Social Analytics Case Studies Available: Sentiment Towards Major Airlines
June 12, 2012
Whether or not companies choose to look at customers’ experiences told through channels such as Facebook and Twitter, customers are updating their statuses and tweeting about their experiences. Airlines are one such industry in which people frequently rant and rave about.
The article “Friday’s Features: Using Attensity Analyze 6.0 To Compare Customer Sentiment for @United @ Southwestair @Virginamerica” discusses a comparative analysis of data on these three airlines. The figures shown in the article illustrate share of voice, sentiment by airline, and detailed positive or negative sentiment.
As for results, Virgin America’s positive sentiment hovers above 75% positive while Southwest Airlines held at slightly over 70% positive. United’s sentiment shows the opposite with around 26% positive sentiment and 74% negative sentiment.
The article referenced above concludes that social media is influential for these airlines:
“Hoping that folks will ignore you if you ignore social media is a sure way to drive negative sentiment for your customer base. While United Airlines may feel insulated by its corporate contracts, expect many individuals to tell their procurement organizations to switch carriers this year as the negative sentiment for United grows. In fact, companies such as United Airlines better wake up to the reality of social media or face an eroding customer base.”
These social analytics case studies are particularly useful in showing how transparent customer relations have become. Snag this information while it is out there.
Megan Feil, June 12, 2012
Sponsored by PolySpot
Info Whitepapers Available at TNR Global
June 12, 2012
Interesting. TNR Global has made a couple of whitepapers available at their Web site; one is on Fast ESP to Solr Migration and the other on Elasticsearch evaluations. To see the papers, navigate to the TNR Global home page at http://www.tnrglobal.com/ and click on their titles on the right of the screen. The documents are free, but registration is required. The description of the FAST to Solr paper reads:
“Is your company using Microsoft FAST ESP on a Linux platform? Many companies have enjoyed the power of Microsoft FAST ESP as their search platform. Unfortunately, Microsoft announced in 2010 they will cease technical support for FAST ESP 5.3 after its 5 year lifecycle for anyone using Linux as their operation system. Migration to another search platform will be a priority, and business leaders and technology professionals are looking closely at Apache Solr as a solution.
“In our White Paper, we compare the two engines, and review different tools to ease the transition from FAST ESP to Apache Solr.”
The folks at TNR Global have more than a decade’s worth of experience in enterprise search and cloud computing solutions. They specialize in FAST ESP and Lucene Solr search solutions for: news sites; publishing; Web directories; information portals; Web catalogs; education; manufacturing and distribution; customer service; and live science professionals. Founded in 2004, the company is located in Hadley, MA.
Cynthia Murrell, June 12, 2012
Sponsored by PolySpot
Blekko Removes Most Popular Websites From Search Results
June 12, 2012
The Blekko Blog recently reported on a new experimental search engine called Millionshort.com that removes the most popular websites from search results in the article “Searching Without PageRank.”
The way that Million Short helps users navigate web results more easily, is by removing the top sites (be it million, thousand or hundred) from search results. The theory behind this is that often when you type keywords into a search engine, you always get the same results. This allows other websites that may not have mastered Google’s page ranking algorithm to be seen.
Blekko also has a search feature that is similar to this. The article states:
“Blekko’s search engine has a feature called slashtags, which can be used to either restrict a search to a list of websites, or remove that list of websites from the results. We typically use this feature for human curation, for example, picking out the best health websites. Hm, I thought, what an interesting hack! I’ll take that list of the most popular websites, and make slashtags which can be used to either search or exclude the most popular 10, 100, 1000, 10,000, or 100,000 websites. Our current effective limit to slashtag size is 100,000 websites, so I couldn’t do the most popular 1,000,000 sites.”
Blekko and Million Short are taking interesting steps to create more of a discovery search engine by allowing websites that may be new or have poor SEO and small marketing budgets to rise to the top.
Jasmine Ashton, June 12, 2012
Sponsored by PolySpot
Arnold June 2012 For-Fee Columns
June 12, 2012
The June 2012 for-fee columns by Stephen E Arnold have been shipped to the commissioning publications. The topics covered this month are:
- For Enterprise Technology Management, “Android and Humpty Dumpty” looks at the enterprise implications of the many versions of Google’s mobile operating system.
- For Information Today, “Is the SharePoint Tsunami Losing Force?” reviews some of the signals which may indicate that Fast Search could be nearing the end of its useful life. In the column are excerpts from an interview I conducted with Comperio US’s president, Bjorn Laukli.
- For KMWorld, “HP and Autonomy: Is Change Coming in Enterprise IDOL?” reviews some of Hewlett Packard’s plan for its $10 billion technology acquisition, Autonomy plc.
- I discuss a domain of content ignored by most enterprise search systems. I profile a vendor tackling this opportunity.
- For Online Magazine, “Has IBM Mapped the Course for Commercializing Open Source Search?” takes a high-level look at how IBM has used open source search to reduce costs and create new high-value commercial software which do not get described with the word “search.”
