14 DAY TRIAL // Apparently there are other search providers out there besides Google. Omgili is one of those and its claim to fame, or rather the thing that sets it apart is the fact that its results come from forums, boards, discussion groups and just about anywhere people are expressing their opinions. It's been around for a while and just like any other search engine out there it's not exactly threatening Google. Not by a long stretch. The company seems to realize that itself and figured “if you can't beat them join them,” launching Google@Omgili.
What Google@Omgili does is try to provide an experience close to Google but adding the features specific to Omgili. This actually makes some sense. “As most of you are searching Google to find information, we created a new service, named Google@Omgili, that integrates Omgili into Google in a manner that should make searching Google even better. The look & feel of the search engine should look very similar to Google’s, but it also includes some unobtrusive useful features,” wrote Ran Geva, Omgili CEO, in a blog post.
A search on Google@Omgili will have the usual Google results but also a “discussion bubble” showing how many discussions are around that particular result. Clicking on that bubble will pop up links to those discussions. There is also the option of filtering the results showing only those from blogs, news or forums. Most of Omgili's services have been integrated into the interface while trying to stick to Google's minimal look.
On the surface this looks like just another search provider and while that may be true it does have some interesting features that could prove useful in some situations. Users tend to have a greater degree of trust in peer information but it does get hard trying to find out which pieces of said information are of actual value. Google@Omgili does have some features no other search engine currently has but it's up to you to figure out if those features are of any use to you.