aggregators

popurls, the original social aggregator has launched a variety of new features this weekend. popurls is so popular that the King of Clones, Guy Kawasaki has cloned it for his latest startup. From a developer standpoint, popurls has some nifty features like the ability to swap opening links in other windows, text sizing and css changes on the fly.

The major update is the addition of the "poprank algorithm" which features the top nine stories across the popurls community. Founder Thomas Marban notes regarding the algorithm, "tracks popularity on the basis of several measurement methods across the web". I have a call-in to Austria to get the secret sauce from Marban but somehow I doubt I will get very far.

Other newly launched features include:

• Direct sharing on facebook
• Screensaver for windows
• Improved search
• Pownce bot
• New feeds
• Updated iPhone client

I keep a tab open for popurls and a tab for Original Signal and both attack the aggregator issue a bit differently.

Bloglines, the RSS tool owned by Ask, has released a new beta version of their feed aggregator. Gary from Ask.com has a basic product overview. Richard has an awesome in-depth review of the Bloglines product over on Read/WriteWeb.

Richard notes, "Bloglines Beta is the first stage of 'a complete redesign of the Bloglines service'. The new features include a new personalizeable Start Page (featuring drag and drop functionality to add feeds); 3 feed reading views (Quick View with headlines only, 3-Pane View for an email-like interface, and Full View for "the classic Bloglines page layout, updated"); Drag-and-drop feed management using Ajax; and a new Unread System to manage what to keep and what to ignore. Also upgraded are the 'Add Feeds' process and the 'Full View' option."

I love the fact that there are no default feeds, I don't have to delete 40 things I don't want just to start adding what I do. And where is the advertising, if none, then how do they generate revenue?

It "feels" much smoother than Google Reader. But can this new version bring back it's loyal base from years ago?

Come inside for the video review »

Web aggregator popurls has launched a real-time viewer mashup with Google Maps. It displays a map of the world plus the content being clicked on from popurls. It's pretty groovy to watch what people in different countries think is interesting. My suggestions would be to let users select a zoom level as currently it's pretty far zoomed out and a pause button. They could also offer a country-by-country analysis, select "Germany" and only watch the clicks from with Deutschland.

Sample image:

TWERQ was one of the first sites we reviewed on CenterNetworks. I was impressed with how much time and effort it saves with regards to searching. I started using it again this spring and now devote a tab to TWERQ. Below I ask founder Wesley Long about TWERQ: what it is, why it's better, how they generate revenue along with questions about the Canadian Web startup market and tips for ya'all building a startup.

Note: TWERQ is a current CN sponsor.

Allen: Can you provide a brief background about yourself?

Wesley: My name is Wesley Long and I have been a professional graphic designer for 15 years, 7 of which have involved website design and development. My experience with search leading up to the development of TWERQ in March of 2006 was strictly from a user perspective with some SEO.

Allen: What is TWERQ and where did the idea come from?

Wesley: The idea for TWERQ came from the frustration of using conventional search methods. I came up with the idea for tabs by just playing around with a design for what I felt would be the ultimate search interface. The name TWERQ which is pronounced as TWORK is an acronym for "The Web's Effective Result Query"

Allen: How does the service work?

Wesley: In many ways TWERQ works like any conventional search. People can search for information and content by keyword or phrase. There is however much more functionality under the hood so to speak.

TWERQ is designed to save you time. It addresses key inefficient navigation barriers with traditional search interfaces that collectively consume a large amount the time spent searching.

Allen: What's the team like at TWERQ?

Wesley: I have been lucky to work with people who are talented and care about the success of the company. Both the management and development team are great professionals and really great individuals who focus on the quality of user experience with ethical and responsible business practices.

Allen: Who are your competitors?

Wesley: With thousands of search engines being developed world wide and the clear domination of Google our competition seems staggering. Google, Yahoo, Microsoft could all be considered competitors although technically they are not due to the fact we display results from all three and let users choose which they prefer.

Allen: Why should I use TWERQ instead of just using Google?

Wesley: There are numerous benefits to using TWERQ. I think to best way to begin is to demonstrate with a simple example. If you are looking for news sources, you may want different kinds of news like world, technology or business news. Traditionally you would search for each of these items separately.

Simply enter the same three searches at once on TWERQ and what would have taken you about 25-30 seconds or more to do using any conventional search will take you 3-6 seconds on TWERQ depending on how fast you can type. TWERQ's interface offers a faster, easier way to navigate searches which can cut the time you spend searching in half. It reduces the amount of memory your system uses, the amount of typing required and offers a centralized solution to searching. Additionally with the TWERQ Hive people can work together and collectively find information even faster.

Allen: Do you have a monetization plan? If so, can you share some details? Are you funded?

Wesley: We are funded, though we do not disclose details or the amount of funding. I can tell you TWERQ is here to stay. Both our group of investors and development team are dedicated and committed to making the web and safer and easier place to search for information.

We intend to monetize initially with our SpotLight Advertising Program which is now available. SpotLight Ads offer advertisers more creative control over how ads are displayed. Advertisers pay a flat monthly fee which is determined by the number of keywords and campaign coverage. There are other plans in the works, all of which will contribute to our LuckyDay@TWERQ Program which shares 30% of the revenue generated with our users.

Allen: Can you share some details about your marketing plan?

Wesley: We are only in the early stages of marketing so again I can't say much. There is still much to be done in the lines of development before fully accelerating our marketing plans.

Allen: What's coming in the next 3-6 months for TWERQ?

Wesley: You will see many new features and enhancements of the existing features. I cannot say too much specifically, but what I can tell you is that you can expect a huge expansion on the number of available sources of information. You can also expect additional features and refinements to the TWERQ Hive.

Allen: Where do you see search moving over the next year?

Wesley: Many people believe search is moving in a more local and personal direction. This is the case in fact if you look at what Google and others are doing in these areas. I have a slightly different perspective in that search is without a doubt moving to a more localized approach but I think that rather then a more personal experience you will see a more collaborative and collective experience.

The problem with personalizing results in my opinion is it that it is a waste of resources and not very efficient. Computers simply do not have the ability to process any kind of information the way people can. Social and collaborative experiences essentially do this in a much more efficient yet fundamental way, word of mouth! This creates by far a better "personal" experience.

Allen: Do you find it harder to get startup buzz in Canada vs San Francisco/Silicon Valley?

Wesley: The power of the internet and blogs in particular has made that less of an issue I think. While it is true that being in the tech capital would have it's obvious benefits I do not think it is the key to creating buzz and gaining exposure to any startup. I think the key to creating buzz on the web besides having a compelling product or service to offer is the social motor of the web. It is truly making the world smaller and location less of an importance.

Allen: What's been your biggest lesson learned since you started TWERQ?

Wesley: Staffing is not easy! Like any start-up the hours are extreme and it can be tough finding people who care about and share your motivation and drive toward the same goal.

Allen: What advice do you have for those thinking about starting a web application?

Wesley: The best advice I can offer is be different. Really try to focus in on things you can use to separate yourself from your competitors. Many people say everything has been done but just when you think that, something completely new and different comes along. You have to be willing to try new things and different approaches. Another piece of advice I would offer is pay less attention to the hype or positive exposure, and more attention to the negative and constructive comments. This is the best way to learn how to improve or better present any software or web application.

Allen: Which RSS feeds are you reading these days?

Wesley: I follow CenterNetworks of course, TechCrunch, Read/WriteWeb, AlternativeSearchEngines, SearchEngineLand, Google, Go2Web20, and many more.

Original Signal, one of the best aggregators available, has released a major update. It's Original Signal 2.0.