The Oneupweb Review for the day is Browsys Powersearch.
Browsys Powersearch is a one-stop shop for searching any topic on some of the top properties across the Web. The search tool allows users to break down the type of results they’d like to see based on category, such as General, Images, Video, News, Social, Business, etc.
Here’s a screenshot of the default search page:
Click Images to Enlarge
On this “Start” page, Browsys is suggesting 17 different places to begin your search, which include the major search engines, a couple of Google verticals, like Google News, popular social networking, sharing, bookmarking and knowledge sites, and finally, Ebay.
Let’s give Browsys Powersearch a try.
Since there’s been a lot of buzz lately surrounding the economic stimulus package President Obama is trying to get pushed through Congress, I’d like to see what I can find on that topic using the tool.
On the default screen, I use “economic stimulus” as my query, and then click the “News” button below the search box. That default “News” option pulls from Google News, and here’s what I get:
Only 143,000 results. Not good enough. Let’s look elsewhere.
I want to stick with the latest stories for now, so I change my category from “Start” to “News” to get more options. I then have 28 different news sources to choose from, including CNN, MSNBC and The NY Times.
So I pick a couple of them and browse through the top stories. After doing so, I’ve decided it’s enough reading for now. Let’s go back and change our category from “News” to “Video”. I’ll see what YouTube has to offer:
Looks like House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has full confidence in the plan. But now I’m curious to see what people outside of the political arena think.
I go back and update the category to “Social”. I’m then provided with sub-categories, including Nets, Podcasts, Groups, Bookmarks and Ads. I’d like to see if people are talking about the stimulus package in Facebook.
Now for this search conducted in Facebook, I don’t initially receive any relevant results. Why? Because I’m not logged in and it will default to search only Friends in Facebook:
One of the great things about Browsys is that I can log in right from here. Once I do, though, I have to retype my query into the search field in Facebook to search the entire network – but no biggie.
I am then able see the different Groups set up in Facebook to discuss the package on a variety of levels, including one guy who’s going to be stimulating the economy at the bar:
After I join a couple of active conversations on Facebook, I’ve decided that I’m pretty well caught up on the latest on that topic, so I’ll leave it at that for now.
I could have easily dug in to find far more information using Browsys, and done so using some of the most popular sites out there to find facts, opinions, references, reputable sources, and even products (yeah, I found a Rat Fink Economic Stimulus Bailout Package Coin Bank on Ebay. I bought three).
The great thing about Browsys is that you can quickly search in one spot. For some searches, like those performed using Squidoo, I get directed off of Browsys onto the actual Squidoo website. While I’d prefer to see such results served in an external window in my browser so that I can stay on Browsys, it still provides me with a lot of options up front.
Sure, there are other websites that could be added to Browsys, like LinkedIn or Hulu, but its come a long way, and one of the things that I like best about the tool is that it’s not overwhelming. It doesn’t force you to browse through hundreds of sites, but rather recommends a handful for each category.
Overall, I give it a B+-+. I don’t really know what that means, but I had a college professor grade my papers that way.
Go ahead, give it a try.
Editor’s Note: You can read more Oneupweb Reviews on StraightUpSearch, social media-related reviews on our sister blog StraightUpSocial, and product-focused Oneupweb Reviews on Epinions.
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