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A new-defunct commercial system designed
to take the pain out of remembering and using urls. Instead of expecting users to
remember complex strings of dashes and slashes, the Real-Names system
assigned real, simple words to complex web addresses, so that they could be
accessed through a direct navigation system rather than a hit-and miss
process based on search engines.
Despite the apparent
usefulness of such a scheme, Real-Names failed to capture the imagination of
website owners. Part of the reason for their indifference was that
the scheme made no attempt to determine which company had the right to use
particular keywords, effectively assigning them to the highest
bidder. A second problem was the technology's imperfect integration with
browsers and search engines to make it work properly. Many user
complained that an attempt to search for a generic category, such as "London
plumbers", might well redirect them to a website based in London, Ontario,
instead of giving them a list of sites to chose from. The company's early
deals with the major search engines faltered, forcing several confusing
changes of strategy. RealNames eventually sold a significant part of the
business to Microsoft, which integrated support for its technology
into its internet explorer browser but refused to renew its contract
in May 2002, forcing the company to close shortly afterwards. |
