Back in June photo sharing and facial recognition startup Riya announced they will be switching lanes and start to focus on the untapped area of visual image search. In what seems to be the first move followed by the announcement, Riya unveiled Like.com today — which is exactly what they promised, a visual image search engine.
What I like about Like is that it’s starting small. Currently, the idea behind it is that you can browse through a bunch of celebrity pictures or use the textbox to describe something visual (e.g. “mens black gold analog watch“) and search through a range of watches, shoes, hangbags, clothing and jewelry. Using it’s technology, Like finds the appropriate item and provides details on it, and places where it (and related ones) can be purchased from. Of course, they get a commission on each purchase, and for now, this is the only kind of a business model that can be seen implemented.
Currently, Like will come useful to very few people, but through time they plan to majorly expand the service by adding categories and features which will appeal to a much larger and general audience. What I’m truly waiting for from them is the ability to upload your own images and search — this is where its use will pass its strength. Also, there’s an toolbar coming up.
Like has opened up a whole new range of possibilities for new technologies to spring up and leverage its offering. Given the trendy focus of the product, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if they bypass the popularity of their own sister product Riya.
[tags]Riya, Like, Visual Image Search, Search, Photo Sharing[/tags]