For copies of these articles, you will need to hound the publisher, not me. I just write ‘em. I don’t archive work for hire. I will gather together some of my older for-fee columns in pre-final mode. We will post these in the near future on the main ArnoldIT.com Web site.
Stephen E Arnold, June 12, 2012
Freebie
Google, Firefox, and the Threatening Yandex
June 11, 2012
Can an online outfit buy traffic? Yep. Should it? Yep, if you are Google and have lots of dough. Motivation is important too. Example: Surging Yandex, the ad, online payment, email, and search outfit from Russia.
Computerworld ran two stories about six months apart. The first appeared on December 22, 2011. “Google to Pay Mozilla $300M Yearly in New Search Deal, Says Report.” The main idea is that Google delivers cash; Mozilla delivers traffic. No big deal because the tie up was an extension and would be valid for three years. Pay to play is a big deal. Buying traffic is what makes search engine optimizers’ and ad execs’ hearts go pitter patter.
The second story appeared on June 10, 2012. “Mozilla Dumps Yandex as Default Search for Russian Firefox.” The subtitle was “Last year’s $900M global deal with Google forces Mozilla to swap search engines.” Hmm. So where did the extra $600 million come from? What’s the reason behind dumping Yandex.ru search for Google.ru search?
Can money buy traffic? Yes, it can. The Firefox deal explains this and shows the value of eyeballs.
Perhaps Yandex is more than a footnote in the search expert’s write ups? Maybe the Yandex folks are mounting a significant threat to the Google?
My view is that Yandex is a potential problem for Google and not just in Russia. The company has bright engineers. The company owns a chunk of Blekko which keeps getting mentioned as a useful search system by failed webmasters, azure chip consultants, and the odd blogger here and there. I like Blekko, and I really like Yandex.
What’s going on is one of those “predictive” management moves for which I admire Google. Like the two share play triggered in my opinion by rising costs and softening ad traffic to revenue ratios, Google senses warning lights with regard to Yandex. The system sucks up ArnoldIT content and puts some of it in its Russian language index and some of it in its English language index. Go figure. The only link I have with Russia is a distant relative who could add and subtract pretty well. His name, God rest his source, was Vladimir Ivanovich Arnold, best known for his Kolmogorov-Arnold-Moser Theorem. At least my uncle did not do the long distance swimming in cold lakes that Kolmogorov used to jump start his thinking. Arnold’s just sit and contemplate nature.
What I want to capture is that Google is taking steps to maintain a grip on its Russian traffic. Like China, Russia poses a challenge to some online companies. Google muffed the bunny in China, and Russia was not cooperative when it came to Google’s space travel adventures.
My hunch is that even though Firefox is not the powerhouse it once was, Google wants to make sure it keeps what Russian traffic it has and get more if possible. Chrome does not seem to be enough.
I find the pay for traffic actions of Google and the whole Panda Penguin exercises interesting. Are they two sides of the same coin? My thought is that more traffic centric plays will be forthcoming. The impact of mobile search is going to pose a high hurdle for certain companies when it comes to maintaining online advertising revenues.
A downturn could cause the cost curve to blast through the revenue curve. Like Amazon, Google has to balance costs and revenues. Each company is making quite interesting moves despite their apparent lock on certain markets. Locks can be broken.
Stephen E Arnold, June 11, 2012
Sponsored by Polyspot
Inteltrax: Top Stories, June 4 to June 8
June 11, 2012
Inteltrax, the data fusion and business intelligence information service, captured three key stories germane to search this week, specifically, how financial markets are being influenced and affected by big data analytics.
In “Venture Capitalists Invest in Cloud Based API Provider” we explore how tons of financial investments, namely in the cloud, are changing the game of big data.
In “UK Financial Industry Benefiting from Analytics” we discovered how England is attempting to avoid Eurozone financial catastrophe with analytics.
Finally, our feature, “Quantitative Financial Analytics is a Serious Weapon” dove headlong into this new buzzword and its impact on financial markets and the vendors supplying software.
With global markets plummeting or rising in equally shaky motions, analytics looks to be a potential stabilizing force. We’ll keep watching to see what kind of aid it can be.
Follow the Inteltrax news stream by visiting www.inteltrax.com
Patrick Roland, Editor, Inteltrax.
June 11, 2012
Dirty Secrets of SharePoint Online
June 11, 2012
SharePoint Online is getting a lot of buzz, and rightfully so. For many, the simplicity of a fully online solution is desirable. However, despite the hype, there are some seemingly essential features that have been overlooked, or have been poorly drawn.
Pankaj Taneja provides the details for Sys-Con Media in, “5 Dirty Sharepoint Online Secrets You Didn’t Know About.”
When you go through vendor feature datasheets, you get a view of features at a very high level. It’s only once you dive deep and actually start using the software do you get a sense of how it works. The experience might sometimes yield unexpected surprises . . . So while you might have absorbed some of Sharepoint Online’s marketing hype, here are some things they failed to mention.
The negative feedback ranges from the inability to cut and paste to customization difficulties to the fragmented overall structure.
