From the Editor
Mike Hofman

A New Way to Search

 

Frequest users of this site may have noticed a new feature recently—I'm talking about that black search bar that now appears at the top of your screen. It's a gateway to a new search tool powered by Apture, a Silicon Valley start-up launched by Tristan Harris, Can Sar, and Jesse Young, alumni of Inc.'s 2009 30 Under 30 list.

Apture allows users to search about and learn more on a topic without leaving the page they are reading. Little magnifying glass icons sprinkled throughout the text will also prompt you to start an Apture search.

Editorially, we think Apture will give users a chance to learn more about the topics—people, companies, products—that matter most to them. Apture is particularly good at presenting Inc.com's previous material on a search term, and relevant multimedia including videos.

There's obviously a good business reason for us to try this technology. Apture asserts that sites using its search engage readers to spend more time on a site and to read more. We certainly hope that is the case and, so far, the results have been encouraging.

To see founder Harris and Sar demo Apture, view this video.

Mike Hofman was previously editor of Inc.com and a deputy editor at Inc. magazine, which he joined in 1996. The site was nominated for a National Magazine Award for Digital Media in 2010, and was named the best business website by Folio Magazine. In 2006, Hofman was part of a team of writers nominated for a Webby Award for best business blog. He lives in New York City. @mikehofman