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PRESS
RELEASE
27
April 2000
More
than 1,500 reviewed Web sites in a directory with unique, simple,
instant access structure. Want a new job? Type job.QAZ.com.
QAZ.com
returns most generic Internet enquiries faster than Yahoo.co.uk,
Altavista.co.uk or any other UK search service.
Looking for a holiday, a car, a new home? Just think it, type it
and then find it. With QAZ.com Internet users looking for Web sites
can now find a comprehensive page of independently reviewed UK-relevant
sites almost as soon as they realise they want them. In development
and trialling since November 1999, QAZ.com is now fully operational.
Using QAZ.com's unique addressing system, users can access the more
than 1,500 reviewed Web sites by simply typing in what they are
interested in before they get to the Web site.
"We think people should be able to use the search engine they've
always used - the one in their heads," says QAZ.com's founder,
Steve Homer. "We've created an online service that has all
the rigour of a human constructed directory but offers the flexibility
and ease of use of a computer-driven search engine."
QAZ.com has more than 100 directly addressed topic pages. A user
wanting to buy CDs simply types cd.QAZ.com in their browser and
up comes a list of sites for buying CDs online plus other CD-related
Web sites. For holidays users type in holiday.QAZ.com, for cars
it's car.QAZ.com and so on. The site also uses around six hundred
aliases to direct users to relevant sections. For example dogs,
dog and cat all lead to pet.QAZ.com. golf.QAZ.com points to the
general sport.QAZ.com topic but soccer.QAZ.com resolves to the separate
football.QAZ.com page.
Continues
/ . . .
. . . / 2
"Linking
the topic to the Web address in this way takes the uncertainty out
of using a directory service and speeds access considerably. It
becomes a sort of command line search engine," says Mr Homer.
But
QAZ.com is not just about a novel addressing structure. All the
Web sites featured on QAZ.com have been independently reviewed and
given a star rating. The sites themselves are then grouped into
relevant topics creating almost a magazine of site reviews.
For
example on the car site, car.QAZ.com, car buying sites such as Autobytel.com
are featured next to advice sites, such as the Office of Fair Trading
Web site as well as the car recovery services. It doesn't even matter
if the would-be car buyer uses a simile for the site - cars.QAZ.com
or car.QAZ.co.uk will get them there just the same.
"We
aim to offer a complete solution with each page," says Mr Homer.
"The idea is you want something, you type it in, and you are
then presented with a comprehensive selection of sites that satisfy
just about every need you might have."
To
allow QAZ.com to provide in-depth reviews of Web sites the site
uses pop-up 'Site Guides' to provide background information without
getting in the way of more general browsing.
At
its launch QAZ.com will carry information on, and links to, over
1,500 sites in more than 100 categories. QAZ.com's ambition is to
offer a focused 'mainstream' directory service. Over time it is
expected that the number of categories will rise to around 150 or
200 but the total number of sites is likely to stabilise at around
2,500 or so.
"We'll
be encouraging customers to recommend sites themselves; their feedback
will also find its way into our reviews," added Mr Homer. "Even
on day one we'll be offering easier access than is possible on just
about any other search engine. Nine out of ten Internet enquiries
will return relevant sites faster using QAZ.com than using Altavista.co.uk
or Yahoo.co.uk."
QAZ
is still in its early stages and will add functionality and content
over the coming months.
- ends -
Information
for Editors
QAZ.com Ltd is a privately owned British company founded in June
1999. QAZ.com Ltd has two major operational Web businesses. QAZ.com,
which previewed in November 1999, offers quick access to reviewed
Web sites using "concatenated searching" - cd.QAZ.com
takes users directly to a page of reviews of Web sites relevant
to users wishing to buy CDs, for example.
TheGlobalGiftGuide.com
(formerly Gift-Net.com) was launched in December 1998. It is an
international gift giving directory with reviews of over 300 gift
sites in 30 countries.
Later
this year QAZ.com Ltd hopes to roll out QAZ.com in several European,
Far Eastern and South American markets. It will also launch versions
of its existing services for the mobile phone market using the Wireless
Application Protocol (WAP) system. It also plans to launch a dedicated
international WAP service called AdGlo.com (for Global Address).
This
and other releases, along with examples of available photography,
can be obtained by simply typing press.qaz.com - what else!
For
further information please contact:
Steve
Homer
QAZ.com Ltd
Tel: 0973 166249
Email: shomer@cix.co.uk
Lynne
Thomas
Lexicon Communications Ltd.
Tel: 020 7490 2973
Fax: 020 7490 7257
Email: lexicon@cix.co.uk
http://www.QAZ.com
http://www.TheGlobalGiftGuide.com
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