Wize Blog

Introducing the 2009 Wize Choice Awards + UnWize Choice Awards

We're so excited to launch the official 2009 Wize Choice Awards and 2009 UnWize Choice Awards. We have analyzed thousands of products and reviews and determined what people have said are the best products and why they thought so. Please take a look at the 2009 Wize Choice Awards releases to date:

Best Products for Sports Lovers

Car Seats

Wii Games

Gadgets

We plan to keep releasing more Wize Choice Awards and UnWize Choice Awards until the end of the year, so stay tuned! You can find the updates on Wize, here on our blog, our Facebook Fan Page or on Twitter.

Wize.com Re-Launch, 2009 Wize Choice Awards & Other Exciting News!

Today we are proud to announce the re-launch of Wize.com with an updated design and many new features! Our team has been hard at work building the Wize Product Recommendation Engine, which provides personalized product recommendations based on the voice of the Web. We're now analyzing over 26,000,000 recommendations from 1,000's of sources over 450 product categories (and growing daily!). We're also honored to announce that Jeffrey Glueck (current CEO of Skyfire and ex-CMO of Travelocity) has joined our Board of Directors. To top it off, we've also moved our office HQ to Burlingame, CA!

A few highlights of our re-launch include:

• Wize Choice Recommendations: personalized product recommendations using the everyday words that people use to search discover products
• Wize Brand Choice: brand analysis to extract the words that people use to describe specific product brands
• Wize Review Search: ability to search within reviews for the things that are more important to you
• Wize Product Organizer: save and compare your favorite products in an easy-to-use stash tray

We're so excited to share this new site exprience with the world. We are also going to continue to improve the site and add new features that are important to our users. Go ahead and drop us a note and let us know what you think of the new Wize! You can leave a comment here on our blog, follow us on Twitter, connect with us on our Facebook Fan Page or just send us an email!

We are also proud to announce the launch of an innovative new awards program called the Wize Choice Awards. For our first release, we've analyzed millions of reviews to come up with the 2009 Wize Choice Awards - Best Products for Sports Lovers. These are the best products currently for Sports fans hoping to take full advantage of this upcoming season! Stay tuned for future Wize Choice Awards.

For full details of our Wize.com Re-Launch and the 2009 Wize Choice Awards - Sports, please visit our Press Page.

Back to School on a Budget

New clothes, new shoes, new notebooks, new pencils - all the things that I was most excited about returning to school. Although shopping for new items is part of the back to school fun for kids, it can add financial stress to parents, especially given the current economical climate. It is best to start the process early and take the time to get ready for your shopping needs, but if you still have items left to buy or are just about to shop for your kids (or for yourself, college students), here are some tips to help you save money and stay on budget. 

If you haven't, make a list of what your children will need this school year, and before you hit the mall, see if you have any of the items at your home already. Chances are you already have binders, unused notebooks, and pencils left over from last year.

Next, see if there's any garage sales in your neighborhood. Garage sales can be an amazing place to find back-to-school supplies ranging from computers, calculators, to small items such as book bags, clothing, notebooks, etc., and you fill find the items at one-tenth the original prices. 

Organize a swap meet with neighbors, family, and friends with children where each brings outgrown clothes or school items. Everyone will benefit from the swap meet.

Use coupon codes. Google your favorite retailers/brands and "coupon code" to get savings or free coupon websites such as FatWallet.com or Savings.com. Also check out what coupons deals your local stores have. There are still back to school deals going on in discount stores (Wal-mart, Target, Office Depot, etc.), so check them out.  

When it comes to clothes, you're never too late. Kids grow fast, which means clothes that fit your kids in August might not fit in October. Get a few outfits with great deals on Labor Day, and plan to go shipping again on Columbus Day or even wait until Thanksgiving or Christmas season. Check out outlet malls and consider buying clothing off the final sale racks which your children can grow into.  

For big items such as calculators, make full use of reviews available online to ensure the quality. Wize serves as an excellent place to look for the best produt in many of these categories or just to simply type in the specific product you have in mind to get reviews. For example, you can find the best calculators for students very easily!

Use this as an opportunity to teach your kids important lessons about budgeting, the difference between wants and needs, and finding great deals. Get the kids involved when budgeting. For example, younger kids can help cutting out coupon codes and older kids can help add/subtract prices. 

Keep notes about this year's back to school shopping experience so you can refer to where to look for best deals, which thrift/discount shops to check out first, how to budget, etc.  

For college students: 

If you haven't bought big items such as laptops, calculators or electronics, be sure to research these products online and check for the best prices. Keep an eye on the clearance sections of online retail sites and look for free shipping. 

Buy textbooks online (for example, Amazon.com or Half.com). Used textbooks especially come at much lower prices. 
 
Good luck with your new school year and happy shopping!

Wize Announced as AlwaysOn Global 250 Winner

We're honored to have been announced as a winner of 2009 AlwaysOn Global 250! Our CEO, Tom Patterson will be speaking at the main event on Wednesday July 29, 2009, so please be sure to reach out to us if you will be there. Here's a link to the event itself: http://alwayson.goingon.com/permalink/post/32096

Continued Support of the "Long Tail" for Search

There continues to be more and more evidence to suggest a need for change in how people find things online. According to this article at Australian IT, Bill Tancer (GM of Global Research at Hitwise) suggests that people are becoming frustrated with the search results provided by the major search engines and are looking for more specificity in their results.

