Archive for the ‘Riya’ Category

Like.com To Raise Huge Round Of Funding & Bring In Solid Revenues

Amit Chowdhry | July 31, 2008 | 502 Views | 1 Comment
Categorized under Bay Partners, BlueRun Ventures, Leapfrog Ventures, Like.com, Menlo Ventures, Riya


Like.com is a visual search engine with a focus on shopping and consumption.  According to VentureBeat founder, Matt Marshall, Like.com will be preparing to raise double digit funding within the next two weeks.  The round of funding, provided by Menlo Ventures, will complement Like’s revenue success.

Like.com allows users to search for consumer products by specific details, colors, and find goods worn by celebrities.  Like is working on a technology that allows users to upload photos and find similar goods.  When consumers click through the goods on the search engine and buys it from retailers, Like.com shares the revenue.  Like.com’s revenue is rumored to be close to $20 million.

To date, Like.com’s total funding is roughly $19.5 million, provided by Bay Partners, BlueRun Ventures and Leapfrog Ventures.  Like.com is a spin-off from Riya.com.  Riya.com was founded by Munjal Shah in 2004.  Riya was rumored to be courted for an acquisition by Google 3 years ago for roughly $40 mill [GigaOM].

Related Links:
1. Like.com
2. Riya.com

Microsoft’s Interactive Video Advertising: Video Hyperlinks

Amit Chowdhry | March 19, 2007 | 484 Views | 2 Comments
Categorized under Like.com, Microsoft Corporation, Riya

microsoft_logo1.png
Under MSN Movies, there is currently an extraordinary advertisement for Kohl’s Corporation (NYSE:KSS). As the advertisement is playing a small green icon will appear which indicates that there is a built-in video hyperlink (VHL) in that portion. So if you see a dress that a woman is wearing, simply click on the dress and it will direct you to that item on Kohls.com.

VHL advertising was developed by the Microsoft adCenter Labs and the technology requires users to have Adobe Flash or ActiveX installed. “Video hyperlink ads are a milestone for Microsoft adCenter Labs. As the first stand-alone product from Microsoft adCenter Labs, video hyperlink ads symbolize Microsoft’s promise to innovate and advance the entire industry to new levels,” stated a Microsoft spokesperson.

You will notice in the below screen shot that the dress in the advertisement vide on the left matches the shopping cart option on the right. After you click on all of the items in the commercial that you like, you can check them out by clicking “Buy Now At Kohls.com.”
Microsoft Screen Shot 1

This concept seems to be a mash-up of YouTube videos and Riya’s Like.com.