Apple Co-Founder Takes Dive Into Deep Web

Steve Wozniak, co-founder and former chief technologist of Apple Computer, revealed this week that he is joining DeepDyve, a Sunnyvale, Calif.-based search engine startup, as an advisory board member.

Wozniak, 59, has been busy lately. In addition to his high-visibility role on ABC-TV’s “Dancing With the Stars,” he joined solid-state storage startup Fusion-io as chief scientist in February.

DeepDyve, which describes itself as “a research engine for the Deep Web,” was established in 2005 as Infovell. It uses high-end analytics and algorithms to access information in databases and other repositories not normally available to users of commonly used Web search engines, such as Google and Yahoo.

DeepDyve is currently in its beta product stage.”The Deep Web holds an almost limitless wealth of data, yet most of that information is collecting dust, because nobody’s come up with a way to mine the data in a way that’s useful to researchers and consumers,” Wozniak said.

“DeepDyve’s search technology is a breakthrough compared to the traditional keyword search that we know today. The company has the potential to transform Deep Web search, and I’m excited to help bring about that transformation.”

DeepDyve uses a combination of keywords, inferences and phrases to help users find the information for which they are looking.

“We are totally unlike Google,” CEO William Park told eWEEK. “For example, Google only takes a limited number of characters in a query, and the more words or characters you enter, the less specific the query gets.

“DeepDyve is just the opposite in that the more information that is put into a query, the more specific the information becomes. You could put an entire story from The New York Times, for example, into our search engine and get access to every reference used in the article.”

For years, researchers and other information-savvy individuals have tried in vain to use the Deep Web for research purposes, yet an estimated 99.8 percent of the Internet is still hidden from many of today’s search engines, Park said.

So, Park said, DeepDyve developed its KeyPhrase technology, enabling its users to type in a few words, or copy an entire article as their query and find all related articles from only the best sources in the Deep Web.

Wozniak and Park connected through a mutual friend, Park said.

“Steve’s place in the history of computing is already well established. But what sets him apart is his passion for technology and his commitment to mentoring and fostering the next generation of technology companies,” said Park.

“We’re honored that Steve has chosen to work with DeepDyve, and we’re excited about the strides that we’ll make together.”