Month: August 2005

Friday Book Excerpt: More on Perfect Search

Long time readers may recall when I posted a thread on perfect search a year or so ago. I got so many wonderful answers, and I wove much of what I learned into my final chapter. This is a short excerpt from that chapter. Again, please send or post…

Thesearch Bookcover-3Long time readers may recall when I posted a thread on perfect search a year or so ago. I got so many wonderful answers, and I wove much of what I learned into my final chapter. This is a short excerpt from that chapter. Again, please send or post comments, corrections, clarifications – I already see a few things here that I would like to tweak…as usual…a book on topics like search is a never ending work…like a blog!

Search Everywhere

In the near future, search will metastasize from its origins on the PC-centric Web and be let loose on all manner of devices. This has already begun with mobile phones and PDAs; expect it to continue, viruslike, until search is built into every digital device touching our lives. The telephone, the automobile, the television, the stereo, the lowliest object with a chip and the ability to connect—all will incorporate network-aware search.

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Google Testing New Results

A related query results play. IE, search for "On Demand" and get results with "Comcast" related pages. Readers had been telling me this, but I could not confirm it. Now it appears Mediapost has. This has some interesting business model implications, when you think about it – certainly Google…

A related query results play. IE, search for “On Demand” and get results with “Comcast” related pages. Readers had been telling me this, but I could not confirm it. Now it appears Mediapost has. This has some interesting business model implications, when you think about it – certainly Google would never do paid inclusion, but this is the kind of thing that might allow for such a move should the company fall into the hands of the Dark Side.

Update: Google PR has given me a statement on this:

Google is testing an automated technique for detecting when an alternate

query might help users find what they are looking for more quickly. For

these searches, which are both commercial and non-commercial in nature,

Google displays one or more alternate queries together with a preview of

their top results.

12 Comments on Google Testing New Results

Another Google IPO?

Nah, just a secondary offering: UPDATE: Astute reader notes that the offering amount is Pi without the three…. ' Google Inc. Files Registration Statement with the SEC for a Proposed Public Offering MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. – August 18, 2005 – Google Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOG) announced today that it has…

Nah, just a secondary offering:

UPDATE: Astute reader notes that the offering amount is Pi without the three….

‘

Google Inc. Files Registration Statement with the SEC for a Proposed

Public Offering

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Google Ad Tweaks, Mobile Purchase

I've gotten a lot of mail on this, which tells me it's worth noting: Google is tweaking its ad placements and putting more ads up, and it bought a mobile company. Silicon Beat covers it well….

I’ve gotten a lot of mail on this, which tells me it’s worth noting: Google is tweaking its ad placements and putting more ads up, and it bought a mobile company. Silicon Beat covers it well.

3 Comments on Google Ad Tweaks, Mobile Purchase

Yahoo Debuts New Rev of Local

Yahoo Local has been getting better and better of late, and today Yahoo launched another rev of the service which I think comes close to redefining the idea of local from that of a search based application to that of a destination – no small feat, given all the…

YahoolocalaugYahoo Local has been getting better and better of late, and today Yahoo launched another rev of the service which I think comes close to redefining the idea of local from that of a search based application to that of a destination – no small feat, given all the mojo and investment inherent in the “local search” terminology.

I spoke with Paul Levine, head of Yahoo Local Search, earlier in the week and he gave me a tour through the site’s new features. What did I see that led me to this conclusion? Two things. One, a major commitment to the architecture of participation – Levine and Yahoo are committed to surfacing user-generated content wherever they can. And two, integration into the recombinant web – at one point Levine called Yahoo Local an emergent “collective wiki for local.”

I really like this idea – that of creating a platform based on a need (in this case local) – then letting the users build the service over time. While it clearly controls the dials and levers for now, Yahoo seems to be watching how folks are using the content and services they have integrated into local, then building (or rebuilding) the site as paths are laid down and choices are made by the users.

