Like.com is the first true visual comparison shopping engine, where the contents of photos are used to search and retrieve similar products or items. Like.com utilizes their patented Likeness Technology to create a digital signature that describes any photo’s contents and enables a more accurate query for similar looking products. Initially, Like.com focused on handbags, jewelry, shoes, and watches, now they feature mens and womens apparel, kids clothing and even holiday costumes. Shoppers have the ability to search for a number of items and purchase them from over 2000 leading brand names. Like.com continues to add other aesthetically oriented product categories into their visual comparison engine.

Note from eCopt: We have updated this interview with thumbnail screenshots and more information from Like.com on many of the questions. If you haven't read it before, you won't want to miss it now! If you have already read this interview, the first 7 questions have been updated so check em' out.

Like.com & Riya

Riya was founded in August 2004 and has assembled one of the largest visual computing research teams in the world. Its mission is to simplify search and ecommerce by harnessing the latest breakthroughs in visual computing. It has almost one dozen patents pending in the areas of visual recognition and search. Riya has raised $19.5 million from venture and private equity investors, including Bay Partners, BlueRun Ventures, and Leapfrog Ventures.

Like.com Also Has A Couple Blogs:

• Their official blog… http://blog.like.com (was down last I looked)
• CEO’s blog… http://munjal.typepad.com

Like.com Likeness Technology Includes:

• Likeness Search
• Like Detail
• Like Color
• Like Celebrity
• Like Upload

Read more about Like.com Technology in the interview below.

Beth Kirsch Answers 10 Questions About Like.com:

Roughly how many merchants are included within Like.com?

Like.com is the first true visual search engine, where the contents of photos are used to search and retrieve similar items.

We believe that there are literally millions of items that are difficult to describe via text-based search and where individual tastes are all over the map — think of your favorite pair of earrings or shoes and what an ordeal it can be to find something new but in a similar style.

Our initial launch focuses on handbags, jewelry, shoes, and watches - allowing users to search and purchase items from thousands of leading and boutique brands. We have over 2000 merchants ranging from high end merchants such as Saks Fifth Avenue to lower end merchants that are still everyone’s favorites such as Target.

Roughly how many products are included within Like.com?

We have 5 million soft good products on the site.

Roughly how many individuals currently work on the Like.com support and coding teams?

We have a total of 24 employees.

What other places across the Internet, if any, are merchants and products included?

Our core technology is the ability to look inside a photo. We have a product called LikeSense we are testing right now that lets us look at the clothes in a photo and show similar items. Here is a great article about it from Tech Crunch…

Tech Crunch Article: RockYou Integrates Like.com Image Search Into Slideshows

What, in your opinion, are the highlight features Like.com offers it’s users?

Sometimes words are enough to find what you want on the web and sometimes they are not enough. If you are looking for a detail on a shoe, the pattern on a shirt, or the cut of a dress, the design on a rug, words don’t let you find what you are looking for and we answer that challenge with the ability to search inside a photo. Below are examples of this problem and our solutions…

Key features of Like.com include:

• Likeness Search™ - the ability to search by image instead of text;
• Like Detail™ - finds items that have a specific feature you like (such as a buckle, straps, bezel, etc);
• Like Color™ - find color variants of the item you desire;
• Like Celebrity™ - find clothing, shoes and accessories similar to those worn by your favorite celebrities

What, in your opinion are the highlight features Like.com offers merchants?

We help merchants showcase the fine details of their products to consumers which makes us stand out from the crowd in the Comparison Shopping Space. And we have been told from merchants that our leads convert very well because we help users zero in on the fine details of a product they are looking to purchase. Merchants get high quality leads and SKU level reporting.

Are new features being added and updated often? How often would you say?

We add new features around once a month.

How does Like.com plan to stay competitive with sites like Amazon and eBay marketplaces?

We have ground breaking technology that is a barrier to entry to other companies mimicking our core user value proposition.

Where do you see Like.com in the next 3-5 years?

We are here to build a company that is our focus. We will clearly be going strong and I’m sure out of beta by that time.

What Online product marketplaces, other than Like.com, do you personally use to shop from?

Well, of course, I use like.com for all softgoods. And, for consumer electronics, I usually check all of the Gen 1 shopping comparison engines. Each are very different products and have different merchants.

Conclusion & Final Thoughts:

I personally find that Like.com is a great place to shop and compare products, especially if you consider yourself a visual learner or very visual person. The technology that powers Like.com is top-notch and continues to improve. I can’t wait to see the additional category expansions that are due for the future and the addition of new merchants or brands into their CSE. I think Like.com has a very creative business model and team of staff who truly care about Online shopping and what consumers want to shop for. If you haven’t used Like.com yourself, I recommend you give it a whirl, you’ll surely be amazed at the technology and user platform.

To Beth: Thanks so much for participating in this interview and for providing us with the informative answers about your visual shopping engine, Like.com. I really appreciate the support and participation, and look forward to more in the future from Like.com. Feel free to update us on future releases, new technology and anything we can help you spread the word about. I discovered a lot about Like.com that i didn’t already know, it’s amazing how much i learn from these interviews, all CSE’s are different in their own ways. Good luck in the future, keep up the quality work.

To our readers: We have many more interviews like this planned for the future. Some of them are even already in the works, so check back often as we have been posting them every few days/weeks, on average. As always, you can subscribe to our articles Web feed or enter your email address to get updates sent to you. Hope you enjoyed this interview with Beth Kirsch of Like.com.

Like.com is Featured as one of the comparison shopping engines on our Product Listing Guide!