain and the netherlands have also been added, and can all be viewed in the new high-res versions online.
Euro 2008 Specials on local search services
The soccer Euro2008 has started. Many local search services are offering their users special Euro 2008 features, in honor of this grand event.
The city portal meinestadt.de for example, in its local online event calendar, lists times and locations of live TV broadcasts on large screens in public places (a.k.a. “Public Viewings”), as well as broadcasts and Euro 2008 parties in pubs or beer gardens, with listings of start times, locations and contact details. According to a press release, all schedules are also available for download via the portal’s mobile version. In a Euro 2008 Special, one can also check out the game schedule and much more.
Google has also put together an additional Fan portal. Accessible via google.de/23tage, the user can find, among much else, a Fan Map with lots worth knowing about Euro 2008 (e.g. teams, players, games and stadiums). A press report by Google Deutschland, posts also a personalized iGoogle Fan start page with loads of information about the contest, the participating teams and even a YouTube Fan Diary that one can add to.
Internet online directory YellowMap offers soccer fans a special Guide to the festivities, in cooperation with online-portal Raumobil, the Mitfahrzentrale [en=Ride sharing] and Quoka. Offers include information about the game-cities, with aerial views of the eight stadiums, a ‘tip’ game and a route planner. In addition, one can reserve hotels and accommodation in Austria and Switzerland, or nearby the hotels where the teams are bunked, and even offer or search for rides to the games.
On the City24 city portal, one can find the games schedule along side with stacks of news about this pan European sporting mega event. Here too, one can find the locations and details of public viewings or parties on offer. Further, users may personally add local parties and events around Euro 2008, using the so-called ‘CityScout’ feature.
The participation of users is also found as expected on Qype. The local search and rating platform, in its own blog, calls for users to add listings and reports on public viewings or sportsbars. Find these under the Groups search term “euro2008” or the Guides listings.
Sharing soccer-mania with other fans is made possible by the local search machine suchen.de. Here, one simply enters search phrases “Public Viewing” or “Sportsbar” plus a location, to discover where the games are to be broadcast in public places or bars.
Extensive listings of Public Viewings and Sportsbars are also to be found on the online directory DasÖrtliche.de and DasTelefonbuch.de. Both services offer a special search feature on Euro 2008, in cooperation with “Premiere Sportsbar”. DasTelefonbuch.de also allows its users to participate ‘virtually’ in the festivities – using the so-called “Virtual-Kicker League“. Whoever participates and wishes to ‘appear’ against other online-soccer players, can register online and receives a Player-Pass. According to DasTelefonbuch-Servicegesellschaft, the virtual game schedule parallels exactly the real Euro 2008, including all preliminary games. The parallel victories and defeats will run alongside the actual events.
Posted in Local Search per PC, Local Search, News, Local Search Engines, Practical features |
Tags: City24, DasTelefonbuch, DeTeMedien, EM-Features, EM-Special, Europameisterschaft, Fan Map, Google, google maps, GoYellow, lokale Informationen, meinestadt, meinestadt.de, Public Viewings, Sportsbar, Suchdienst, suchen.de, t-info, YellowMap |
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Local Search using wissen.de
The knowledge portal wissen.de, and t-info GmbH (the holding concern for suchen.de) have joined forces on this project.
suchen.de has been integrated into the start page of the online-knowledge site, using a search field, labeled ‘Local search on-site’ [de=Lokale Suche vor Ort]. wissen.de users now have access to various local search functions gleaned from the databases of t-info, as announced by the wissen.de team in a press release. Most interesting is that specialized suppliers are not only discovered via directory category, but now also using product names.
The locality-based enquiry functions as usual. After the entry of search-term and location, one views a results list. However the generated results are only the basic version of suchen.de. Practical features such as map-view and search, route planner or business cards linked to individual results (some of which have free calling options) are not included at present.
Posted in Local Search per PC, Local Search, News, Local Search Engines |
Tags: Auskunftsportal, lokale Informationen, suchen.de, Suchmaschine, t-info, wissen.de, Wissensmagazin |
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suchen.de wins award for local advertising feature
The local search engine suchen.de managed to take home an award at the Innovation-Prize 2008, for its localized click-based advertising functionality.
Local online search machines and web-directories are an effective advertising platform, especially for small and medium-sized companies. The advertising capabilities of suchen.de were found to by particularly useful by ‘Initiative Mittelstand.’ The management of the local search engine suchen.de, t-info GmbH, received the award for Innovation, in the category “Internet Services” for their advertising facility.
As announced on the website of Initiative Mittelstand, t-info has been honored for tailoring click-based advertising (a standard feature in virtually all the major search engines) to the local search sphere. This means the user only sees an ad, when the content is relevant to his local search query, whether locality, service or product specific. (See our post.)
The advantages serve both the user and the advertising enterprise – the user only comes across relevant search and advertising hits, resulting from his search, and the advertiser is able to target location-specific potential clients, as a result of clear market need (as reflected by the user’s search criteria). Through this specificity or target-group, wasted revenue is reduced and accordingly advertising costs to the companies.
Launched in 2004, the annual Innovation Prize honors the most innovative and relevant products, solutions and services, specifically for the small and medium-sized business sector in the arena of information and telecommunications technology. In 2008, submissions for consideration for the awards topped the 1600 mark, eclipsing all former submissions [see Press Release].
