New Search Engine Ranks Products Based on the Public's Collective Wisdom

Wize.com, a new website that launched today, offers a way to conduct product research that is better than using a search engine. Product research is the fifth most common use of the Internet, conducted every day by more than 17 million Americans, according to the Pew Internet & American Life Project.

"One of the most valuable -- and most frustrating -- uses of the Internet is product research. Using search engines to conduct product research usually wastes a lot of time," said Doug Baker, founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of Wize.com. "Wize.com was built to help customers find great products quickly."

Wize.com saves time and allows people to make better product decisions. First, the website consolidates high-quality expert and consumer-written reviews for more than ten thousand consumer products. Then, products are sorted by Wize Rank(TM) -- a score that represents the public's collective wisdom, good or bad, for each item. Wize Rank is determined by the content of the consumer and expert product reviews and allows people to quickly determine which products are worth further consideration.

Each product on Wize.com is presented along with reviews and links back to the original sources so that customers can easily read the full reviews. Among hundreds of others, consumer review sources on Wize.com include Amazon.com, BabyCenter.com, Cooking.com, Crutchfield and Yahoo!; expert review sources include Cooks Illustrated, About, Parenting, Macworld and PC Magazine.

Wize.com is a free service that generates revenue based on the advertising displayed on the site. Wize's helpful contextual ads allow users to quickly find good prices and places to buy products. Because of its objectivity, advertisers and business partners have no influence on a product's Wize Rank.

Collective Wisdom

Websites like Digg.com and Google.com apply the notion of collective wisdom to provide the most relevant content to their users. New Yorker columnist James Surowiecki further popularized this notion in his 2004 book "The Wisdom of Crowds." Wize.com applies the lessons of collective wisdom to product research.

List of products with a Wize Rank of 100: http://www.wize.com/wize_100.

Wize.com (www.wize.com) simplifies product research. The free website consolidates user and expert reviews for more than ten thousand consumer products into a single source. Products are sorted by Wize Rank(TM) -- a score that represents the public's collective wisdom, good or bad, for each item. Wize Rank allows people to quickly determine which products are worth further consideration. Wize.com was founded in 2005 by Doug Baker. Previously, Baker was founder and CEO of Private Accounts which was acquired by E*TRADE in 2000. Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minn., Wize.com is privately held.