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Ask HN: Review my students start-up

bongobing.com

10 pointsdmarques122 comments

I don't know about you, but I find it impossible to read that URL without reading "BoingBoing" instead of "BongoBing."

We are being harsh. I apologize for this: As far as the branding goes, people have a hard time trusting online shopping as it is. Childish colors and a monkey does not help.

Cyber-pollution doesn't deserve an apology.

I was searching for "laptop" and the first result page did not contain one single laptop. The categories "Electronics" and "Computer" do not contain any laptops either. So, considering that your slogan is "Find the product you are looking for" I have to say I doesnt really seem to work. Also I think the logo has a little to many color combinations in it, looks a little confusing. Sorry I dont have anything nice to say.

Is this based on cuil? I am going to buy a washing machine soon. Your website gave me a "Lobster Hybrid Tennis Ball Machine with Pneumatic Propulsion" in first position, and many irrelevant links. "Individual Token for Slot Machine", really?

Only one link (a steel connector for washing machines) is getting close to my search, and that is for a very generous definition of close.

I searched for "juice" and got one related result (juicer) and the rest were Leatherman-type of tools that have a brand name of "juice."

The results should be better. Or, if they can't be, there should be some sort of incentive for me to purchase from this site. Do I get a discount? Free shipping? If I already know what I'm looking for, why do I need to use BongoBing?

What about your service compels me to use it over something like Amazon or Google product search?

I put in House of the Dead and it gave me bird houses. Does it even use Amazon at all? Plus, it needs to search cafepress/zazzle.

As others have said, the presentation -even if you like it - doesn't save it from the fact that it produces no useful results.

I'm not inclined, therefore, to explore why it has a "login" prompt at the top right. One search, zero relevant results, back to Google or Bing or Yahoo or anything else.

My impression is that the presentation seems targeted at 4-year olds, although that may be harsh.

Thank you for the great feedback, the students definitely appreciate it, the search results lack relevancy at the moment due to the fact that they are adding a large number of products in the coming weeks so it will improve over time, the feedback on UI/Logo/etc. is very useful.

It's obviously doing an "or" search which is a horrible mistake.

You have to work on the quality of the search results. I did a simple search for ipod, and laptop and got items related to laptops or ipod's but no results returned the actual product. Also there seems to be no way to organize the search results by price either which might be helpful.

Maybe s/he should just focus on one particular market - say computer hardware or video games etc - and excel at bringing in results for that market, best current deals etc. Otherwise it's no different than a froogle.com or something similar and would have difficulty competing.

Every* web developer should be familiar with cross-site scripting (XSS) and how to prevent it. http://www.google.com/search?q=xss

* If you don't have a login system or any sensitive data, it might not matter much.

'external hard drive' doesn't seem like a difficult query. Results? a bunch of hard hats.

I like the simplicity, but the logo needs to be toned down a bit.

I agree, the simplicity is really the strong suit here. I would say this is at least a solid start.

I first tried a search for a semi obscure product called a "grillmate". Got nothing. I then went to the opposite side of the spectrum and searched "hair dryer". Tons of hair dryers and no real way to sort them by any relevant criteria. This makes the service a bit useless in my opinion, but exposes an opportunity at the same time.

Your best bet is to guide people into finding that one product that they just can't quite put their finger on. Walk me through a process that helps me find that one keyboard that I saw at my friend's brother's house last week. If you can do that, then you'll really distinguish yourself as a product search engine.

I typed in Ferrari Testarossa and I got cologne. I tried Ferrari Testarossa sports car and got a sports slide.

On the other hand it is fast ;<)

What kind of products am I looking for?

"We could not find any products to match your search :( "

For "netbook".

Deleted comment

Bongobing may not appeal to you, but it is a valid attempt by a student who is attempting to learn. By that standard, they deserve our honest opinion. They obviously need to be pointed in the right direction, and I don't feel that "No." necessarily accomplishes that. I'm surprised so many people have voted this comment up as it does not contribute to a thoughtful discussion.

Curt negative feedback isn't helpful. Comments -- especially to students and others asking for help in good faith -- should include some morsel of information that can be used to improve.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com