As odd as it sounds, Walmart has rolled out a new search engine based on semantic search technology. This unlikely pair is working to help users find items on the Walmart website. The results are based on their interests and likely intent.

This interesting news was brought to our attention by Computer World in their article,“Walmart rolls out semantic search engine, sees business boost.” Like many businesses, they see the search engine’s potential in increasing their online sales.

The product was built in 10 months and is named Polaris. This followed Walmart’s acquisition of Kosmix last year. Kosmix had developed a social media technology platform that filters and organizes content in social networks in a manner relevant to users.

Melody K. Smith

Sponsored by Access Innovations, the world leader in thesaurus, ontology, and taxonomy creation and metadata application