 "Aman Angrish, Cherub Software’s CEO")
Cherub Software Pvt Ltd has launched a B2B product, ThatNeedle.com, an artificial intelligence-based site-search technology that aims to offer e-commerce websites and real estate portals the best possible search experience in the world.
The search technology is based on the company's proprietary natural language processing (NLP, or the ability of a computer programme to understand human speech as it is spoken) technology and semantic search, and Cherub chief executive officer Aman Angrish, 37, has applied for a patent for it.
According to Wikipedia, "Semantic search seeks to improve search accuracy by understanding searcher intent and the contextual meaning of terms as they appear in the searchable dataspace". It adds that "semantic search uses semantics or the science of meaning in language, to produce highly relevant search results."
Angrish, Cherub Software's CEO, says that contemporary search solutions focus on keyword search and tend to build on old keyword-based technologies. They throw up too many results, making the search unsuitable for mobile e-commerce.
Also, these solutions cannot handle human voice inputs. Humans speak in sentences, while current search solutions focus on keyword-based search and are unable to understand the meaning of sentences. When search becomes primarily speech-driven, computers will tend to give irrelevant results.
ThatNeedle, Angrish says, is based on technology that is semantic by design. "Our search box relieves users from the frustration of getting numerous irrelevant results after having spent time filling in forms, selecting dropdown boxes and clicking on the search button. Our product cleans up the clutter and auto-suggests relevant information only as the user is typing, thus allowing users to reach what they were looking for, faster and more easily."
He adds, "It will be a boon for e-commerce websites, real estate portals or any other site with a lot of information that needs to be searched. As it is a big challenge to get the search right, many companies are spending huge amounts of time and money to solve this problem. We will help them improve their search quality and conversion rates."
"The technology has helped some businesses transform their search experience. Users interested in our technology are from real-estate, e-commerce, organic food sites, sports goods sites and health care," says Angrish.
Vivek Aggarwal, founder of Realizing.in, an online real estate portal, and a client of ThatNeedle, said that that Cherub's search technology has helped transform their search experience and improve their click-through rates. The average time a user spends on the site has increased considerably, he says.
A spokesperson of Cintz.com, a sports retail portal based in California, said in an e-mailed response, "We started using the search engine technology provided by ThatNeedle.com a few months back. Ever since, the user engagement on our site has improved considerably and we are getting more conversions. Based on results on our site, they have delivered a much [more] superior technology than our previous provider."
Angrish says that the company will be able to produce a custom search solution for any vertical. If required, the software is capable of showing only the top five relevant results to reduce information overload, and will be ideal for enhancing sales from users buying on mobile phones from e-commerce sites, he said.
Cherub is building a new 1,000 sq yd facility in Mohali, and is "working on software for robots to be used in healthcare and retail," says Angrish. The company's other solutions include software for green buildings that automatically determines whether to call a large elevator or a small one, based on the number of people waiting for an elevator; and software for improving the efficiency of call centres.
