SearchMe
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Internet, Search engine |
| Founded | March 2005 |
| Founder | Randy Adams, John Holland |
| Defunct | July 2009 |
| Fate | Shut down due to loss of financial backing |
| Headquarters | Mountain View , United States |
| Products | Visual search engine, Wikiseek, music streaming service |
Number of employees | 45 |
SearchMe was a visual search engine headquartered in Mountain View, California. It showcased search outcomes through thumbnail images of web pages, featuring a user interface reminiscent of the album browsing experience found on the iPhone and iTunes.
The company halted its services and took the search engine offline in July 2009 following a loss of financial backing.
Establishment
Founded in March 2005 by Randy Adams and John Holland, SearchMe emerged from Adams' desire to improve online information access, inspired by his son's difficulties with reading. Early funding was provided by prominent investors including Sequoia Capital.
The platform entered its beta phase in March 2008 and officially launched its search engine to the public in April 2008.
Shutdown in July 2009
Between March and May 2009, SearchMe's user visits plummeted sharply from 1.8 million to just 600,000. On July 24, 2009, financial constraints—such as expenses related to server upkeep—forced the company to discontinue operations. Of the 45 staff members, plans were made to lay off 35 employees while pivoting toward opportunities in the broadband television sector.
Search Functionality
SearchMe’s engine delivered categorized results alongside standard listings and incorporated social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter for content sharing. Its design placed a webpage screenshot at the top with a clickable link and summary beneath, enabling users to browse results by horizontally "flipping" through them. The motto was "You'll know it when you see it." By March 2008, the search index included one billion web pages.
Monetization
Achieving financial sustainability required approximately three million searches daily. The business model centered on online advertising, embedding ads within screenshots that promoted specific products or brands. Results were ranked using algorithms that evaluated both website traffic and visual attractiveness, favoring sites with more compelling imagery.
Feedback
Critiques of SearchMe included the absence of a displayed count of total search results, leaving users uncertain if they were viewing a handful or hundreds of links. Additionally, some thumbnail images were hard to interpret, compelling users to assess relevance based primarily on visual cues. Nevertheless, the platform assisted navigation by highlighting search terms within screenshots.
Additional Offerings
In 2007, SearchMe introduced Wikiseek, a specialized search engine indexing Wikipedia entries along with their linked references. Later, in October 2008, it launched a music streaming service providing unlimited song downloads by utilizing Imeem’s extensive music library to broaden its user base and diversify its services.