Arizona State University team tries to streamline Web shopping. Usuggest.com wins $20K first prize in Entrepreneurship Challenge

Hasan Davulcu used to watch the inner workings of a friend’s online store, curious about shoppers who plugged in keywords and never found or never bought the items they were looking for.

It made him think there had to be a better way for consumers to find exactly what they want online. As an assistant professor of computer science, he thought the answer would be in capturing and storing search terms to make searches faster and more effective.

Applying a team of computer science students to the problem led to Usuggest.com, a comparison-shopping Web site that goes beyond product reviews to offer cash rewards to helpful shoppers.
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The team won Arizona State University’s Technology Entrepreneurship Challenge this fall. The victory earned them the $20,000 first prize and entry in the inaugural Intel+UC Berkeley Technology Entrepreneurship Challenge last month. That contest was won by a University of California-Berkeley team developing new semiconductors for cellphones, but the Usuggest.com team still sees potential.

Jane Larson
The Arizona Republic

Full Story: http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/business/articles/1215usuggest15.html