COMMIT/partner 904Labs – a startup that develops a self-learning search engine – has been awarded €100,000 proof-of-concept grant from the University of Amsterdam. 904Labs will use this grant to expand the startup’s team and continue developing its product.
904Labs is a spin-off from the University of Amsterdam that boosts customer engagement through better search and recommendation. The startup improves the search experience at eCommerce businesses so that it reaches the level of major web search engines like Google, Bing, Yahoo, Yandex.
Founded by COMMIT/projectleader Maarten de Rijke and COMMIT/researchers Wouter Weerkamp and Manos Tsagkias (COMMIT/project INFINITI), about year a ago, 904Labs has already successfully undertook various projects with the companies like Elsevier, Europeana, and TeliaSonera. The startup has recently begun working with a large auction site in the Netherlands to deploy its self-learning search suite onto the company’s mobile website and improve its user engagement and revenue. This October 904Labs has showcased its product at European ICT 2015 fair in Lisbon.
“What is unique about the 904Labs software is that it learns from the clicking behavior of users”, – says Wouter Weerkamp in his interview for Z24. – “If people do not find what they want, you go hire developers that will optimize the search results based on their knowledge, but our search engine does it itself. Why not directly use the input from your visitors?”.
904Labs’ self-improving search and recommendation solutions create a smooth customer experience when switching from searching the web to searching in an e-shop, as they increase customer’s loyalty and a customer’s likelihood to convert. 904Labs’ products stay ahead of the curve by continuously incorporating latest research outcomes from academia into the solid products for the industry.