Shopbots: A Syntactic Present, A Semantic Future

: The huge growth of e-commerce has had a profound impact on users who can now choose from an ever increasing number of options online. Inevitably, as the number of choices has increased, so has the need for tools to help users organize, manage and utilize information on these for better decision making. To this end, shopbots can help users decide what to buy and enhance their shopping experience. However, despite the high expectations, the immense potential of shopbots has not been fully realized. In this paper we identify the limitations and drawbacks of current shopbots, in particular with regards to the underlying technology for building such systems. We then discuss how these technical limitations can be overcome by making use of the Semantic Web and Web Services which would enable the realization of the true potential of shopbots.

• Type: Journal
• Year: 2006
• Where: INTERNET
• Authors: Maria Fasli
• Keywords: Huge Growth, INTERNET 2006, Profound Impact, Shopbots