Guardian Goes Open
May 26, 2010
Darned interesting write up this: “What We Can Learn From the Guardian’s New Open Platform”. Some of the GigaOM analysis roils the water in the goose pond. This particular article makes several good points. The key for us in Harrod’s Creek was this comment:
The vehicle for this change is its “Open Platform,” which launched last week and involves an open application programming interface (API) that developers can use to integrate Guardian content into services and applications. The newspaper company has been running a beta version of the platform for a little over a year now, but took the experimental label off the project on Thursday and announced that it’s “open for business.” By that The Guardian means it’s looking for partners that want to use its content in return for licensing fees or to enter into a revenue-sharing agreement of some kind related to advertising.
The write up wants the Guardian to do more. My hunch is that the Guardian will do more. Prudence is not a virtue in Silicon Valley. It is in Manchester. What can one learn from British reserve? Quite a lot I think.
Stephen E Arnold, May 26, 2010
Freebie
SurfRay Surges
May 24, 2010
SurfRay pinged us on May 21, 2010. We took the opportunity to gather some information about this search and content processing company. We want to break our coverage of SurfRay into two parts. In this first part, we bring you up to date on the company’s product. In the second part, which will run in Beyond Search on May 31, 2010, we take a look at some of the details of the SurfRay products. Here’s the update, which as far as we know is an exclusive look at this company.
SurfRay (www.surfray.com) has released feature-packed Ontolica 2010 containing the new Ontolica Search Intelligence module, and with support for Ontolica Preview. This recent release provides extensive reporting and analytics on search performance and SharePoint content processing. You can get more information about Ontolica here. A free trial is available from this link.
The 2010 release of Ontolica Preview, which provides native support for about 500 document formats, ranging from Office formats to vector image formats and high-fidelity HTML preview, the product also supports in-document highlighting, allows users to browse to best-bet pages inside documents, and is optimized for performance over the internet, with no client installs needed.
Having completed development on Ontolica Express, a search extension to Microsoft Search Server and Search Server Express, they have transformed Microsoft’s free search engine into a much more rich and robust solution. With important features such as wildcard and Boolean search as well as drill down and faceted search, they can provide effective solutions to the customer.
The feature matrix shows how Ontolica adds important functionality to the SharePoint 2010 environment. Notice that the Fast Search solution lacks important out-of-the-box features such as portal usage reports and hot linked thumbnail previews.
Packaged enterprise search solutions most often equate to long and expensive customization and implementation projects for customers. SurfRay is out to change that. With a new managing director and several new releases of the company’s Ontolica and MondoSearch products they have positioned themselves for the impending release of SharePoint 2010. Soren Pallesen, the new CEO, believes SurfRay has a significant opportunity for the firm to grow.
Other search vendors add features that are hard to understand and don’t offer real value for customers. SurfRay is committed to delivering value to customers with easy to use, out of the box, and based on industry-standard technologies.
SurfRay, a Microsoft Certified Partner, can deliver tightly packaged enterprise search solutions that are rich in functionality but easy to test and install – Ontolica installs literally in 5 minutes. And in so doing, SurfRay is responding to customers move toward more packaged search products and away from expensive consulting projects.
Founded in 2000, SurfRay is a global leader in search infrastructure software for enterprises that delivers highly packaged enterprise search solutions that are easy to try, buy and install. SurfRay has more than a 1000 customers in over 30 countries and is dual headquartered in Santa Clara, USA and Copenhagen, Denmark. Their customer base includes some of the most known brands and largest companies in the world, including AT&T Wireless, Bank of Thailand, Best Buy, BMW, Ernst & Young, Ferrari, H & R Block, Intel Solution Services, John Deere, Nintendo, and the list goes on.
SurfRay is a trendsetter in packaged enterprise search solutions that takes the complexity out of deploying business search solutions. They achieve this by releasing new products and versions continuously and by focusing on geographic expansion. They have established dedicated physical presence in local markets to further build their local customer support and international reseller network, such as SurfRay UK and Ireland, SurfRay Benelux and Nordic. All this seems to be working as SurfRay recently announced over 20 percent quarter-to-quarter revenue growth.
