Text Engine

Text Engine was a browser-less, text message-based search engine. Users could access basic internet information, without a data plan or a wifi connection, by sending and receiving text messages. It also employed human operators to answer queries when the application was unable to retrieve the correct result. The company, founded in 2013 by Eric Bryant and Shari Sloane, was based in Bedminster, New Jersey, USA, part of the New York metropolitan area. Service in the US was discontinued in October 2018.[1]

Text Engine
FoundedMay 9, 2013
FoundersEric Bryant & Shari Sloane
DefunctOctober 31, 2018
HeadquartersBedminster, New Jersey, United States
Area served
Global
ServicesWeb search, mobile search
Websitehttps://textengine.info

History

The alpha version of Text Engine was launched on May 9, 2013 in a Google Product Forum in which Google announced that it sunset a similar service.[2] The alpha version was simply called “Google SMS Search” and only allowed 15 free queries per month. After that quota was reached, users were charged a $4 fee to continue using the search engine.[3]

By June 2013, the product was released in beta and was launched as “smir.ch”. At this time the company introduced new search commands and made improvements including adding news search and simplifying weather search.[4]

By March 2015, the company had changed the name to “Text Engine” and opened the service up to users for free. New York educator, Lisa Nielsen, called Text Engine “great news for educators and students in low-income and rural communities”. Information Text Engine retrieved included news, definitions, Wikipedia articles, business listings, driving directions and flight status.[5]

In June 2015, popular tech blog, MakeUseOf, reported that “Text Engine is an attempt to bring back the spirit of Google’s SMS search, and it’s a fairly ambitious one at that.” Text Engine did not require a downloadable app, web browser or internet access to function, making the Web accessible for feature phone and flip phone users.[6]

The company’s mission was to connect the offline world to the Internet by creating smartphones in regions that don’t have them. Text Engine had users in countries around the world, including Botswana, Uganda, Namibia, Nigeria, the Philippines, Australia, Mongolia and Pakistan. In August 2015, Startup Daily reported that Text Engine had begun licensing its codebase to developers in emerging markets. For example, the Almat Group, a Brooklyn real estate development company, licensed the code to build a local version for Nigeria.[7]

Along with 132 other tri-state area startups, Text Engine was awarded the distinction of “Tech Company to Watch” by the Connecticut Technology Council in 2015.[8] It was also selected along with 21 other startups as a member of the reSET Impact Accelerator’s 2016 cohort.[9]

Innovation Destination Hartford reported in February 2016 that Text Engine had received “significant financial investment from Backstage Capital”, a venture capital fund in Los Angeles.[10][11][12][13] However, the exact amount was undisclosed.

In 2018, Text Engine was purchased by Cisco, which decided to shut down Text Engine due to low revenue. Text Engine discontinued service in the US in October 2018.[14][15] It is unclear whether Text Engine will sell its code base to other developers.

Products

Text Engine was essentially a search engine that worked without the need for a web browser. The platform essentially converted the Web to text messages, allowing users to get on-demand weather, news, yellow pages, flight status, and more—all without having direct access to the Internet.[16]

Human Operators

In addition to the automated search, Text Engine also provided a way for users to place orders and answer questions through the help of human operators.[17]

gollark: And AutoBotRobot simultaneously.
gollark: You cannot. This is impossible.
gollark: What an "interesting" channel. I'll sell 1 capitalism for 22 lc.
gollark: Maybe stop getting push notifications for *any message*.
gollark: It was a great notification, yes.

References
  1. "Text Engine". Retrieved 26 November 2018.
  2. "Google SMS not working anymore?". productforums.google.com. Retrieved May 9, 2013.
  3. "Replacement for Google SMS Search Now Available". softpedia. Retrieved May 22, 2013.
  4. "SMIR.CH SMS Search Service Gets Update". softpedia. Retrieved June 10, 2015.
  5. "Get Smart by Texting w/ @Text_Engine". softpedia. Retrieved March 3, 2015.
  6. "These 5 SMS Services Offer You the Internet Without a Data Plan". MakeUseOf. Retrieved May 28, 2016.
  7. "Text Engine wants to bring internet search to developing countries through text messages". Startup Daily. Retrieved August 18, 2015.
  8. "This Startup Brings The Web To Feature Phones Via Text Message". Venture Break. Retrieved September 1, 2015.
  9. "2015 Tech Companies To Watch". ct.org. Retrieved May 28, 2016.
  10. "Social Enterprise Startup Creates Text Message SMS Search Engine". www.innovationhartford.com. Retrieved March 9, 2016.
  11. "Startup Roundup: Phone.com, TOMO!, Text Engine". njtechweekly.com. Retrieved January 28, 2016.
  12. "TextEngine Backstage Capital". backstagecapital.com. Retrieved May 28, 2016.
  13. "How This Woman Went From Homelessness to Running a Multimillion-Dollar Venture Fund". www.inc.com. Retrieved August 12, 2016.
  14. "Text Engine". Retrieved 26 November 2018.
  15. "Text Engine Twitter page". Retrieved 26 November 2018.
  16. "Startup Roundup: Phone.com, TOMO!, Text Engine". njtechweekly.com. Retrieved March 1, 2016.
  17. "TextEngine: Bringing the web to 'dumbphones'". Backstage Capital. Retrieved May 28, 2016.
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