Shopping for Shopping Bots
Part 6

mySimon

Most of the shopping sites claim to have proprietary search technology that sets them apart, but mySimon has the most intriguing concept. This shopping bot uses a search technology it calls Virtual Learning Agent (VLA), which is meant to mimic human shoppers. As mySimon's staff of Web shoppers - human ones - surfs the Web, they interact with the VLA system, which translates human navigation behavior into MySimon's proprietary programming language.

The mySimon home page offers a series of categories from apparel to toys. After choosing the digital camera link, MySimon provided four options. 1) do a keyword search 2) specify by make or model 3) go to a product information site published by Productopia, or 4) use the mySimon Buyer's Guide, which is an extensive user survey that helps pinpoint the search.

This blizzard of options is great for the sophisticated Web user, but may confuse the newbie. Since we're always interested in the least possible effort, we used the keyword search. The keyword search, again, yielded more than one choice: 1) an advanced search or 2) a complete listing of all items. mySimon seemingly never stops offering more options.

The product list was extensive - 81 cameras from 36 merchants (mySimon searches over 2,000 merchants). You can reorder the list by manufacturer, model or price, and view each list as one long scrollable page instead of separate pages. It also allows you to view a price chart that tracks price over the last week or month. However, after trying this option with three different retailers, we gave up. "Price chart unavailable," it said.

Using the "list by price" option, the deals went from a Panasonic PV-L759 for $594.95 to a Sony DCR-VX1000 for $3,999.99. A highly recommended model, the Panasonic PVDV910, was available for $799.95 - not one of the better prices we found.

The mySimon site is full of bells and whistles. Special features include Flyswat, a downloadable browser add-on that gives you shopping tips from mySimon, and mySimon To Go that works with the wireless Palm VII handheld.