Intelliseek CEO Mahendra Vora (Ernest Coleman photo) | ZOOM |

        Whether it's truth or fiction, talk on the Internet can stir up trouble for any business.

        Ask Intel Corp., which ignored Internet talk in 1994 that its Pentium chips produced mathematical errors, and ended up defending its image and products in the media. Ask Procter & Gamble Co., which battles rumors on the Internet that its Febreze fabric deodorizer kills pets.

        Using its Internet search technologies to provide early warning, Intelli seek of Sharonville has started a Corporate Intelligence Services operation. The company scours Web sites, bulletin-board discussions, chat groups and more to find out what consumers are saying about companies.

        “That's paying off big time,” Intelliseek CEO Mahendra Vora said. He said the company has several Fortune 1000 customers for the CIS service; he can't name them, he said, for competitive reasons.

        Like many Internet-based companies, Intelliseek has had to change direction to find a viable business in the New Economy. “I would be dis honest if I said it hasn't been difficult,” Mr. Vora said.

        The company operates a Web site called the Invisible Web (www.invisibleweb.com), a directory of about 12,000 databases that aren't cataloged by the major search engines. In April, Intelliseek acquired ProFusion (www.profusion.com), maker of a search technology for the Internet. Intelliseek also makes BullsEye 2, a program for PCs that helps search the Internet.

        The company had hoped to co-brand BullsEye for distribution by Web sites and to sell its search technologies into Web sites.

        That strategy ran out of steam, however, as the plans at many of those Web sites didn't pan out. “The problem is the buyers. They didn't have money to buy,” Mr. Vora said. “What do you do when your customers are going out of business?”

        Analysts say the market for Internet search engines is hard to crack. Yahoo, Excite, Lycos and AltaVista are among the most popular general search sites. Inktomi, Excalibur and Verity are the biggest vendors of search technology, and companies such as LookSmart sell their technologies on a private-label basis to other Web sites.

        “All of (those markets) are difficult businesses to enter right now,” said Whit Andrews, research director for technology consultant Gartner Group.

        Many Web sites need a search technology for their users. “It's clear that search is a marvelous anchor for a popular site. The better the search result, the better demographics,” Mr. Andrews said. “But it's not clear how to turn that into cash.” With more Web sites needing to generate sales, “search is something people aren't willing to spend as much on.”

        Mr. Vora said he's never had to lay off workers, but the company is smaller today — 34 employees vs. 42 last year — as vacancies have gone unfilled, particularly in sales.

        Intelliseek received an additional $3 million in funding in October from Nokia Ventures and River Cities Capital Funds, two of the investors who gave the company $6 million in 1999.

        Intelliseek launched its CIS business this past summer. The ProFusion technology has an “autocategorization” feature, Mr. Vora said. That technology essentially reads Internet content and classifies it any number of ways.

        The software then churns reports, detailing what Internet users are saying about products on the Web or in discussions. With the help of the CIS business, Intelliseek will have triple the revenue in 2001 that it did last year.

        “I don't know how many (Internet) companies have seven figures in revenue,” Mr. Vora said.

        Competitive intelligence as a product “is extremely appealing, and it's salable, and it's something people are willing to pay for, if it's handled well,” Gartner's Mr. Andrews said. “It's not necessarily a giant business, but it's a respectable business.”

        Intelliseek hasn't given up on the search engine business. Mr. Vora said the company soon will unveil a new version of its ProFusion search site.

Mixed reviews for Aronoff
Intelliseek has its ear on Web
Retailers' topics wilt in slowdown
Retailers see sales growth, but slow
Tristate Summary
What's the Buzz?
Industry notes: Banking
Boston hails new taxi ads
OPEC appears primed to curtail production