Pallesen believes, “Today most customers are very well educated on search technology and they don’t want to be convinced that they need some fancy new techno-feature. The next new thing that truly will transform the search market and deliver substantial value to customers will be enterprise class search solutions that install and are configured as easily as Microsoft Office.”
SurfRay has a deep heritage in innovation and advanced search technology. They continue to leverage this and put valuable enhancement into packaged search solutions that makes search functional as well as easy to install and use.
Stephen E Arnold and Melody Smith, May 24, 2010
Sponsored
Wowd Gets Two Patents – Sign of Future Success?
May 22, 2010
New kid on the block gets two patents on its method for ranking search results based on usage data and its variation on peer-to-peer networking. Wowd is a search system that makes it easier to discover what’s popular on the Web. the company says, “A new way to search… when what’s happening now matters.”
Though Wowd is not yet at the scale that necessitates this patented technology, they are hedging their bets and being prepared for when that day comes. Gigaom.com reported in their article, ‘Wowd Doubles Down With Social Search and P2P Patents” that Wowd doesn’t plan to do much with the patents at the moment but it will demonstrate to investors that they are serious.
The first patent is for a method of ranking web pages based on the way people use them. In other words, it gives a search engine the ability to weigh anonymized information about where users click to go next from a web page. The technology was developed for real-time use and especially social search. The second patient is for their variation on peer-to-peer networking and is not search specific. The real time search sector has a number of vendors fighting for traffic. Wowd is a useful service.
Melody K. Smith, May 22, 2010
Note: Post was not sponsored.
Google, StreetView, and Allegations in the US
May 20, 2010
A happy quack to the reader who sent me a link to TechEye.net’s “Google Sued over Snaffled Street View Data.” I am not an attorney, not a journalist, not qualified to do much more than point to this write up. According to the article,
Google has received a writ from Vicki Van Valin and Neil Mertz as part of a class action that their privacy was violated by Street View vehicles picking up data from open wireless internet connections used at home. They also want a court to prevent Google from destroying the data that’s been collected.
The article includes quite a few references to legal things. I did recognize the phrase “class action.”
Assume that the article is accurate and that the legal references in it are germane to the allegations. Here are the questions I want to capture before the slip from my goose brain:
- Are the Department of Justice or the Federal Trade Commission likely to take an interest in this matter?
- What happens if the legal eagles move the matter into court and some of the alleged “information” is deleted or otherwise unavailable?
- How will the “we’re sorry” and “we goofed” method work in the face of international and US actions related to the alleged Google StreetView data collection scope?
I don’t know, but I remember one person said in a lunch conversation, “Never ask for permission. Do it. It is easier to ask for forgiveness.”
Will this work as a method of deflecting the allegations?
Stephen E Arnold, May 20, 2010
Freebie.
Finding Books
May 17, 2010
You can’t live on good ideas alone and Booshaka may find out the hard way. A recent Killer Startup review, “Booshaka – A Search Engine for Facebook,” details how this social search engine provides excellent tools for users. Booshaka functions like web-based search engines, but only shows Facebook postings. Users can type in a topic to search, click the most popular search topics or choose one of the “fun” topic listings. The results look just like Facebook wall postings, but from all different people. The problem is, there is now “Wow” factor. Nothing about this program made us sit up straight and say, I wish I’d thought of that. While Booshaka provides something helpful and unique, it reminds us that if you aren’t spinning heads, you’re spinning your wheels. Maybe the mud tires will get a grip? We hope so.
Patrick Roland, May 17, 2010
Freebie.
YourOpenBook: Hurry
May 16, 2010
Short honk: A happy quack to the reader who alerted me to a Facebook centric “finding” service. If you have some Facebook skeletons in your closet, you may want to gobble a Rennie before navigating to YourOpenBook. I ran some interesting queries but the goose will not reproduce those results. Fascinating body of content and a basic search engine. Powerful and thought provoking. Know your child’s Facebook name? Azure chip consultant under 30? Coworker? Enjoy before the service suffers an unexpected outage. Note: queries are now returning different results with each refresh.
