SearchCowboys connected with Ben Behrouzi to capture the difference between the future of LeapFish and that of traditional meta engines and aggregators.  The exchanged produced a great Q&A reflecting the developmental trajectory of LeapFish.

Why another aggregator?

LeapFish is more than just a simple aggregator that displays websites from other search engines.  LeapFish is a multimedia search engine that combines and renders the best of the web in the form of sites, videos, news, images, blogs and more from the most popular and widely accepted destinations including Google, Yahoo, Youtube, CNET, Yelp and a growing list of over 200 other authorities in a single search interface.  We believes its time for multimedia search.

What makes Leapfish different from all the others?

We live in a time with a very multimedia and sophisticated Internet and we believe its time our search tools function in a similar way.  LeapFish is undertaking a progressive and systematic application of advancements and innovations in search over the next several years that empowers users with the ability to access more of the multimedia web as well as interact with the data they find in a whole new way.  Currently LeapFish users benefit by having an engine that does the heaving lifting for them in more complex searches by querying the major online authorities in videos, sites, imagery and more in one search query.  Additionally, since LeapFish is always checking other major online destinations, the engine conveniently surprises users with information that they wouldn’t have normally been aware of had they used a traditional engine.

What is your business strategy? How will you make money?

LeapFish offers ad programs in its growing search engine.  Advertisers are able to take advantage of a growing list of ad programs including Keyword Position Sponsorships that offer marketers the unprecedented opportunity to purchase ad space without having to pay per click or per impression.

What are your future plans?

LeapFish intends to tackle search 2.0 over the next several years with innovations in data variety and availability, interface sophistication, real-time search, personalization and content interactivity producing a new customizable dashboard to the web.  LeapFish 2.0, the latest release, will arrive this August and will offer users unprecedented access, command and interactivity with the web.

How do you see the ‘war of the search engines’ evolve with engines like Wolfram and Bing entering the market?

Wolfram is a content producer, Bing is an aggregator of data.  Without integration, data like Wolfram Alpha’s will be lost in the information overload of the web.  The web requires a new breed of search tools that integrate a variety of valuable data such as Wolfram Alpha’s and others into a single sophisticated search portal that in essence allows users to turn the information overload into readily and appropriately accessible data.  Bing’s latest initiative will educate users precisely of that, but without continued integration of the variety of the web, Bing will be deemed as a more sophisticated version of search 1.0

Where is Bing in your results anyway?

Bing will be available with LeapFish 2.0 this summer.

Why do you think people would be switching from, for example, their regular “Google searches” to Leapfish?

Google has built a reputation of commanding precision access to a tops down organization of websites, which is extremely valuable.  But is that everything everyone cares about in the world of web 2.0?  The user interactivity demonstrated by the recent events in Iran and with the late Michael Jackson, the tremendous number of new portals including Wolfram Alpha, and the continued loss of accessibility due to the growing information overload is evidence that we need a more sophisticated gateway and interface to the web.  We believe a growing number of searches will be answered more completely with LeapFish.