ChunkIt – View Important Content Before Visiting Results

Over the past couple of days I’ve been using a browser plugin called ChunkIt. I wish I had this plugin when I was looking for a new apartment using Craigslist.

Basically what ChunkIt does is go into search results and pulls out content from inside the results so you can scan one page with item title and a good bit of important content before making a decision on which result to jump to. On Craigslist all you see is a long list of links – when searching for an apartment in NYC this list is worthless. The brokers know what lies to put into the title to get you to click. But if you could pull back bits of content based on your search and then decide, it could save a good deal of time.

ChunkIt works with all of the major search engines. The company calls it “x-ray vision” since you can see behind the links before making the jump.

You need a large monitor with a good resolution for ChunkIt to be effective. On my 19" monitor I found it to be ok but not great.

This week they launched a "store" option which allows you to chunk results from online shopping stores including Amazon, BestBuy and Target. I assume this is how they will generate revenue – by grabbing the affiliate revenue from any purchases made through the bar. 

ChunkIt launched last April. Initial reviews included Erick Schonfeld and Phil Bradley who didn’t see much value, Anthony Ha said it was worth trying, and Greg Sterling was neutral on the plugin.

Here’s the company’s video demo on the new store feature: