Tasree3 Expand Their Food Delivery Search Engine To Riyadh

Tasree3 is a simple and straightforward search engine that enables its users to search for and find the delivery numbers and menus for the different restaurants around town.

The design of the site is very simplistic, centered around a search box that enables users to search for the restaurant they want. There also is a Random button that randomly picks and suggests a restaurant for you, which should come in handy at times when you’re having a hard time picking what to have.

Suggestions are shown as you type your search query, and when you submit your search the results appear directly under the search box without loading another page, showing you the delivery number and providing a link for you to view the menu if you need to. The menu pops up as a layer on the page for you to browse through.

Read More

Bayarat, An Arabic Online Media Content Search Engine

BayaratBayarat is a new media search engine that was recently launched in its alpha version catering to the Arab world and aiming to make it easier to search for and find Arabic media content online.

Bayarat is currently only indexing video content from around the web and across online video sharing portals, with plans to add more types of media content in the near future.

A translation layer is integrated into the search engine in order to enable it to search for the same term in Arabic, English, French and Spanish; to broaden the search and return all relevant results.

One of the integrated features to enhance the search experience is an Arabic spell-checker, that suggests corrections for misspelled words that users type into the search box, in order to help them find better results for their searches.

Bayarat

The search engine has already crawled and indexed over 3 Millions videos ever since its launch just about a month ago. The site’s interface is available in both Arabic and English.

Bayarat was created and launched by Monther AbuShaikh, who previously brought us TweetShell, and is also CTO at Ikbis, the popular Arab video and photo sharing service.

Iconty: An Arabic Search Engine For Website Icons

IcontyIconty is a new niche Arabic search engine, specifically created for web designers and developers, to provide them with an easy way to search for and find icons to use for certain functions on the websites they are building.

Iconty aims to be a central repository for icons, where users can come and search for icons using Arabic keywords, or even English ones, to find the ones best suited for their needs.

Users can sign-up to the service for free and start uploading  their own icons to share on the site so that other people can download and use them as well.

Users can add icons individually through a simple form where they specify the file, the owner and the tags; or upload a zip file with a whole icon set, and then input the details for each icon.

Iconty

Iconty is still in beta; work on it started in February 2009 by a team of three family members: Mahmoud, Mohamed and Alia Rida. The team are currently working on enhancing the organization of the platform and how icon result sets are displayed, as well as making it even easier for users to find icons.

# Iconty

Damrej, A New Local Thematic Web Search Engine

DamrejDamrej is a newly launched thematic search engine developed to make it easier for users to look for different items they want to buy online, special offers, cars, properties, jobs and more.

Damrej takes a local approach, and has been launched for Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Libya and Egypt for the time being; with versions for the UAE and other countries to follow soon.

The services’ robots crawl different websites from the country building its indexes of shopping catalogs, jobs, real estate offers, cars and other types of classified ads; making them all searchable from one central point. The results provide some collected details about the item and point to the original website where the item or offer can be found.

Some merchants or classifieds services also provide an updated feed directly to Damrej to make it even easier to index their content and provide through the search engine.

Users can search by theme, narrow their search by using theme-specific filters, and get results from one or all online services depending on their choice. Related offers are also served up next to the items found through the search.

Read More

Zaad, A Specialized Palestinian Directory Search Engine

ZAAD

Zaad is a local Palestinian directory search engine that serves up search results from specialized databases, currently covering the Palestinian private sector and NGO sector databases.

Zaad enables users to enter information about their company or association directly to the site’s database, and update it as frequently as they need to. Details submitted to the search engine are confirmed through phone by the Zaad team to make sure all data in their database is accurate.

The service aims to build national databases for several sectors, expanding soon to hotels, restaurants, health centres, and more; positioning itself as an easy entry point to search for and find any type of business or organization in Palestine.

An integrated text advertising solution will be launched in a few days, that will enable advertisers to buy text ads to be displayed with the search results, targeted by category and language, with geo-targeting to be added soon.

The service went live earlier this month, and is available in both Arabic and English.

Zaad is a project of Sadaf Technology Development, a Palestinian web development company based in Gaza.

Zaad

Araby Search Engine Launches Redesign And New Features

ArabyArabic search engine “Araby“, which is a subsidiary of Maktoob Group, just launched a new design and a number of new functionalities and services to make it easier for users to reach what they’re looking for faster.

Among the new services is a thematic search feature, where the most used keywords on Araby are grouped and categorized by theme; these themes cover all tastes and interests, from sports, to technology, to Islam, to women’s issues, to art and celebrity news, to finance and business related topics, and more. The themes are displayed on the homepage with their most popular keywords, that are clickable, enabling users to directly access their search results.

Araby screenshot

Other new features include auto completion of search keywords as the user types in the terms he’s looking for, refreshing the list with suggested popular user searches with every typed letter.

Another new addition is the search help section that displays a number of searches that are related to the one entered by the user, to provide other options for them to take their search further and find results of interest to them.

Ayna Organizes “Ya Hala Ramadan” Competition

AynaOne of the main challenges Arab search engines face is driving users to try out their service and then convert them into regular users. With Ramadan just a couple of days away, Ayna is trying to lure Arab internet users to its search engine through a Ramadanesque competition.

During the holy month of Ramadan, “Ayna” is organizing a religious and cultural competition called “Ya Hala Ramadan”, and offering valuable prizes for winners.

Participants can search Ayna to find the answer for a multiple-choice question asked daily throughout the period of Ramadan. The competition is only available in Arabic language.

Participants in the competition should meet the following conditions:

  • Have a registered user account at “Ayna”.
  • Be a resident of one of the Arab countries.
  • Participate in the competition once daily and choose only one answer.

The winner of the competition is the one answering correctly the highest number of answers. In a multi-winner scenario, a draw will take place to choose the winner.

Valuable prizes will be awarded to winners; from round-trip plane tickets, to digital cameras and frames, to MP3 players and USB devices.

The competition begins on the first day of the month of Ramadan and lasts for the whole month; the names of the winners will be announced on the 8th of October 2008 and notified later by email.

Those wishing to participate have to visit “Ayna’s” competition page.