Thomas Register debuts another site for engineers to ignore

Excuse me...they are ThomasNet now, abbreviated TNI. They have used the old adage about the more failures, the more likely a success. They've improved a lot, but some core issues still hobble their service. See their press release about why this site is so great (it reads like a VerticalNet promo from 1999).

ThomasNet.com emulates Yahoo in that there is a search block, but also categories. At their seminar, it was explained that the categories are there to help people who aren't sure what to call what they are searching for. Also ala Yahoo, their is an animated ad overlay for a Orange County Choppers giveaway.

The giveaway is an interesting idea in that you need to roll over six hot-spots and read about the motorcycle and how it metaphorically relates to ThomasNet. The hot-spots include a link to a demo page to show how that feature works. An interesting idea in getting a visitor to learn how to use their site.

The site's search is supposed to integrate both their Register and Regional databases, although it isn't apparent to the user. You do get a list of states and the number of suppliers along the left side of your SERP (search engine results page). You can use this list to drill down, as well as categories like: manufacturer, distributor, or service companies.

Lets cut to the chase--how are the search results? Mediocre. Why? For all the work on the website, they haven't invested time in improving their database. Problems include:

• Rankings are driven by money paid, lowering accuracy of the results.
• Results to your search are different than using their categories.
• You have to spend more time reading descriptions of companies as submitted to TNI, rather than edited results from their website like real search engines.
  
• There are too many similar categories and not enough of the right ones to drill-down.

(Another symptom is that their contact info for my company listed our address from about three years ago.)

At the top of the page, just before the results, is a list of 'related directory categories'. I clicked on these to try to get better results, which was somewhat effective. Compare a search for temperature controller versus a category result for controls: temperature. Just for fun, try the same search on Google.

Google gives the best information scent, and that's why ThomasNet is not going to win on specialized search with this iteration of their website. My prediction is that engineers will continue to rely on Google. Anyone feel differently?