Ping Search

A simple and privacy-focused product discovery and price comparison web application.

"Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler" - Albert Einstein

Overview

Ping Search is a Django-based web application that helps you discover and compare products across multiple e-commerce platforms. It aggregates search results from Amazon, Flipkart, Snapdeal, and eBay, allowing you to compare prices and find the best deals without compromising your privacy.

Features

• Privacy-Focused Search: Your searches remain private - no tracking, no targeted ads based on your search history
• Multi-Platform Price Comparison: Compare products from Amazon, Flipkart, Snapdeal, and eBay in one place
• Product Discovery: Browse and discover products across different platforms
• Surprise Me Feature: Randomly discover interesting products
• Simple Interface: Clean and straightforward user experience

Technology Stack

• Backend: Django (Python)
• Database: SQLite3
• Frontend: HTML, CSS, Bootstrap, jQuery
• Web Scraping: BeautifulSoup4, Requests

Installation

Prerequisites

• Python 2.7 or Python 3.x
• pip (Python package manager)

Setup

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/isinghmitesh/ping-search.git
   cd ping-search

2. Install required dependencies:

   pip install django
   pip install beautifulsoup4
   pip install requests

3. Run database migrations:

   python manage.py migrate

4. Start the development server:

   python manage.py runserver

5. Open your browser and navigate to:

   http://127.0.0.1:8000
   

Usage

1. Search Products: Enter a product name or keyword in the search box on the homepage
2. View Results: Browse through aggregated results from multiple e-commerce platforms
3. Compare Prices: See prices from different platforms side by side
4. Surprise Me: Click the "Surprise" feature to discover random products

Project Structure

ping-search/
├── ping_search/        # Main Django project settings
├── search/            # Main application
│   ├── templates/     # HTML templates
│   ├── static/        # CSS, JS, and image files
│   ├── models.py      # Database models
│   ├── views.py       # View logic
│   └── urls.py        # URL routing
├── manage.py          # Django management script
└── README.md          # This file

Known Limitations

• First Search Delay: The first search for a particular keyword may be slower as the application needs to fetch and cache data from multiple platforms
• Platform Availability: Search results depend on the availability and responsiveness of third-party e-commerce platforms

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Feel free to:

• Report bugs
• Suggest new features
• Submit pull requests

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

Disclaimer

This application is for educational purposes. When using this application, please respect the terms of service of the e-commerce platforms being accessed.

Contact

For questions or feedback, please open an issue on the GitHub repository.