This shift in the search industry was even more evident and a hot topic this past week at AltSearchEngines Day II, which was held in San Francisco, CA. We had the opportunity to listen to presentations and hear panel discussions from many of the thought leaders and CEOs of startups dedicated to improving search. It's clear to us all that there is SO much to improve upon and that users will continue to see and demand improvements in how they find stuff online.

There's no denying that Google is the leader in US Searches, but the evidence continues to show that people are expecting more and more and that's where alternative search engines and innovative niche services are going to shine.

In our research and user testing at Wize, we've learned how people shop for products offline and it's only natural that they would want to shop the same way online! When was the last time anyone went to the store and asked for a Oster blender with work top, 2 speed, 40 oz blender with pulse features?! People usually will ask for something more specific to their needs, such as the best blender for smoothies and this where the long tail shines...

Exploring the Deep Web and the Future of Finding Things Online [Update]

Please visit Vator.tv to read about Wize, deep web and the discovery landscape.

Looking forward to your feedback / thoughts. Email us @ wize.com!

Apple Releases A Brand New iPod Shuffe

 

What do you think of the new iPod Shuffle? I'm a fan of "The Apple Experience" and just like all of their previous releases, this one is full of all the great PR, display ads, commercials, etc., but this release also has some interesting aspects to it.

First of all the size of the iPod has shrunk even more than the previous ones and is smaller than the size of an average house key! The access controls are now located on the right ear bud headphone cord, which is probably going to be the reason for contention. Let me explain. For now at least, you have to use Apple's own headphones in order to control this device. Oh, but did you just shell out $300 for Beats by Dre? Well as Engadget has pointed out, you'd need to get another $20-$30 adapter to make that work!

I've already spoken to a few people and over and over I keep hearing:

"Sure, but what is apple thinking? It may look super sexy, but where's the usability? You can't just pick it up and start listening to music on it. Also, I doubt people want to pay $20-30 for an adapter to use their existing in-ear or wireless headphones. Two years ago, when people had more expendable income, they could get away with it, but I don't think now.

The one cool feature that has promise is the new VoiceOver feature they've introduced. It's easy to read online reviews about it and to read Apple's own description of the technology, but this to me is just one of those things where you have to try it out yourself. The best way to test this feature and figure out if it's as good as it seems is to get out on a treadmill and determine for yourself whether it's really going to keep the Shuffle as one of the best MP3 players for working out.

How Do You Search in Google?

Just came across this great article over at Direct Mag, which talks about a HitWise survey that found longer searches to be growing rapidly, while shorter 1-3 word searches actually declining. This is really interesting and also quite exciting. We've always been about creating a more personal experience with our users and really allowing them to find the exact products to match their needs.

For example, a friend of mine that has been much more health conscious lately, recently found some juicers for fruits and vegetables through a longer search on Google. There are lots of innovative businesses that are helping to revolutionize the space and this of deep interest to us here at Wize.

Let us know some of the more interesting long searches you have done recently and whether the results were satisfactory -- we'll collect the comments / emails and re-publish them later on.

How to Enhance your Television Viewing Experience

This has been a really interesting topic of discussion for us here at Wize. A lot of us are into watching television series and there's so much more to the experience than just the quality of the show. Obviously everything else is a non-issue if the show content doesn't interest you, but let's assume you have a set of shows that you love (i.e. American Idol, 24, Lost, Family Guy, 30 Rock, Grey's Anatomy, etc.), there are a bunch of other thing that go into your overall viewing experience.

Over at Wize, we have a bunch of pages dedicated to helping people find the best flat panel televisions for watching television, or even the best flat panel televisions for your family rooms. These are televisions that people around the web have written about for those exact situations.

Ok, let's assume that you have the right equipment and it's setup for optimal performance, there are some unique ways that you can continue to enhance your experience by leveraging the power of the Web. A really great site that we've come across recently is Predictify, which is a prediction platform that adds an interactive dimension to the news and popular events. I'm a huge fan of American Idol and I recently came across some awesome dialogues and community questions about American Idol and had a great time adding my personal insight. It's a great way to keep the excitement of your favorite shows even after the show ends. On top of that, you can actually earn some money as well. Looks like there's a $ question about John Grisham live on the site right now.

Finding Great Hotel Deals For Your Vacations

Spring Break is upon us and Summer is just around the corner. It's even more important these days for people to plan their vacations ahead of time and do the smart things to save money. That's not an easy task. There are so many resources out there, yet it's tough to find a place that you can trust.

I recently stumbled upon a great service for hotel deals at DealBase.com. It's simple to use and I've been able to find some great deals in just minutes. One of the best things about it is that it calculates how much the deal is actually worth, which also saves you a ton of time and effort.

There are lots of great events in music and sports coming up in the next few months, including Opening Day at the new Yankees Stadium, NCAA Basketball Tournament and the Ultra Music Festival. Here are some relevant hotel deals that can help you prepare for the above and other events: Las Vegas Hotel Deals, New York City Hotel Deals, Miami Hotel Deals.

We know a lot of people come to Wize.com to find great products for their vacations, so we're always happy to share other great services.