Viewzi: Visual Results with Display Options
April 14, 2009
There’s a new way to see search results, as presented by search engine Viewzi at http://www.viewzi.com. Instead of getting long white pages of links ala Google, you can choose from a variety of graphic displays for your search results. I searched Karl Urban, an actor in the new Star Trek movie. In Viewzi, I chose the web screenshot display. The links returned as actual screenshots from imdb.com and Wikipedia as well as media and fan sites. I don’t have to actually click to that page to see what it looks like – I saw it right there.
Frankly, it’s cool to look at and not as hard on the eyes as the links list. Now, it took me more time to look through the links, but I sure enjoyed it as I went. There are other result sets (eighteen total), for example, there’s an Amazon books view. For my actor, it returned Karl Imhoff’s Handbook of Urban Drainage and Wastewater Disposal. Useful and relevant? Not at all. Pretty darn cool? Yes. It can also set up results grouped into music, video and photos as well as topics including news, weather, shopping, and gadgets.
If you’re in a hurry for quick links to exact information, Viewzi may not be for you (although it does have a links list view). But if you’re just browsing or doing research, you may want to give the site a shot.
Jessica Bratcher, April 14, 2009
VideoSurf
April 4, 2009
VideoSurf, http://www.videosurf.com, offers a Firefox extension called VideoSurf Videos at a Glance to work with Firefox’s Ubiquity (an extension that allows for the use of dynamic commands in Firefox). Once integrated, it’s supposed to allow you to instantly use VideoSurf without leaving the page by accessing a pop-up search window. You’ll get VideoSurf capabilities like clip lists, video information, skipping within a video or clicking on a character to find other appearances. The extension information page is at https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/10218. I downloaded Ubiquity from https://wiki.mozilla.org/Labs/Ubiquity and installed it. I followed the directions VideoSurf provided, used the Ubiquity hotkey (“option-space”) and typed “videos [your query]”, but I didn’t get the window of video clips. I just got three links in the search box. I checked some of the documentation, but I didn’t find any details. Anyone have some insight or tips? By all appearances, this could be a really useful tool.
Jessica W. Bratcher, April 4, 2009
Digital Video Delivery Cost
April 2, 2009
Short honk: ZDNet Blogs ran a short item called “$400 Mln Spent on Delivering Video via CDNs in 2008” here. Note: the link to the story is longer than the news item. So, $400 million spent hosing digital video. Question: who pays for this stuff? Not me. I prefer text which allows me to acquire information quickly, not at a fixed speed in linear streams. Will Google continue to subsidize YouTube.com? Stakeholders may want some of that money returned as dividends or invested in services that return a profit. Just my opinion and I am not a video person.
Stephen Arnold, April 2, 2009
Yidio Update
March 29, 2009
Quite a few readers have shown interest in Yidio, the video search system I wrote about here. A reader sent me a link to this interesting post on Quantcast. The site has shown strong traffic growth in the first two months of 2009. You can view the data here. What’s interesting is that the viewers of Yidio don’t favor YouTube.com, if the Quantcast data are accurate. Frankly I had not heard of most of the sites in the “Audience Also Visits” listing; for example, tvduck.com, although the name appeals greatly to this addled goose. TVDuck seemed to be quite YouTube.com centric which begged the question, “How dependent on YouTube.com are these services.
A happy quack to the reader who pointed out that I did not mention that a videographer can make money by posting the content to Yidio. The procedure requires that the videographer provide his / her AdSense identification code. Click here for details.
Stephen Arnold, March 29, 2009
Library of Congress Makes Citizens as Fish Splash
March 28, 2009
For me, the Library of Congress is more of a museum than a research facility. Even Google looks like a limping dog when compared to the zippy content flashing across the Twitter spam machine. The Library of Congress, according to TechWhack here, is going to put some of its info on YouTube.com and Apple iTunes. Okay. But the best part of the TechWhack write up was this statement, a true classic in my opinion:
Matt Raymond, the library’s director of communications spoke about the new developments: “Our broad strategy is to ‘fish where the fish are,’ and to use the sites that give our content added value — in the case of iTunes, ubiquity, portability, etc.”.
