Selling Bing: Great Expectorations
July 2, 2009
I was not going to comment on the vomit and porn advertisement for Microsoft. Nasty stuff. I want to point you, gentle reader, to the Register’s “Microsoft Distances Self from IE 8 Puke Ads.” Gavin Clark wrote:
Microsoft told Cnet‘s Chris Matyszczyk: “While much of the feedback to this particular piece of creative was positive, some of our customers found it offensive, so we have removed it.” The ad was one of four in Microsoft’s Better Browser campaign of spoof 1950s informercials, and the point was to promote IE 8’s private browsing feature.
Impressive creative and remarkable rationalization. However, keep in mind that this is a company that bought a search vendor involved in an ongoing police investigation that has now seeped to the accounting firm validating the Fast Search financials. Par for the course. I wonder if Microsoft Fast works as well as the actress’s faux expectoration? Probably not a question I wish to explore. I think I will run a query on Bing.com for “management judgment.” Isn’t this ad the Dickens?
Stephen Arnold, July 2, 2009
Great Google Quote
July 2, 2009
Short honk: The Christian Science Monitor snagged a great Google quote from the lips of Eric Schmidt. The quote appeared in “Bing Nothing to Worry about, Yet” here.
Mr. Schmidt allegedly said:
“Google is about getting all the information and organizing it,” he said. “Yahoo has a different strategy. We think ultimately Bing will evolve to a different strategy as well.
Let’s see. If Google gets “all” information, what’s left for the Redmond crowd and the Yahooligans. Logically, the addled goose thinks, nothing.
Stephen Arnold, June 14, 2009
Beyond Search Story Flow
July 1, 2009
Short honk: The big, addled goose will be in Europe for a week or so. Stories for Beyond Search have been prepared and three or four will run each day. When I get connectivity, I will process breaking news from the goslings. You may notice that some stories seem to refer to events that took place in June. Yep, that’s when we wrote our brand of search, content processing, and information-centric items. We tried to be reasonably timeless and retain the controversial angle we take. Keep in mind we are neither journalists, pundits, mavens, wizards, or azure chip consultants. We are not newly minted experts. Heck, we’re not even experts. This Web log is 100 percent pure marketing. We don’t spam, and we don’t think too much about how many readers it attracts. We conform to our editorial polity stated on our About pages and proudly honk, “Beyond Search, written by addled geese for those with a penchant for recycled information.” Just a beak up, gentle reader. Honk.
Stephen Arnold, July 1, 2009
Google and Transit Search
July 1, 2009
In one of my KMWorld columns I reported that New Jersey had embraced Google’s transportation routing system. No one really cared. Now Google, according to Philly.com, has inked a deal with SEPTA. You can get the details by reading “SEPTA to Partner with Google.” What is a vendor of search and ads doing with mass transit routing? Surround and seep dribbles forward. First, the routing, then the search, and finally the ads. What better place to get bus and shuttle timetable information. SEPTA joins New Jersey and Maryland as customers of this Google service.
Stephen Arnold, July 1, 2009
Oracle Salesforce Rumor: A Summer Thriller
July 1, 2009
I heard chatter at the Gilbane conference in San Francisco on June 4, 2009. I did not know the slick, 20 something who was explaining over his Pop Tart that Oracle was interested in Salesforce.com. Now the story “pops” into my feed reader with a Reuters’ logo, a byline for Jim Finkle, and the rumor elevated to the status of mainstream media “story”. You can try to locate the Reuters’ story “Sales Force CEO Downplays Chatter of Sale to Oracle” but I have had some 404s of late. These Reuters’ stories are too valuable to be left where my feed reader first pointed. Go figure. Anyway, Mr. Finkle wrote:
Salesforce.com Inc Chief Executive Marc Benioff downplayed persistent speculation that bigger rival Oracle Corp may buy his Web-based software company. Oracle CEO Larry Ellison was an early investor and one-time board member in San Francisco-based Salesforce but Benioff told Reuters on Monday [June 29, 2009]: “If he wanted to buy it, he would have.”
A couple of thoughts flapped through the addled goose’s tiny brain:
- Google has been a cheerleader for Salesforce.com for quite a while. Google, however, has not made overt moves to acquire Salesforce.com. If Oracle shows interest, might that urge Googzilla to snap up Salesforce.com along with its real sales team and its customers.
