SPH Search is the nexus of a premise and a promise.

The premise is that much of the information needs of people are related to the environment around them. In essence, they want to know about things that can affect them and to locate things that are useful to them. Some will describe their needs as “local”.

The Internet has become, for many, a prime destination for the answers they seek when a question occurs to them. However, often, the responses they get are inadequate or, worse, irrelevant.

SPH Search was born of collaboration between two media powerhouses: the Singapore Press Holdings Group (SPH) and Schibsted Group. The two companies, headquartered in Singapore and Norway respectively, have long been in the business of giving people information and, significantly, the context which makes the information more useful.

Both companies have also established reputations, each over more than a century, of delivering accurate information speedily. The platforms on which they do this have changed over the years and have, since the 1990s, included the World Wide Web.

Today, they are combining their extensive resources in a joint venture to establish a new online offering in Singapore.

The promise is that they will exert their best efforts to ensure that this service meets the same exacting standards they set for their newspapers, which have enabled these to become dominant in the markets they serve.

Their joint venture, SPH Search, aims to become the premier destination for anyone seeking information about Singapore; its people and its businesses. It intends to respond to queries with the greatest of speeds. Most importantly, it plans to make relevance the hallmark of its answers.

The company, which was incorporated on 13th September 2006, is located in News Centre, has begun a nation-wide exercise to enhance its already comprehensive database of information, prior to the launch of its services.

It has its own technology team. Its technologists are working on producing a system which will allow users of personal computers, PDAs and mobile phones, easy access to SPH Search’s search and directories tools.