Search overload

The search overlay business is getting crowded.

In January of 2005 I had the idea to overlay Outfoxed reports onto Google search results. It wasn’t the prettiest integration in the world, but it really got people’s attention. (early screenshots)

SiteAdvisor was the first commercial company to launch with this feature, in December of that year. It was acquired by MacAfee just a few months later. But now it seems that just about everyone has figured out this trick, and I fear if the situation will get out of control.

As far as I know, the companies currently search overlays are: SiteAdvisor, StumpleUpon, Compete, and of course Lijit (Which is somehow both the new kid on the block and the granddaddy of them all!). I also know of several other companies which are planning to roll out this feature.

So with all of those installed, my search result looks like this (click for fullscreen view).

What a mess!

So what will be the future of search overlays? A passing fad or a wave of the future? It’s a powerful concept: using the power of browser plugins to forcibly add functionality to a website.

[Stan puts on his sales guy hat…]

And of course I’m biased, but I think the Lijit approach has the most staying power. Because Lijit can include data from any RSS stream, it can absorb the functionality of any other overlay. E.g., if SiteAdvisor or StumbleUpon published an RSS feed of their URL evaluations, any Lijit user could add them to their trusted network and have these reports included in their Google results without requiring more plugins.

Lijit pumps your RSS subscriptions into your search results. That’s pretty cool.

UPDATE Sami points out a new service WOT which also does search overlays and provides reputation information.