- Despite Mr. Ellison’s investment in Salesforce.com, I have sensed some cattiness about Salesforce.com’s success with its off premises, cloud based service. Even though Oracle beats at the heart of the Salesforce.com system, the model challenges Oracle’s on premises approach. A purchase might lead to some sudden changes in Salesforce.com. I think of this management approach as oncology management.
- With a great deal of cash slopping around in some investment firms’ wallets, if Salesforce.com is in play, there may be some left field buyers in the game.
Nothing like a buy out rumor to add zest to the summer financial drama. My hunch is that this thriller may have a touch of Hollywood, however. Whatever happens, I think Google benefits. That company’s search and glue code makes contributions to both Oracle and Salesforce.com. Neither company has a search system that rises above unsalted popcorn. Google may end up a winner by providing search and other services no matter how the script unfolds.
Stephen Arnold, July 1, 2009
Google and Data Object Visualization
June 30, 2009
The USPTO published US7555471 B2 on June 30, 2009. The Beyond Search goslings think this is a reasonably important Google disclosure. The investors include one super Googler and clutch of other Google rock star engineers. Andrew Hogue is a Googler to watch. If you find his official Google page opaque, try this link. He and his band of engineers have received a patent for “Data Object Visualization.” Don’t get too excited about the graphics. The system and method applies to a core Google system for cleaning up discrepancies in fact tables. If you are a fan of Dilbert, this is the invention that describes one of Google’s smartest agents the official descriptor “janitor”. How smart is the janitor. Smart enough to make dataspaces closer to reality. The USPTO system is sluggish today, so you can get info from FreePatentsOnline.com or one of the other services that provide access to these public documents. I love that janitor lingo too. Googley humor for big time inventions makes clear that the 11 year old Google still possesses math club whimsy. Those examples for atomic mass and volcano are equally illuminating.
Stephen Arnold, June 30, 2009
Microsoft Plumbing: Big Online Facility in Big Shoulder Territory
June 30, 2009
The Microsoft data center news keeps on swirling in my Overflight intel system. Patrick Thibodeau’s “Microsoft to Open Two Mall Sized Data Centers” levered my interest. Computer World reported:
Microsoft Corp. on Monday said it is preparing to flip the switch on what will eventually be more than 1 million square feet of data center space in two facilities, one in Chicago, the other in Dublin, Ireland. These centers will house hundreds of thousands of servers to help support the company’s Bing search engine and other online services.
Google does not provide this type of detail about its plumbing. My hunch is that Google doesn’t want to help anyone figure out how much the company invests in infrastructure and Google may not want to get tangled in a “who has the bigger facility” argument with its competitors, azure chip consultants, and besmirched MBAs seeking a commission from stock churn.
The numbers reported in the Computer World article stunned this addled goose. For example:
The Chicago center, which opens July 20 and is now said to be 700,000 square feet in size, will use containers that can be the size of tractor-trailers, with 1,800 to 2,500 servers each. The first phase of the Chicago center to go live has more than 50 parking stalls for shipping containers, which Microsoft said can be wheeled in and installed in hours. The facility’s second floor will have server racks.
Now that is a lot of Windows servers. Imagine the configuration work required to set these up, verify that the ever wonderful SQL Server clusters are running like clockwork, ensure that the fail over does not fail, and test to make sure that back ups actually restore.
Chicago has nuclear power generation facilities. That’s a plus. This data center is likely to consume more electricity than Blue Island. “Just Bing it” has new meaning to the executives at Exelon Corp.
Stephen Arnold, June 30, 2009
Search Sucks: A Mini Case
June 30, 2009
I listened occasionally to the Gillmor Gang when it was available on iTunes. I noticed that the program disappeared, and I lost track of it. My RSS reader snagged a story about a verbal shoot out between the one man TV network Leo LaPorte and one of the participants in the Gilmore Gang. To make a long and somewhat confused story short, the show disappeared. I figured this would be a good topic to use to test Bing.com and Google.com. My premise was that neither service would be indexing the type of information about flaps in the wobbly world of real time content on the rich media Web.
I ran the query Gilmore Gang on Google and finally found a link to a story published on June 13, 2009, called “Hanging on for Dear Life.” The problem with the Google results was that the top rated links were just plain wrong in terms of answering my query. Granted I used a two word query and I was purposely testing the Google system to see if it was sufficiently “smart” to figure out that I wanted current and accurate information. Well, in my opinion, it was like a promising student who stayed up late and did not do his home work. Here is the result list Google generated for me on June 28, 2009:
The result I wanted I found using other tools.
