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do you know your bots?

Every day, it seems, there are hundred of new e-shops peddling any item that can be delivered--how can a consumer know what site offers the best deals? Think of shopping bots as an online shopping assistant, or, as Margaret Kane states in an article from ZDNet, a cyberversion of a "shopping-savvy friend who, when you're about to buy, whispers in your ear, 'Hey, that blouse is $10 cheaper at Loehmann's.'" Three new bots--DealPilot, Dash.com, and iChoose--provide software that allows shoppers searching for an item at one e-store to have simultaneous pricing information from several of the store's competitors. Granted, the process is still a bit clunky, but bots could have a huge impact on how internet shopping's conducted. Head to this article to get a good intro to this cutting-edge technology.

Tue, 16 Nov 1999 13:35:03 -0800