Stephen E Arnold, May 16, 2010
Freebie.
Big Data, Publishing, and an Opportunity?
May 16, 2010
People are looking for a way to connect to the massive quantities of data online, but these publishers may be missing the point. Semantic Web’s recent article, “Big Data Publishing: Common Threads in STM, Legal & Educational Publishing,” discusses the possible onslaught of publishing online data, even recommending it as an entrepreneurial option. Big data publishing is the idea that a publisher will compile the Web—from blog posts, tweets, news articles and other ephemera—into print form. The goal is that people will want to study the web as a whole and understand how all things are connected. The question is, why should the internet be published? There are tools like social search that help us make connections between many topics, individuals and opinions already. Do we really need researchers and academics to help us make these connections?
Patrick Roland
May 16, 2010
Post not sponsored
Social Networks, Testosterone, and Facebook
May 13, 2010
In my Information Today column which will run in the next hard copy issue, I talk about the advantage social networks have in identifying sites members perceive as useful. Examples are Delicious.com (owned by Yahoo) and StumbleUpon.com (once eBay and now back in private hands).
The idea is based in economics. Indexing the entire Web and then keeping up with changes is very expensive. With most queries answered by indexing a subset of the total Web universe, only a handful of organizations can tackle this problem. If I put on my gloom hat, the number of companies indexing as many Web pages as possible is Google. If I put on my happy hat, I can name a couple of other outfits. One implication is that Google may find itself spending lots of money to index content and its search traffic starts to go to Facebook. Yikes. Crisis time in Mountain View?
It costs a lot when many identify important sites and the lone person or company has to figure everything out for himself or herself. Image source: http://lensaunders.com/habit/img/peerpressuresmall.jpg
The idea is that when members recommend a Web site as useful, the company getting this Web site url can index that site’s content. Over time, a body of indexed content becomes useful. I routinely run specialized queries on Delicious.com and StumbleUpon.com, among others. I don’t run these queries on Google because the results list require too much work to process. One nagging problem is Google’s failure to make it possible to sort results by time. I can get a better “time sense” from other systems.
When I read “The Big Game, Zuckerberg and Overplaying your Hand”, I interpreted these observations in the context of the information cost advantage. The write up makes the point via some interesting rhetorical touches that Facebook is off the reservation. The idea is that Facebook’s managers are seizing opportunities and creating some real problems for themselves and other companies. The round up of urls in the article is worth reviewing, and I will leave that work to you.
First, it is clear that social networks are traffic magnets because users see benefits. In fact, despite Facebook’s actions and the backlash about privacy, the Facebook system keeps on chugging along. In a sense, Facebook is operating like the captain of an ice breaker in the arctic. Rev the engines and blast forward. Hit a penguin? Well, that’s what happens when a big ship meets a penguin. If – note, the “if” – the Facebook user community continues to grow, the behavior of the firm’s management will be encouraged. This means more ice breaker actions. In a sense, this is how Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo either operated or operated in their youth. The motto is, “It is better to beg for forgiveness than ask for permission.”
Five Myths of Enterprise Search Marketing
May 12, 2010
The telephone and email flow has spiked. We are working to complete Google Beyond Text and people seem to be increasingly anxious (maybe desperate?) to know what can be done to sell search, content processing, indexing, and business intelligence.
Sadly there is no Betty White to generate qualified leads and close deals for most search and content processing vendors. See “From Golden Girl To It Girl: Betty White Has Become Marketing Magic.” This passage got my goose brain rolling forward:
On Saturday night, ‘SNL’ had its best ratings since 2008, with an estimated 11 million people tuning in to see Betty talk about her muffin. But more than the ratings boost was the shear hilarity of the show; for the first time in a long time, ‘SNL’ was at the center of the national conversation this Monday morning. ‘Saturday Night Live’ was good with Betty White. Really good! And that kind of chatter is something you just can’t buy.