How Open Are Blue Chip Consulting Firms
June 30, 2009
I found ReadWriteWeb’s article “Becoming An Open Enterprise: Five Lessons from Booz Allen Hamilton” a thought starter. The hook for the article was Booz Allen Hamilton’s winning an award at the Enterprise 2.0 conference. Awards are good. These help attract exhibitors and generate news about an organization or person who otherwise may not be on the radar.
The thought starter part was the idea that open and blue chip consulting go together. I think that is a stretch. The use of technology in controlled situations is one thing. The way in which blue chip consulting firms’ operate is quite another.
I would assert that ReadWriteWeb is not in touch with the closed nature of the top tier consulting firms. For example, Booz Allen has had a contentious history among its partners. The most recent version of the venerable firm is that its partners agreed to divide the company. The “real” consultants with MBAs and a McKinsey envy went one way. The technology and government consultants went another. So, consulting mitosis and the discussions about this split are and probably never will be “open”.
Second, the Booz Allen receiving the award does work for various governments. That work – even if not covered by the plastic wrap of security – is not likely to be discussed widely even within the firm. In fact, in blue chip consulting companies, power is information. Access to information, therefore, is not open. Partners husband information to protect the client, the method, and their bonuses. Some of the implicitly security makes Apple look positively chatty.
Third, the technology on display and available for “voters” or “judges” to review is designed to make sales. The idea is that a blue chip consulting firm sells by being perceived as a thought leader. Whizzy new technology presented with an “aw shucks” it was nothing along with dollops of “we know how you can use this to succeed” makes sales. Remember. The fees for this blue chip wizardry is high, even in government engagements.
Recycling the five precepts makes for a good news story. That was the purpose of the entire exercise. Openness is controlled. Openness is not part of the way in which blue chip outfits work. I think ReadWriteWeb is helping the Booz Allen consultants make sales.
I was a laborer in the BAH vineyard, and I think more folks covering the high end firms should dig into the methods of these outfits.
Stephen Arnold, June 30, 2009
Wall Street Journal, Desperate and Ineffectual or Just Clueless
June 29, 2009
I am now receiving one email every hour from the Wall Street Journal. It is now 3 38 pm Eastern time, and I spoke with a customer service representative about my receiving these automated spam messages. The customer service representative took my email address, verified that I am a paid-in-full, real-life subscriber to the print edition of the Wall Street Journal. The customer service representative apologized three times, I explained that if I received additional spam asking me to subscribe I would post another document of record in my Web log and ask my legal eagle to notify the appropriate agencies in New Jersey and Kentucky about this use of my personal email. In my opinion, I am not sure whether this means the WSJ is desperate and ineffectual or just clueless.
So, here’s the contact information for these spam messages:
Can’t read the fine print? Let me reproduce it for you:
The Wall Street Journal
This is a special offer made available only for first time subscribers to The Wall Street Journal. Thereafter, your subscription will be renewed automatically at the then current rate. Other restrictions may apply. Should subscription rates or terms change, the Wall Street Journal Online will notify you in advance. If you would prefer not to receive further commercial messages from the Wall Street Journal Online, please click here and confirm your request. To contact us by mail, send correspondence to: Customer Service Department, the Wall Street journal Online, 4300 Route 1 North, South Brunswick, NJ 08852. Copyright 2008 Dow Jones & Company. Our records indicate that your email address is opted in to receive this email. etc, etc.
Observations:
- I opted out last week, and the service here told me it took Dow Jones 10 days to stop sending spam.
- I am a subscriber and I use the email address in this Web log for work, not spam from publishers who seem to be a combination of desperate and clueless
- The customer service representative said I would not receive any more emails.
My thought is that when once respected publishers use the tactics of those selling Viagra, colon cleansers, and get rich schemes – there’s serious trouble in Wall Street Journal type outfits.
Watch this Web log for updates from a customer. If an outfit treats a customer to spamfests, imagine what the company will do to mere prospects! I suppose the paper will be gone someday and I should have pity. Unfortunately spam from legitimate companies riles my feathers.
Stephen Arnold, June 29, 2009
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