Ajnad.com, which officially launched on Saturday, is an Arabic Internet search site powered by Google. What makes Ajnad.com different from Google, is that in addition to typing in Arabic and English, users can type their search queries in Latin letters to be transliterated into Arabic. Such a technique is possible through one to one mapping of Arabic and English letters, complemented by two simple, intuitive mapping rules. This is especially useful when an Arabic keyboard or the Arabic version of a computer operating system is unavailable.
“Basically the way it works is we have one to one mapping between the Latin alphabet and the Arabic alphabet,” said Ayman Elsaedi, chief architect, Ajnad LLC. “There are however certain letters in the Arabic alphabet that have no equivalent in the English alphabet. We use a number instead of a letter for some of these Arabic letters and an apostrophe combined with a letter for others. This system, sometimes called IM Arabic or the Arabic Chat Alphabet, is already widely used by individuals who do text messaging, where there is transliteration of Arabic text using Latin script. For instance the numeral “3” may be used to represent the Arabic letter ‘ayn.’”
He continued, “We have also incorporated a hint mechanism which appears when certain letters are typed. Through this feature the user is able to know how to handle the Arabic letters which are not directly represented by single letters on the Latin keyboard. Ajnad.com also provides a powerful auto-completion feature which can make a user’s search faster, easier and more to the point.”
Ajnad was founded by Elsaedi in early 2009. A former IBM engineer and founder of Yesna LLC, an IBM business partner located in the US, Elsaedi has a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from the Georgia Institute of Technology.
Elsaedi emphasized that transliteration and search are just the tip of the iceberg for what is coming over the next year through Ajnad.com. Transliteration and search are not the end goal of the site, but rather a means to contribute, use and access content and tools on the Web.
“Our project is a comprehensive Arabic Web solution,” he explained. “The transliteration part of it and the Arabic representation are less than five percent of the project. An analogy would be that if you are an automobile manufacturer, you would definitely have to put tires on your car for it to move. Tires are however one of the simpler parts of the vehicle. We cannot do anything without figuring out a good solution to the transliteration and representation of the Arabic alphabet on the Web, because this is how people can utilize Arabic content on the Internet. But once we get past this in September, people will really start seeing that Ajnad is much more than an Arabic search engine. It will become more of a combination of Google, Yahoo and MSN for the Arabic world.”
The first version of Ajnad.com focuses on transliteration and search. Four more versions will be rolled out by the end of the year, about one per month. Combined, they will become the foundation for the Ajnad Platform. In a glimpse of the features to come, Elsaedi advised that in August, Arabic phonetic transliteration will be offered. September will bring a Rich Arabic Web- based Editor. Specialized search engines will be offered in October. Then, over November and December, look for Arabic e-mail and chat. In addition to these planned releases, Ajnad is currently considering Voice Recognition for the Arabic Web, PDA adaptability and a global news and socialization network.
“We anticipate rolling out at least some of these additional solutions in 2010,” said Elsaedi. Currently Ajnad is self-funded. The company plans on showcasing its offerings to investors in about a year, after more of the platform has been launched. In the meantime, revenue will be coming in through online advertising.
“Ajnad.com is live and thousands of queries are being performed daily already,” Elsaedi said. “We have found it interesting that we have a following so early. We currently have signed a few entities who want to have a long-term relationship with us in terms of advertising and in August advertising will begin appearing. We do anticipate that as we pick up more traffic and add easier and more diverse ways to represent the Arabic text, plus add the specialized search engines, that there will be even more interest from advertisers and a stronger revenue stream. We welcome feedback and hope that with time a vibrant community will be built through Ajnad.com. ”
