The Google of Data

Our modern day reliance on Google as our fountain of all knowledge is almost scary. Whether we’re looking for broad results using a short tail description or longer tail descriptions for more specific queries, we are all punching these in on a daily basis.

Yet, there is one area where the search engine might not necessarily have the same success and that is in the assimilation of data. There are times when our research requires numbers and the text results just don’t suffice. Enter Zanran, self-proclaimed as “Google for data” (don’t believe us, check out their about us page).

Results are Good in Graphs and Tables

As a quick snapshot of the search engine, it produces results to search queries in the form of graphs, tables and charts.

In its early beta form, co-founder Jon Goldhill stated, “results are good when the data is likely to be found in graphs and tables rather than in free text, is the subject of a full analysis [and] serves information professionals (analysts, consultants, librarians, etc.).”

Results are presented in PDF format with a very useful feature (perhaps inspired by Google’s own search results) that gives users a quick snapshot of the relevant information.

It’s still in its early developments and some search queries produce better results than others, but there appears to be some use in using Zanran for data.