* ActivShopper hunts for cheaper prices
I sometimes wonder what’s going to happen with Internet Explorer toolbar clutter.
For example, I currently have the Google add-on toolbar; RoboForm; Norton Anti-virus; FlashGet (an adware-supported bulk FTP downloader – I tolerate the pop-ups because they aren’t that frequent and it is a really good tool); and Net Snippets, which I reviewed in Gearhead a couple of months ago (note that Net Snippets has just announced the availability of a free version).
With all these add-ons, if I didn’t have a really big monitor I’d be looking at a teeny, tiny browser window.
And here’s yet another toolbar: ActivShopper from Shelron Group.
ActivShopper is a shopping comparison tool that, if it detects you’re looking at purchasable items, looks up the product and presents you with the alternative pricing from other sources and how much you’ll save over the price given on the page you’re on.
ActivShopper’s tool bar is handled a little differently from other toolbars – when there’s no identifiable product to purchase, the ActivShopper toolbar closes. Nice touch.
The presentation of ActivShopper is simple and effective, although the whole idea only works when you are looking for easily defined products. For example, I wanted to buy a camera and while ActivShopper identified a lower priced source, the original site I was looking at offered the camera with a lens while the alternative offered by ActivShopper was priced just for the camera body. Until the semantic Web appears, the broader context of what we’re really – rather than apparently – doing online will remain hidden.
When I tried ActivShopper on other products, I was impressed. In fact, impressed enough that I now own a load of stuff I didn’t know I needed or could afford.
ActivShopper is free. And just in time for the January sales.
Links
Google toolbar
RoboForm
Net Snippets
Snip it with Net Snippets
Network World Web Applications Review
https://www.nwfusion.com/columnists/2004/101104gearhead.html
ActivShopper, Shelron Group
https://www.activshopper.com/index.asp
The Semantic Web
Scientific American, May 2001
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?articleID=00048144-10D2-1C70-84A9809EC588EF21&catID=2