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Veronis Suhler Makes the Leap

From the beginning of my career in media I would watch the Veronis Suhler forecast on media, it was not only pretty considered, it was also used by most entrepreneurs to justify their next magazine launch or cable channel. At times I could not get my hands on it,…

From the beginning of my career in media I would watch the Veronis Suhler forecast on media, it was not only pretty considered, it was also used by most entrepreneurs to justify their next magazine launch or cable channel. At times I could not get my hands on it, but I recall early in the Wired years we used it to justify how big the technology/culture space was going to get.

This year’s report is out and apparently it delineates, for the first time, between “new” and “traditional” forms of media, and furthermore pegs the new media percentage of dollars at about 17% of all ad spending last year, growing to more than 26% by 2009. MediaPost has a report here.

The MediaPost report notes that others view Veronis’ numbers as too conservative, ad agency Carat, for example, thinks digital spending will hit 50% in two years. This all depends on what comprises “digital spending.” Digital TV? Then the 50% is an easy target. No digital TV? Then perhaps Veronis is more in line….As with every year, I’d sure love to see the full report. It runs nearly two thousand bucks though, so I’ll have to watch from the cheap seats.

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Danny: Screw Size

A fine piece of Jesus Not Again writing from Danny. I'm deep in this as well, as those of you who've read my previous posts know. And more is coming, but I promise, I will be brief as can be. I'm waiting to talk with a couple more folks….

A fine piece of Jesus Not Again writing from Danny. I’m deep in this as well, as those of you who’ve read my previous posts know. And more is coming, but I promise, I will be brief as can be. I’m waiting to talk with a couple more folks. Danny notes he and Gary will also be posting more later in the week. I agree with Danny that relevance is key, but think it’s nearly impossible to set a standard for relevance – it’s too subjective. I disagree that size is not important. Once we can figure out how to audit and count size, it’s important, as important as UI, speed, or algorithms. It’s also important in a business sense – it’s a number that folks pay attention to and that marketers know works, and that the mainstream press will parrot. Even if you disagree with the tactics, and I do, it’s still important….

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Google Earth A Threat To National Security?

Some in the Dutch govt. worry about Google Earth (but not IBM or MSFT?) in this article. Both politicians and police are concerned that certain locations in the Netherlands, such as the port of Rotterdam, the royal palace in the Hague and Amsterdam Airport, already potential terrorist targets, could…

Holl 03

Some in the Dutch govt. worry about Google Earth (but not IBM or MSFT?) in this article.

Both politicians and police are concerned that certain locations in the Netherlands, such as the port of Rotterdam, the royal palace in the Hague and Amsterdam Airport, already potential terrorist targets, could be made more vulnerable to terrorists thanks to the detailed images created from satellites and aircrafts within the last three years available via Google Earth.

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A9 Launches Maps

Udi and his team have formally tossed their hat into the mapping ring with A9 Maps. Udi has shown this at a few industry conferences, but now it's live. It's an interesting and pretty cool interface, you use a magnifying lens icon to scroll A9's Block View on the…

A9MapsUdi and his team have formally tossed their hat into the mapping ring with A9 Maps. Udi has shown this at a few industry conferences, but now it’s live. It’s an interesting and pretty cool interface, you use a magnifying lens icon to scroll A9’s Block View on the right side of the page. Very You Are There. It breaks down when there are no Block View images – becomes a standard maps interface. But as usual for A9, it points out what’s possible and what might be coming….

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Update on NewsCorp.: LA Times Says It’s Blinkx

If this is true, then Rupert probably is reading Om Malik's blog, as he's owned the Blinkx story. PS – Om also has a story up on Biz 2 that speculates Google may be building a hugely scaled ISP/Wifi net….

If this is true, then Rupert probably is reading Om Malik’s blog, as he’s owned the Blinkx story.

PS – Om also has a story up on Biz 2 that speculates Google may be building a hugely scaled ISP/Wifi net.

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