Forget frustrating searches through dozens of websites – Waterloo tech startup Sortable helps consumers to make decisions in one place.

The seven engineering geeks behind the “decision engine” are hoping to threaten Google’s search business and its ad revenue because they have eliminated the need to click on multiple pages, said co-founder Christopher Reid from the Accelerator Centre in Waterloo.

Sortable.com, which launched last week, uses complex algorithms to help people filter through product features and choose products based on characteristics that matter to them, Reid explained.

“Over the next decade decision engines will become huge,” Reid said. “This technology will start brokering a lot of commerce.”

Sortable lets consumers comparison shop for cameras, TVs, phones, tablets and laptops – for now. Eventually, it will help people choose cars, restaurants or even who to vote for in the U.S. presidential race.

“We’re really trying to mimic what humans do,” Reid said.

If a person wants a camera that shoots high-definition video with a long battery life for less than $1,800, Sortable will rank which the most suitable options. Size, brand and a variety of other factors can help narrow a list, although some of the complex specifications could intimidate less tech savvy consumers.

While he can’t “guarantee 100 per cent” that every single product in the world is on the site, Reid said the team labours to make sure new products are on the site within a couple days of launching.

In a Sept. 2011 a senate antitrust hearing on whether Google’s power served consumers or threatened competition, Google’s executive chairman Eric Schmidt recognized that comparison shopping sites were cropping up to compete with the search giant.

He mentioned that decision engine FindTheBest.com, one of Sortable’s main competitors, raised $6 million in funding.

“While they may not all succeed, venture capitalists and entrepreneurs alike continue to believe they can compete with Google, Yelp, Nextag, and other established competitors,” Schmidt said in his statement.

By Reid’s estimates, Sortable beats all the other decision engines in traffic with about 3 million visitors each month. Reid claims Sortable is the first that “really works” and that it outperforms its American competitors despite its comparatively small size.

Sortable has provided 41 million recommendations since it started testing its algorithm with separate websites for cameras, phones and cars, Reid said.

Of the 21,000 purchases tracked, returns are 50 per cent below average, Reid said. This is a boon for retailers, as restocking costs can be “phenomenal,” he added.

Sortable has raised $500,000 in funding – so far.

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Decide.com, a popular site that tells consumers when to buy based on price point, told the New York Times in December that it was “even harder” to create an algorithm telling consumers what to buy.

Competitor Hunch.com was purchased for an estimated $80 million by eBay and Google bought sparkbuy.com for a reported $6 million.

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