IsoQuest Delivers Newspaper Classified Solution

IsoQuest Inc., a provider of knowledge management software for electronic publishing, delivered the newest product in its NetOwl Family of Intelligence Discovery tools, NetOwl for Classifieds.

The Fairfax, VA-based company said NetOwl for Classifieds allows newspapers to publish their classified advertising on the Internet quickly and accurately.

NetOwl automatically parses classified ads, expanding and interpreting abbreviations and acronyms, and stores the results in a structured format for database access.

The product is derived from years of research in natural language processing (NLP) technology that was originally aimed at the federal intelligence community, the company said. Clients include Thomson Corp., Individual Inc., and Knight-Ridder New Media.

The NetOwl NLP-based technology is uniquely suited to recognizing and processing the vagaries in free text found in classified ads. The company said. For example, NetOwl recognizes that “Bdr.,” “Bdrm.,” and “Bd.” are all abbreviations for “bedroom,” can accurately distinguish between “$2,000 down” and “$2,000 obo (or best offer),” and can differentiate between “Excel” when used to refer to a car model and “excel.” as an abbreviation for “excellent condition.”

Paul Jacobs, president and CEO of IsoQuest, said: “NetOwl allows our clients to increase revenues by using their classified ad content to feed the many new applications and services arising from using the Web as a distribution channel. Newspapers maintain control of their advertising content, and newspaper staffs can focus on the more important tasks of enhancing their online presence rather than on the mundane details of parsing advertisements.”

NetOwl for Classifieds includes customizable modules for real estate, transportation, and employment and is available for both Windows NT and Unix environments. Pricing was not disclosed.