IAC Launches Pronto, a downloadable comparison shopping tool

IAC just launched Pronto, a downloadable comparison shopping tool (thanks to ComparisonEngines.com for pointing this out).  Unlike SideStep's Toolbar and Nextag's Toolbar, Pronto pops up as a "toast" when you're shopping.  Also, the Pronto interface includes a fully-functional browser, which allows the user to shop within Pronto.  Screenshots are available here.

I tried out Pronto by searching for "Crossing the Chasm" in Amazon.com. Pronto popped up a toast that let me know that it also found "Crossing the Chasm," which ran a search when clicked on.  The results were unimpressive.  Pronto doesn't normalize its result set, so although "Crossing the Chasm" was available from several vendors, they all appeared as different entries, making for difficult comparison.  Also, the result set contained a variety of items: the new book, used copies of the book, and books with a similar title.  I wish that Pronto did a better job of normalizing the data.  I do like the fact that Pronto includes an integrated browser for easy shopping and that it allows you to set price alerts.  I also think that the placement of the application outside of IE is a wise choice.  I expect that Pronto will work hard on normalizing its data over the coming months and smooth out problems that it has in Beta.

With IAC's diverse properties, a broad comparison shopping tool makes sense.  But, can IAC remain agnostic enough to get broad seach coverage?  And, why is it a downloadable app instead of a Web site?  Certainly a downloadable app has advantages: the tool is ever-present on the users system and Pronto doesn't need to rely on e-mails to get a user's attention.  But will users buy this?  I don't know.  I do think that downloadable applications have a future, if they serve functions that transend Web site boundries.  However, Pronto is going to need a lot more functionality to convince users to make the download leap.

More interesting (to me) is whether Pronto presages a move into the Travel Search game.  Once they launch a comparison shopping engine, it's not a far leap to expect a move into travel, since it's such lucrative space.  And, since SideStep is the only travel search company that has a downloadable application, I could see SideStep as a perfect partner/acquisition to merge a travel search application into Pronto.  Pronto would gain access to SideStep's customers foor non-travel goods and SideStep could tap into IAC's massive resources.  Hmm.

Technorati tags: Pronto.com, IAC, Comparison Shopping, SideStep.com, Nextag.com, Travel Search