I first saw MatchMine at DEMO Fall 2007, just over 6 months ago. MatchMine, based in Massachusetts, is a media discovery service that delivers personalized recommendations for movies, music and other online content on the Web. I saw the potential in the service then, but they had some kinks to work out.
Today MatchMine announced new media partners, and improvements in the service. More on that later. First let me summarize what I think are the major leaps forward for MatchMine:
- No more client download required. You can start using MatchMine with just one click on a partner web site.
- Content partner sites can easily integrate MatchMine with a plug-in widget or by using their APIs.
- The business model is a win/win. Free to consumers, and a revenue share from partners based on incremental revenue.
- MatchMine preferences follow you to any new partner site. No more need to start from scratch building up your preferences for each new site.
Why is that important? MatchMine has lowered the barriers to adoption for both users and partners, and instantly increased the effectiveness of recommendations.
Users can sign up for a MatchKey as part of the registration process at a content site. Or, if you were already a registered member of a content site, with just one click you can add a MatchKey and automatically import all your preferences and ratings.
Partners can integrate MatchMine into their site in minutes by adding a pre-built widget or adding APIs to their site. This allows their users to get better recommendations, and potentially increase ad revenues or product sales. MatchMine shares in the incremental revenue. This makes it a no pain, no risk, proposition for the partner content sites.
OK, so how does MatchMine help me? We are all deluged with information and media. We want just the good stuff. MatchMine matches your preferences, both explicit and implicit, and delivers relevant media content to you.
How does MatchMine do it? Once you have signed up for a MatchKey they keep track of all your explicit ratings, votes, favorites, and import your previous preferences from sites like Netflix, Amazon, YouTube, LastFM, and the new partners announced today. They also track your implicit preferences like what you save or delete, if you watch a video to the end, or quit, if you click away from content, etc. These actions build a constantly evolving profile of your likes and dislikes, allowing MatchMine to deliver just the content you want.
The new media partners are:
Go to any of these sites, get registered, and see MatchMine in action.
