Graphiq (formerly FindTheBest) is a
semantic technology company that uses
artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence—perceiving, synthesizing, and inferring information—demonstrated by machines, as opposed to intelligence displayed by animals and humans. Example tasks in which this is done include speech r ...
to rapidly create interactive data-driven infographics.
Its intent is similar to
Wolfram Alpha
WolframAlpha ( ) is an answer engine developed by Wolfram Research. It answers factual queries by computing answers from externally sourced data.
WolframAlpha was released on May 18, 2009 and is based on Wolfram's earlier product Wolfram Mat ...
which is designed to provide users with direct information on a variety of subjects rather than going through a
search engine.
Graphiq is based in
Santa Barbara, California
Santa Barbara ( es, Santa Bárbara, meaning "Saint Barbara") is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Co ...
and has raised $32 million in total funding from venture funding companies by 2013.
In May 2017, Amazon acquired Graphiq for an estimated $50 million.
Graphiq announced that its features for news publishers would no longer be available on July 21, 2017, as part of the transition.
History
The company was founded in 2009 as FindTheBest by
Kevin J. O'Connor, former CEO and co-founder of
DoubleClick
DoubleClick Inc. was an advertisement company that developed and provided Internet ad serving services from 1995 until its acquisition by Google in March 2008. DoubleClick offered technology products and services that were sold primarily to adv ...
, Scott Leonard and Brayton Johnson.
The site was publicly launched in 2010 with nine comparison categories, including health, education, business, and
sports
Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, ...
.
The venture was funded with an initial investment of $750,000 each from the founders, followed by $2 million by
Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers
Kleiner Perkins, formerly Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB), is an American venture capital firm which specializes in investing in incubation, early stage and growth companies. Since its founding in 1972, the firm has backed entrepreneur ...
in December 2010.
In 2011, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers invested an additional $4 million into the company.
It also received an additional $11 million in Series B funding from New World Ventures, Montgomery & Co., Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Pritzker Group Venture Capital and others.
In May 2014, FindTheBest had reached 23 million visits per month and employed a team of approximately 110 people.
In 2011, it launched FindTheData.com. The AssistMe option was added in 2012. In January 2013, the company made its first international expansion and launched sites in Spain, South Korea, and New Zealand. In April 2013, the company launched sites in Germany and the United Kingdom.
Its real estate research site FindTheHome launched in 2014.
In August 2015, the company rebranded to Graphiq Inc. and launched a new set of tools for publishers.
At the time, the company's database included 1 billion entities, 120 billion attributes and 25 billion relationships.
Product
Graphiq's flagship product for online content creators, Graphiq Search, allows users to access its library of 10B+ interactive visualizations.
Additionally, Graphiq offers 22 vertically aligned research sites that allow consumers to research important topics. The company states that 33 million visitors use Graphiq research sites every month. The data from Graphiq is
mined from a variety of public and private sources and presented to users in a visual table with filters and
ratings.
The company's primary consumer interface is a group of vertically aligned research sites, which let users research products and services on a desktop or mobile device
They can also add or edit product and service listings. Each edit is reviewed by Graphiq's team before it goes live.
The company's products for online content creators and journalists included Graphiq Search, Feed and Plugins. Publishers that use Graphiq visualizations include
AOL,
MSN,
The International Business Times
The ''International Business Times'' is an American Online newspaper, online news publication that publishes five national editions in four languages. The publication, sometimes called ''IBTimes'' or ''IBT'', offers news, opinion and editorial c ...
and
Hearst Newspapers Hearst may refer to:
Places
* Hearst, former name of Hacienda, California, United States
* Hearst, Ontario, town in Northern Ontario, Canada
* Hearst, California, an unincorporated community in Mendocino County, United States
* Hearst Island, an i ...
.
In August 2016,
Reuters
Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world.
The agency was esta ...
announced a partnership with Graphiq to deliver a suite of interactive visualizations to Reuters customers. In October 2016, The Associated Press announced an expanded collaboration with Graphiq to introduce paired visualizations with AP text content.
Sites
As of February 15, 2017
Business model
The site attempts to bridge the gap between search engines like Google and review-type services like Yelp. O'Connor describes it as a "research engine." Each research site is free for consumers and monetized with advertisements.
The visualizations pull from the same database that powers the research sites and each visualization includes the Graphiq logo and a link back to one of the company's research sites where they monetize users with advertisements.
References
Further reading
*
*
*
* Mullin, Joe
"Angry entrepreneur replies to patent troll with racketeering lawsuit" ''
Ars Technica''. September 16, 2013.
* Hoffman, Lyz
"Patent Troll Throws Counterpunch in FindTheBest Dispute" ''
Santa Barbara Independent''. October 28, 2013
* Mullin, Joe
"FindTheBest destroys “matchmaking” patent, pushes RICO case against troll" ''
Ars Technica''. November 23, 2013.
*
*
*
*
External links
*
Company blog
{{Amazon
Amazon (company) acquisitions
Companies based in Santa Barbara, California
Technology companies established in 2009
Technology companies of the United States
American review websites
Comparison shopping websites
Consumer guides
Internet search engines
2017 mergers and acquisitions
2009 establishments in California