I do like that citizens, users, customers, whatever as “fish”. Good stuff.
Stephen Arnold, March 28, 2009
Yidio: Video Search
March 6, 2009
A happy quack to the reader who alerted me to Yidio, a video search system that indexes 200 million videos. The search system is powered by Truveo. Here’s what Yidio said about itself:
Yidio is owned and operated by 2ten Media LLC, based in San Diego, California which also owns Sportsnipe.com, a sports news aggregator that combines sports news from thousands of sources around the world. It is 2ten Media’s mission to provide an Internet experience to users that is not only simple and efficient, but employs the highest technology available while adding value to every user. We are constantly expanding our Internet properties, so be on the look out for good thing’s in the near future from 2ten Media.
Here’s what Truveo said about itself:
Today, Truveo is one of the largest video search engines on the Web. Truveo is the search engine that powers many of the Web’s most popular video destinations. Truveo currently powers video search for AOL, Microsoft Corporation, CNET’s Search.com, Brightcove, Qwest, Kosmix, CSTV, Infospace, Excite, and hundreds of other applications worldwide. Across the network of websites it powers, Truveo reaches an audience of over 40 million users every month. The Truveo video search engine is widely recognized as being the most comprehensive and up-to-date video search service on the Web.
I am not a video consumer. If you can help me understand these two services, let me know. I am also trying to map these services to Blinkx, which bills itself as a big video search system. And YouTube.com? Check out Yidio.
Stephen Arnold, March 6, 2009
Mysteries of Online 7: Errors, Quality, and Provenance
February 19, 2009
This installment of “Mysteries of Online” tackles a boring subject that means little or nothing to the entitlement generation. I have recycled information from one of my talks in 1998, but some of the ideas may be relevant today. First, let’s define the terms:
- Errors–Something does not work. Information may be wildly inaccurate but the user may not perceive this problem. An error is a browser that crashes, a page that doesn’t render, a Flash that fails. This notion of an error is very important in decision making. A Web site that delivers erroneous information may be perceived as “right” or “good enough”. Pretty exciting consequences result from this notion of an “error” in my experience.
- Quality–Content displayed on a Web page is consistent. The regularity of the presentation of information, the handling of company names in a standard way, and the tidy rows and columns with appropriate values becomes “quality” output in an online experience. The notion of errors and quality combine to create a belief among some that if the data come from the computer, then those data are right, accurate, reliable.
- Provenance–This is the notion of knowing from where an item came. In the electronic world, I find it difficult to figure out where information originates. The Washington Post reprints a TechCrunch article from a writer who has some nerve ganglia embedded in the companies about which she writes. Is this provenance enough or do we need the equivalent of a PhD from Oxford University and a peer reviewed document. In my experience, few users of online information know or know how to think about the provenance of the information on a Web page or in a search results list. Pay for placement adds spice to provenance in my opinion.
So What?
A gap exists between individuals who want to know whether information is accurate and can be substantiated from multiple sources and those who take what’s on offer. Consider this Web log post. If someone reads it, will that individual poke around to find out about my background, my published work, and what my history is. In my experience, I see a number of comments that say, “Who do you think you are? You are not qualified to comment on X or Y.” I may be an addled goose, but some of the information recycled for this Web log are more accurate than what appears in some high profile publications. A recent example was a journalist’s reporting that Google’s government sales were about $4,000, down from a couple of hundred thousand dollars. The facts were wrong and when I checked back on that story I found that no one pointed out the mistake. A single GB 7007 can hit $250,000 without much effort. It doesn’t take many Google Search Appliance Sales to beat $4,000 a year in revenue from Uncle Sam.
The point is that most users:
- Lack the motivation or expertise to find out if an assertion or a fact is correct or incorrect. Instead of becoming a priority, in my opinion, few people care too much about the dull stuff–chasing facts. Even when I chase facts, I can make an error. I try to correct those I can. What makes me nervous are those individuals who don’t care whether information is on target.
