SAN MATEO, CA--(Marketwire - Jul 11, 2011) - Wordnik, maker of the web's first word navigation system, today announced its new Word Graph API for online content and commerce partners. Developed using Wordnik's Word Graph -- the world's largest and most comprehensive graph of words and their meaning -- the API provides the first-ever automated context discovery capability to help partners offer increased value to their users beyond standard word look-up. The Word Graph API builds into a partner's content the ability to recognize the relationship between disparate words thereby creating more accurate and deeper discovery.

The Word Graph API is currently being used by TaskRabbit, an online and mobile marketplace that brings people in a community together to get things done. A two-way marketplace, TaskRabbit connects 'TaskPosters,' people who need extra help, with 'TaskRabbits,' a network of background-checked and pre-approved individuals who have the skills and time available to complete Tasks. The API enhances three components of the TaskRabbit service: recommending which tasks should be targeted to TaskRabbits; matching relevant tasks so a user creating a new posting can instantly see related tasks (which can help determine the most appropriate description and pricing); and auto-tagging content, which was previously done manually.

"We've always respected Wordnik for its outstanding presentation of words and their meanings," said Leah Busque, founder and CEO of TaskRabbit. "When we learned that Wordnik was making this technology available to companies, we were on board immediately. User-generated content is key to how TaskRabbit works and accurate results are critical for our business. The Word Graph API enables us to enhance our service and provide a great customer experience through relevant results."

To create the Word Graph, Wordnik developed a number of proprietary techniques to both discover the meaning of new terms and analyze how they are used, which ultimately captures nearly unlimited relationships between words. By using a graph structure, Wordnik is able to identify relationships in real-time that were not possible until now, such as finding similarly used words; finding word usage and trends within text content; and performing rapid clustering of terms. These capabilities are now being leveraged to provide value to content and commerce partners -- with TaskRabbit being the first.

"We are excited to partner with TaskRabbit, as it signals a new realm of opportunities for Wordnik, which we look forward to cultivating," said Joe Hyrkin, CEO of Wordnik. "There's a universe of online content publishers and commerce partners that can benefit almost immediately from our Word Graph's unique capabilities. We make it easy for partners to leverage our context discovery expertise to add value to their sites, engage new users and solve complex site problems related to their text content."

About Wordnik

Wordnik is the first word navigation system that helps consumers unlock the value of words and phrases to discover what information is most meaningful and matters to them. Unlike search engines that provide an overabundance of information or online dictionaries that are static or limited to general information, Wordnik helps consumers zero in and fully understand words and content in context. Wordnik's team includes experts in search engine architecture, social networking, computational linguistics and lexicography. For more information, visit http://www.wordnik.com, follow us on Twitter (http://twitter.com/Wordnik), or email feedback@wordnik.com. To find out more about the Wordnik's APIs, visit http://developer.wordnik.com. Wordnik investors include Roger McNamee, Steve Anderson of Baseline, Mohr Davidow Ventures, Floodgate, Radar Partners, SV Angel, and Lucas Venture Group.

About TaskRabbit

TaskRabbit, the nation's first service networking platform, is pioneering the way people get things done. TaskRabbit leverages the latest technology and the social networking movement to bring neighbors together to live smarter and more efficiently. A two-way marketplace, TaskRabbit connects 'TaskPosters,' people who need help, with 'TaskRabbits,' a network of pre-approved and background-checked individuals, who have the time and skills needed to complete the job. Based in San Francisco, Calif., TaskRabbit is backed by notable investors, including Baseline Ventures, First Round Capital, FLOODGATE Fund, Collaborative Fund, and Shasta Ventures. The company has been featured in the Wall Street Journal as well as on NBC's The Today Show. For more information, visit http://www.taskrabbit.com.