For those who desire the low overhead of an online enterprise deployment, but the intuitiveness and customization of an on-site installation, we encourage you to explore Fabasoft Mindbreeze Enterprise. Mindbreeze has both Cloud and on-site installations, both of which are updated are far more regular intervals than SharePoint. Mindbreeze can stand alone or work alongside an existing SharePoint installation.
Fabasoft Mindbreeze Enterprise finds every scrap of information within a very short time, whether document, contract, note, e-mail or calendar entry, in intranet or internet, person- or text-related. The software solution finds all required information, regardless of source, for its users. Get a comprehensive overview of corporate knowledge in seconds without redundancy or loss of data.
In addition, Fabasoft Mindbreeze finds strengths in its seamless integration with other auxiliary services. Fabasoft Mindbreeze Connectors incorporates all manner of electronic data repositories. Mobile search and public-facing web site search are all done with Mindbreeze, while full attention is given to security concerns.
For a flexible and intuitive third-party enterprise solution, consider the offerings of Fabasoft Mindbreeze.
Emily Rae Aldridge, June 11, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Social Media Monitoring to Lift Sales One Hopes
June 11, 2012
The InsideView Blog makes great promises for social media’s ability to make sales in “How to Boost B2B Sales with Social Media.” The write up insists that the information gleaned from social customer research management has become indispensable for sales pros in targeting their advertising. Both individual and business customers can be monitored for what they are looking for and what they are looking to avoid. That could certainly help businesses address customer needs, though I think it would be more valuable for some sizes and types of businesses than others.
Writer Koka Sexton is on to something when advocating companies monitor their competition. I think this would give almost any business at least some insights they can use. The article suggests:
“Some investigative social media searching can help you assess your competition and better understand the market. Find out what customers are saying on your competitor’s social media pages. Are there complaints or customer service issues? You can use this information to your advantage by highlighting some of the problems with the competition in your sales pitch. The more you know about your competition, the better you will be able to convince your customers that your product or service is better. Social media research can give you this helpful insight.”
It is true that social media monitoring may help many businesses market their wares more effectively, especially if they can find competitor weaknesses to exploit. However, every company must apply common sense in deciding how much monitoring is a wise use of resources for their situation.
Cynthia Murrell, June 11, 2012
Sponsored by PolySpot
Electronic Industry Focuses on Technology and Open Source
June 11, 2012
While manufacturing may be one of the largest industries employing product lifecycle management (PLM) to keep costs down and processes moving as efficiently as possible other industries are gaining speed in PLM adoption as they realize the many benefits solutions offer. A recent Virtual Strategy Magazine article, “SUB10 Systems Limited Selects Aras Solution Suite Combined with Minerva EHT for Enterprise Product Lifecycle Management”, explains how one Electronics company recently joined forces with a PLM provider with a lot to offer.
Leon Lauritsen, Director at Minerva, was quoted in the article as saying,
“At Minerva, we’ve applied our more 10 years of experience implementing PLM solutions specifically for the Electronic industry into a solution that combines advanced technology with an open source business model to enable companies such as SUB10 Systems to get their PLM projects up and running quickly and cost-effectively with minimal risk.”
No matter in which industry a company seeking PLM solutions may be involved the need for the solution to be open source is a growing requirement as is a quick implementation of the software and/or updates. While those are very important considerations when choosing a PLM provider we also would like to add the requirement of upgraded data management solutions. Inforbix, a leader in the field, is self-described as “…integrated cloud solutions for manufacturing companies that tackle everyday tasks such as finding, reusing, and sharing product data without the overhead of traditional data management systems.” Combine those qualities with competitive pricing and excellent customer service and training and anyone can see how they are among our favorites.
Catherine Lamsfuss, June 11, 2012
After Oracle Victory, Google Now Faces More US Government Scrutiny
June 11, 2012
Things may not have went exactly as Oracle planned, but according to Lawmakers call on DOJ to reopen investigation into Google Wi-Fi spying it drew more unwanted glances in Google’s direction. The Silicon Valley titan has been attracting questionable looks in regards to its ‘flexibility’ regarding privacy and copy right policies.
According to Pallone and Barrow, Google may have “misled” Congress and federal investigators about the Wi-Fi snooping and:
“We are concerned that the facts uncovered by the FCC’s investigation put Google’s initial explanation of these events in question,” they wrote.
“While Google has called the snooping a mistake, the FCC report said Google’s actions resulted from a deliberate software-design decision of a Google employee who examined and evaluated the data that was collected and shared his findings with others at the company.”
“Privacy is a critical issue and neither Google’s influence nor size absolves it from responsibility.”
In April, the engineers of Google’s Street View service decided it should use the Street View cars for scanning Wi-Fi networks and war driving. The information gathered would benefit in the creation of maps of Wi-Fi hotspots. A code was also developed for collecting Wi-Fi payload data, for the future benefit of some Google services. One may question if Oracle achieved true victory. They definitely put Google back in the unhappy face of more government scrutiny.
Jennifer Shockley, June 11, 2012
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