The one thing the goose knows is that one-shot or star-centric marketing efforts are not likely to be effective. A few decades ago, I was able to promote newsletters via direct mail. The method was simple. License a list and pay a service bureau to send a four page letter, an envelope, and a subscription card. Mail 10,000 letters and get 200 subscribers at $100 a pop. If a newsletter took off like Plumb Bulletin Board Systems which we sold to Alan Meckler or MLS: Marketing Library Services which we sold to Information Today, the math was good. Just keep mailing and when the subscription list hit 1,000 or more, sell out.
Times have changed. The cost of a direct mail program in 1980 was less than a $1.00 per delivered item. Today, the costs have risen by a factor of five or more. What’s more important is that snail mail (postal delivered envelopes) is ignored. An indifferent recipient or an recipient overwhelmed with worries about money, the kids, or getting the lawn mowed has afflicted radio, television, cable, door knob hangers, fliers under windshield wipers, and almost any other form of marketing I used in 1970.
I had a long call with a search entrepreneur yesterday, and in that conversation, I jotted down five points. None is specific to her business, but the points have a more universal quality in my opinion. Let me highlight each of these “myths”. A “myth” of course is a story accepted as having elements of truth.
First, send news releases with lots of words that assert “best,” “fastest”, “easiest”, or similar superlatives produces sales. I am not sure I have to explain this. The language of the news release has to enhance credibility. If something is the “fastest” or “easiest”, just telling me one time will not convince me. I don’t think it convinces anyone. The problem is the notion of a single news release. Another problem is the idea that baloney sells or produces high value sales leads. Another problem is that news releases disappear into the digital maw and get spit out in RSS feeds. Without substance, I ignore them. PR firms are definitely increasing their reliance on news releases which are silly. So the myth that cooking up a news release makes a sale is false. A news release will get into the RSS stream, but will that sell? Probably a long shot?
Second, Webinars. I don’t know about you but scheduled Webinars take time. For me to participate in one of these, I need to know that the program is substantive and that I won’t hear people stumble through impenetrable PowerPoint slides. I have done some Webinars for big name outfits, but now I am shifting to a different type of rich media. Some companies charge $10,000 or more to set up a Webinar and deliver an audience. The problem is that some of the audiences for these fees are either not prospects or small. A Webinar, like a news release, is a one shot deal and one shot deals are less and less effective. The myth is that a Webinar is a way to make sales now. Maybe, maybe not.
Third, trade show exhibits. Trade show attendance is down. People want to go to conferences but with the economic climate swinging wildly from day to day, funds to go to conferences are constrained. Conferences have to address a specific problem. Not surprisingly events that are fuzzy are less likely to produce leads. I attended a user conference last week and the exhibitors were quite happy. In fact, one vendor sent me an email saying, “I am buried in follow ups.” The myth that all trade shows yield says is wrong. Some trade shows do; others don’t. Pick wrong and several thousand dollars can fly away in a heartbeat. For big shows, multiply that number by 10.
Fourth, Web sites sell. I don’t know about you, but Web sites are less and less effective as a selling tool. Most Web sites are brochureware unless there is some element of interactivity or stickiness. In the search world, most of the Web sites are not too helpful. Who reads Web pages? I don’t. Who reads white papers? I don’t. Who reads the baloney in the news releases or the broad descriptions of the company’s technology? I don’t. Most effective Web sites are those showcased by the marketing and designers. These are necessary evils, and my hunch is that Web sites will be losing effectiveness like snail mail, just more quickly. The myth is that Web sites pump money to the bottom-line. Hog wash. Web sites are today’s collateral in most cases. A Web site is a necessary evil.
Fifth, social media. I know that big companies have executives who are in charge of social media. Google lacks this type of manager, but apparently the company is going to hire a “social wrangler” or “social trail boss.” Social media, like any other messaging method, requires work. I know for certain that a one shot social media push may be somewhat more economical and possibly more effective than a news release or two. Social media is real and hard work. The myth that it is a slam dunk is wrong.
So with these myths, what works?
I have to be candid. In the search and content processing markets, technology is not going to close deals. The companies whom I hear are making sells are companies able to solve problems. In a conflicted market with great uncertainty, the marketing methods have to be assembled into a meaningful, consistent series of tactics. But tactics are not enough. The basics of defining a problem, targeting specific prospects, and creating awareness are the keys to success.
