Specter of Riya still haunts Like.com

Despite a great deal of initial buzz-hype, Munjal Shah's Riya photo recognizer deflated into irrelevance in a matter of months. However, after reapplying the same tech to visual shopping searches, Shah's Like.com has proven a boon for those who must know where Forest Whitaker gets his neckties. Mockery aside, it's a much better use of the software with an obvious revenue hook. Even so, it must be grating to have Riya still stinking up the place, reputation-wise, as in this Business 2.0 article on the benefits of failure. "Just eight months after watching Riya sink like a stone," begins the paragraph introducing Like.com's relative success. Hey, leave Riya alone; according to its website, it's still in beta.

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