New AutoTempest Version

Hey all,

I run SearchTempest.com, which you've likely heard of, and AutoTempest.com which you may or may not have. Anyway, since the sites come up fairly frequently here and I've dropped by a few times in the past, I figured I'd let you guys know about the brand new version of AutoTempest currently in beta. It's a massive improvement over the existing version, but see for yourself: the new site's at http://v3.autotempest.com until the full launch on monday.

(If you haven't heard of AutoTempest, it basically lets you search any number of craigslist cities, autotrader, cars.com, ebay motors, etc. at the same time. Many new features have been added to this version, and more are planned. I won't pitch further lest I bring out the 'C' word. (But it's not a canoe if I've been a member for years and offer useful info, right? ;) ))

Anyway, would love to know what you think of the new version.

Cheers, Nathan

Needs work.

Doesn't find lots of listings that searchtempest had no problem finding.

Performs each type of search seperately, not combined.

Sorry, not at all impressed.

It's been really buggy for me.

Thanks for the input. Can you guys give me some more specifics on what's buggy, or what's missed? AutoTempest uses SearchTempest to search craigslist, so it should find exactly the same results, assuming you're using the same keywords. Certainly the whole point of this beta period is to iron out any issues that may exist.

As far as the results from various sites not being combined, there are two reasons for that. First, some sites do not allow scraping and displaying of their results. Using this technique is simply the only way those sites can be searched without being blocked or shut down. Second, many users appreciate seeing clearly where their results are coming from, allowing them to easily focus on the sites that tend to perform best for their searches.

You should take a page from the guy that wrote the Firefox plugin that filters duplicate entries over different craiglists. If I'm searching Raleigh, Greensboro and Winston, and the same ad is in each one, I just want to see it once.

B

The portion that searches CL has been fine for me. However, some of the preferences, keywords, etc. I input on the main Autotempest page don't carry over to some of the other sites. (vehix.com, etc).