Yahoo, Google And… Mobli? Image Search Engine Giants Have A New Neighbor

There's a new search engine on the web and it could give well established leaders like Google Inc (NASDAQ: GOOG) (NASDAQ: GOOGL) and Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) a run for their money.

The company, Mobli Media Inc., is making its name in image searches, a space it says has long needed an update.

A Better Way To Search

Traditional algorithms for image searches require users to sort through a large number of irrelevant images that have been ranked by attributes that are often unimportant to the searcher. Mobli is hoping to change all of that with its EyeIn service.

The new web searching tool was announced on Monday and is said to allow searches that consider parameters like locations, specific events and even weather to give users more intuitive results.

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Social Searching

The service is also unique in that it is able to sift through the millions of photos uploaded to social media sites like Facebook Inc (NASDAQ: FB) and Instagram.

The site will pull from all corners of the Internet, including Yahoo's Flickr and Google's Image search. The company has said it aims to become a "crowd-generated" source of visual content.

Relevant Images

As most of the photos uploaded to social media are irrelevant to a search, the company has developed a way for EyeIn to determine what types of pictures will be most important to the user.

The company's CEO Moshe Hogeg said the technology takes into account what would be most relevant to the searcher — for example, the site would display pictures of basketball players before those of the crowd when an NBA game is searched.

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Star Power

So far, the company has made waves with several big name investors on board. Celebrity backers include Leonardo DiCaprio, Serena Williams and Tobey Maguire – who have contributed to the over $90 million Mobli has raised so far.

Image Credit: Public Domain