News system boasts powerful and innovative solution for information access, supply chain integration, Intranet research/publishing, aggregation, and “web services enabling” of Web sites

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ – May 29, 2003 – As a leader in information access and Web mining solutions, Connotate Technologies, Inc., located in New Brunswick, New Jersey, announced today the release of Web Mining Server 4.0.™  The new system contains a series of  features, which benefit both non-technical and technical users.

Connotate Technologies Web Mining Server 4.0 can automatically navigate through Web content, extract what’s important (text, numbers, pictures), and convert it from HTML into various formats including XML, alerts, database records, Excel spreadsheets and documents. The logic that performs these functions is based on the company’s information agent technology, and Web Mining Server 4.0 can support thousands of them.  Information agents can be used to monitor, harvest, mine, aggregate and integrate Web information. They can deliver information to people or to other systems; and, they can also be set up in 5 minutes.

Culmination of Years of Input from Customers and the Marketplace

“Thanks to input from a number of our customers, analysts, and integration partners, we’re now able to offer significant new functionality,” says Bruce Molloy, Connotate’s chief executive officer. “At the same time we’re able to maintain the ease of use and simplicity of our earlier offerings.” Vincent Sgro, Connotate’s chief technology officer adds “we kept focus on the intuitive graphical interface while adding sophisticated new functionality.”

Unique Value Proposition

Information agents can literally be created in minutes using a simple GUI interface. Researchers, analysts, aggregators, integrators and information consumers are all empowered to access and collect the information they need. The ease of use and rapid deployment is made possible by patented machine learning/pattern recognition technology, which was developed at Rutgers University. Connotate’s solution creates new revenue opportunities that didn’t previously exist, significant productivity enhancement and significant cost savings. 

Feature Rich – Connotate Technologies Web Mining Server 4.0™ includes:§     

Database Mapping -  Information agents can be configured to transform unstructured Web data into structured information and then place this structured information into a database. The entire configuration process is GUI-based requiring no programming skills and can be completed in minutes, which makes it beneficial for research, business intelligence, aggregation and integration.

§     

Individual Web Page “Snapshot” Capabilities – Delivers entire HTML pages to user or database when select information on a given page changes. This brings significant value to business intelligence monitoring, archival of frequently changed pages and capturing audit information.

§     

Enhanced Web Services/API Interface –  Informationagents can be invoked programmatically through a standard Web services API. Parameters, keywords, and agent logic can all be dynamically specified by the calling program.  Allows content-rich applications to make calls to the World Wide Web data warehouse.

§     

Enhanced Handling of Pictures, Text, and Numbers – Individual Web page elements whether text, numbers, or pictures can be individually identified and used for monitoring, mining, aggregation and integration.

§     

Site Navigation Optimization – Enhanced algorithms provide highly efficient navigation and interaction with Web sites. Additionally, processing rates can be dynamically adjusted to meet particular goals. This results in higher throughput and timelier delivery of time-sensitive information. 

§     

Portable Agents – Once created, an agent may be moved to other systems through an import/export process. This allows the sharing of agents by multiple parties.

§     

PDF Document Pattern Recognition – This feature applies Connotate’s machine learning intelligence to PDF documents, in the same way it is being applied to HTML documents. Pictures, text and numbers can all be identified and structured.

§     

“Save As” Agent Creation – “Save as” existing information agents can be saved under a new name and modified. This allows existing agents to be copied, reconfigured and re-purposed.

§     

Automated Parameter Iteration. Agents can automatically step through lists of parameter values and return corresponding sets of results. For example, given a site that requires a stock symbol to be entered in order to return a page of information, the information agent, can now iterate through an entire list of stock symbols automatically. Agents can iterate through single or multiple lists. 

Real World Applications

“Connotate's sophistication in packaging content extraction solutions for functional groups of users and market verticals, points the way towards success for content tool providers,” says John Blossom, senior analyst of Outsell Inc.

Financial Information
Researchers, traders, money managers and publishers can have access to the best original information on the timeliest basis.

§     

E-Commerce/ Supply Chain Integration
Inventory, shipping, product information, process status can all be monitored. By creating one or more Web Services XML Gateways, integrations can be performed quickly and inexpensively.



Web Services Enabling of Web Sites & Intranets

Rapidly transform any HTML Web site into a Web Services/XML gateway in hours. Make valuable information available through Web services for customers, partners and suppliers. Applying this same technology to corporate Intranets provides standard Web services integration to disconnected islands of information.



Intranet Research/Publishing
The Gartner Group recommends getting started in Web services with internal applications. For example, using Connotate Technologies Web Mining Server 4.0, pharmaceutical companies can provide research stored in many departments to the entire organization.



Providing Published Content via Web Services
Content on existing sites can be made available via Web service APIs. Optionally, metering can be added as a means of monetizing content.



Knowledge Acquisition on Demand
Information agents can be called ‘on demand’ to collect information from numerous sites on the Web. Simultaneously information agents can be instructed to use particular keywords and to operate within instructed parameters. This transforms the Web into an enormous warehouse and provides the user with unique, customized APIs.