- See research as a core competency. Research is difficult and a thankless task. Many people tell me that they have no time to do research. I received an email from a person asking me how I could post to this Web log every day. Answer: I have help. Most of those assisting me are very good researchers. Individuals with solid research skills do not depend solely upon the Web indexes. When was the last time your colleague did research among sources other than those identified in a Web index.
- Get confused with too many results. Most users look at the first page of search results. Fewer than five percent of online users make use of advanced search functions. Google, based on my research, takes a “good enough” approach to their search results. When Google needs “real” research, the company hires professionals. Why? Good enough is not always good enough. Simplification of search and the finding of information is a habit. Lazy people use Web search because it is easy. Remember: research is difficult.
Google’s Radio Ad Failure
February 15, 2009
If you are interested in Google’s failures, you will want to take a quick look at “BIA/Kelsey Commentary: Fratrik on Google’s Departure from Radio.” The is a “free” consultant write up, so keep that in mind where you read the article here. The write up provides a mini analysis of how Google fumbled the ball and withdrew like Jackie Smith, former Dallas Cowboys’ received, famous for dropping a pass that would have won the big one. Google is a digital Jackie Smith when it comes to radio advertising. The most interesting comment in the write up was:
“Radio operators were never comfortable getting in bed with Google,” he said. “Among other things, the Google model asked for information that broadcasters thought was confidential. It also required the purchase of equipment. I heard the pitch when it was first launched, and I couldn’t see how this would be successful.” Why didn’t Google’s entry into the radio advertising market work out? “The initial read three years ago was somewhat positive – they were going to use their core strengths in Internet scalability and transactional efficiencies to attract buyers and sell inventory that local stations were unable to sell. But, even with their model and their reach to many more potential advertisers, they could not sell enough to make it a profitable business line.”
The notion of “comfort” is important. When Googzilla is not comfortable with its potential customers’ comfort with Googzilla, Googzilla says, “Adios.” Kelsey Group write up points out that some broadcasters are embracing digital ad technologies. That’s encouraging to some but not me.
Here’s why.
Traditional broadcasting companies are in the same boat as dead tree publishers. The demographics and the costs of their business model are like a current rushing down the Green River. If you go with the flow, you get carried along. If you try to paddle against the current, you fail, walk, or dock. Googzilla did not just exist; Googzilla wrote off an entire business sector as unable to “get it.” Trouble looms for traditional broadcasters I fear. The Sirius XM financial challenge is a harbinger. Kelsey Group’s article omitted this nuance which surprised me.
Stephen Arnold, February 15, 2009
Google Panoramio
February 13, 2009
I included a description of Panoramio in my Google briefings for some clients in 2008. No one in those sessions had ever heard of the service. You can check it out by navigating to www.panoramio.com. The company bought the company which had integrated photography with Google Earth. The GOOG plopped most of the Panoramio functionality into the Googleplex (my term for Google’s infrastructure). The Panoramio blog announcement is here. Panoramio has been discovered by news hounds in the datasphere. Search Engine Roundtable learned that Panoramio users can post questionable content via the service. The main story is here. The images may offend some, and we addled geese quickly pecked elsewhere. The goslings snorted and checked out Panoramio more thoroughly. Several of the more geeky goslings noted that stalkers and others of questionable repute might find this service “interesting”. If more info flaps across our field of vision, we will pass the links along.
Stephen Arnold, February 13, 2009
blinkx Has a New Home Page — Stop the Presses
February 6, 2009
Blinkx, http://www.blinkx.com, self-touted as the world’s largest video search engine, released a news alert that it has “re-launched” its home page with a couple “new” options: an inform me button that sends you news (this concept isn’t new) and an entertain me button that sends entertaining videos (that’s not a new idea either). They’re also promoting searching for videos visually (what a concept) and using speech tags in video (it’s been done). If companies like blinkx want to be in the spotlight, somewhat more steroid charged news might calm the Beyond Search goslings.
Jessica W. Bratcher, February 6, 2009
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