I wish I could identify some short cuts. I think consistency and professionalism have to be incorporated into on going activities. One shot, one kill may have worked for Buffalo Bill. I am not so sure the idea transfers to closing search deals.
Stephen E Arnold, May 12, 2010
A freebie.
Walls: Their In and Out Functions
May 8, 2010
In college, one of my courses featured lectures by a fellow named Smythe, Daniel Smythe, I believe. He was a Robert Frost scholar and had spent time with the poet doing odd jobs. I was never sure whether he cleaned the pasture spring or shoveled out the barn. I do recall having to read and discuss a poem about a stone wall that kept falling over or was shoved out of the way by my neighbors who wanted to shoot small animals with their weapons in the adjoining field.
After 40 years I recall
Something there is that doesn’t love a wall,
That sends the frozen-ground-swell under it,
And spills the upper boulders in the sun,
And makes gaps even two can pass abreast.
My thought as an addled goose was, “Apple, the New York Times, and Rupert Murdoch are obsessed with walls. Pay walls, registration walls, and walled gardens are among the types about which I hear much chatter.
After some dancing around in synonym and metaphor weeds, the Bobster[my name for Mr. Frost] concludes:
“Good fences make good neighbors.”
I think T shirts with this slogan will be distributed by Apple, the New York Times and Rupert Murdoch. I definitely will want one. (Do you think the T shirts will have a footnote pointing to the Bobster’s support of the wall thing?)
I read the UK Telegraph article “Adobe: Apple Wants to Turn the Web into a Walled Garden.” For me the hot passage was:
[Kevin Lynch, Adobe CTO] went [on] to say: “We’re facing a time where there are some who want to wall off parts of the web and need to have approval. I don’t think that’s the role of a company. Apple is playing this strategy where they want to create a walled garden.” Lynch compared Apple’s decision to put up technological barriers to railroads in the 1800’s. “It’s like railroads in the 1800?s. People were using different gauged rails. Your cars would literally not run on those rails. That’s counter to the web. The ‘rails’ now are companies forcing people to write for a particular OS, which has a high cost to switch. We need people to compete on the merits of the things they do, not on the gauge of the rails.”
The old addled goose is tired from inputs from 20 somethings, one of whom regaled me with enough baloney to keep a Chicago school lunch room in sandwiches for a decade. Let’s think about this wall angle.
First, walls mean control. Prisons mostly rely on walls. What happens in prison can be pretty exciting. I have watched a couple of the prison reality shows with titles along the line “Prison Tattoos for You” and “Street Gangs and MBAs: A New Male Bonding Opportunity.”
Walls are good if you own the prison, control the toll road, or have enough lawyers to frighten a Las Vegas street gang with a fondness for spray paint. For those who don’t own walls or have “wall power”, walls can be annoying.
There can be bad stuff behind walls. Examples range from control of the TV set, the color of the prisoners uniform (an Arizona sheriff allegedly likes pink overalls), and a chance to make friends with the delivery people. That is really good friends with the delivery people. Walls, therefore, don’t mean safe, clean, crime free, or fair. Walls mean an attempt at control. Other operative terms include lock in, lock down, lock up, and the hole. The “hole” is a bit like being at Google and not having any access to MOMA I have heard.
The interest in walls is one more step toward the Middle Ages of Information. I would not be surprised that in order to protect revenue, content, or jobs executives adopt some new clothing styles. I was thinking armour, tasers, and iPads would complete the outfit. Togas could be used to keep these goodies out of sight but close at hand.
Will the Middle Ages of Information override the Wild West along the Internet superhighway? Some folks are going to try.
Control and money are tasty chunks of kibble in my opinion. Search is easier too. Put a wall around your world and you have a shot at knowing who enters, what is there, and who does what. Oh, power. I forgot power. Did I mention money? Oh, money. And don’t forget the hendecasyllabic verse. The Bobster was into rhyme, not crime. Fences. Ambivalent maybe?
Stephen E Arnold, May 8, 2010
A freebie.
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