Recommind Inserts Itself into Email Management
May 12, 2011
“IntApp and Recomind: A Quick & Easy Path to Industry Leading Email Management,” proclaims American Banking & Market News.
IntApp, provider of application integration software for law firms, has partnered with eDiscovery maven Recommind to develop law-specific email management templates:
“Working hand-in-hand with firms, Recommind and IntApp have developed pre-built templates to integrate [Recommind’s] Decisiv Email Management into an existing portfolio of systems and processes. The same level of automation that end users enjoy within Decisiv Email Management is also experienced by IT organizations through Integration Builder. With the help of Integration Builder rule templates, Decisiv Email Management can be quickly and seamlessly integrated into existing processes such as new business intake, user provisioning, and confidentiality management.”
Compared to custom software, such templates allow clients to implement solutions quickly and with less expense. They also provide integration between diverse management programs which may not play well together unsupervised.
Recommind, like other search vendors, is probing different markets from eDiscovery to enterprise search to email management. We think they are wise to distribute their eggs between multiple baskets.
Cynthia Murrell May 12, 2011
Is the Microsoft Internet Business Flailing in the Information Flood?
May 12, 2011
Microsoft took a long shot. The company bet $8.5 billion that Skype, a voice over Internet protocol leader, that Microsoft will be a big player in the next generation Web.
As appears to always be the case, numbers don’t lie but executives do. Microsoft’s online services division claimed growth in an earnings release recently but… as explained in Microsoft’s Internet Business Continues to Hemorrhage ,”Microsoft lost $726 million in the Online Services Division for the quarter. It was actually their worst quarter in two years in that regard. And it was their second worst ever, as Business Insider points out in their nifty chart perfect for showing such bloodbaths. And despite the year over year revenue growth, the income was actually down year over year. As in, they managed to lose more money despite bringing in more… And how’s this for a kick in the pants: if Microsoft had just scrapped their Online Services Division for the quarter, they likely would have beaten Apple in terms of profits once again. Instead, they’re over $700 million behind — behind, mind you, for the first time in a couple decades.
Of course, Microsoft can’t afford to scrap the Online Services Division (well, figuratively afford it, at least). Like every technology company, they know this is the key to the future. And that’s precisely why they’re dumping so much money into it.”
It isn’t all bad for Microsoft, though, as their Windows and Office businesses appear to be holding their own. But for how long? The competition is stiff and if Microsoft doesn’t make some changes, it won’t be pretty. Our expert Michael Onghai believes Microsoft is a value stock but it remains to be seen if there’s any saving grace outside of Office and any other bright spot they might claim. Have the glory day of MSFT passed ? It remains to be seen. And what about search? This core function seems to have slipped low in the priorities stack. What’s $1.2 billion for Fast Search & Transfer when compared to $8.5 billion for Skype?
Alice Wasielewski, May 12, 2011
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Protected: A Custom Web Part How To for SharePoint
May 12, 2011
Google and Search
May 11, 2011
Over the last five days, I have been immersed in conversations about Google and its public Web search system. I am not able to disclose the people with whom I have spoken. However, I want to isolate the issues that surfaced and offer some observations about the role of traditional Web sites. I want to capture the thoughts that surfaced after I thought about what I learned in my face to face and telephone conversations. In fact, one of the participants in this conversation directed my attention to this post, “Google Panda=Disaster.” I don’t think the problem is Panda. I think a more fundamental change has taken place and Google’s methods are just out of sync with the post shift environment. But hope is not lost. At the end of this write up, I provide a way for you to learn about a different approach. Sales pitch? Sure but a gentle one.
Relevance versus Selling Advertising
The main thrust of the conversations was that Google’s Web search is degrading. I have not experienced this problem, but the three groups with whom I spoke have. Each had different data to show that Google’s method of handling their publicly accessible Web site has changed.
First, one vendor reported that traffic to the firm’s Web site had dropped from 2,000 uniques per month to 100. The Web site is informational. There is a widget that displays headlines from the firm’s Web log. The code is clean and the site is not complex.
Second, another vendor reported that content from the firm’s news page was appearing on competitors’ Web sites. More troubling, the content was appearing high in a Google results list. However, the creator of the content found that the stories from the originating Web site were buried deep in the Google results list. The point is that others were recycling original content and receiving a higher ranking than the source of the original content.
Traditional Web advertising depicted brilliantly by Ken Rockwell. See his work at http://www.kenrockwell.com/canon/compacts/sd880/gallery-10.htm
Third, the third company found that its core business was no longer appearing in a Google results list for a query about the type of service the firm offered. However, the company was turning up in an unrelated or, at best, secondary results list.
I had no answer to the question each firm asked me, “What’s going on?”
Through various contacts, I pieced together a picture that suggests Google itself may not know what is happening. One source indicated that the core search team responsible for the PageRank output is doing its work much as it has for the last 12 years. Googlers responsible for selling advertising were not sure what changes were going on in the core search team’s algorithm tweaks. Not surprisingly, most people are scrutinizing search results, fiddling with metatags and other aspects of a Web site, and then checking to see what happened. The approach is time consuming and, in my opinion, very much like the person who plugs a token into a slot machine and hits the jack pot. There is great excitement at the payoff, but the process is not likely to work on the next go round.
Net net: I think there is a communications filter (intentional or unintentional) between the group at Google working to improve relevance and the sales professionals at Google who need to sell advertising. On one hand, this is probably healthy because many organizations put a wall between certain company functions. On the other hand, if Adwords and Adsense are linked to traffic and that traffic is highly variable, some advertisers may look to other alternatives. Facebook’s alleged 30 percent share of the banner advertising market may grow if the efficacy of Google’s advertising programs drops.
ZyLAB Audio Search
May 11, 2011
It’s like semantic search for audio files: Allvoipnews announces “ZyLAB Launches Audil Search Bundle.” The eDiscovery company’s product allows you to search your enterprise’s audio using speech analytics:
Company officials said that the desktop software product transforms audio recordings into a phonetic representation of the way in which words are pronounced. The investigators are able to search for dictionary terms, however also proper names, company names, or brands without the need to ‘re-ingest’ the data.
Kudos to ZyLAB. With this project, the company is pushing ahead of Microsoft Fast and Google. That’s no small feat. However, Exalead has offered audio and video search for several years.
Cynthia Murrell May 11, 2011
Find Images with GazoPa
May 11, 2011
I recently was introduced to GazoPa, an interesting new Web site and venture project from Hitachi, the inspire the next company. (I think I know what that means.) GazoPa is self-described as:
a next generation similar image search engine that uses image features such as a color and a shape that are extracted from an image.
The photo bank is populated by the continuously crawling GazoPabot and at its completion will provide categories like sports, funny, and Flickr.
The site is uncluttered, so it wasn’t difficult to start poking around the features. It allows you to upload an image, enter an image URL or a keyword to find a similar image. Pretty simple. It even provides the tools to draw an image, paintbrush style, and use that as the baseline for a picture hunt.
My preliminary queries reaped entertaining results, which seems to be part of the sites M.O. considering the inclusion of its playful “shuffle” feature. I tested a sample image provided, scribbled my own and pitched up a keyword. Some of the returned images were pretty close, others I have no idea how they were tossed into the mix. Upon further investigation, the site’s FAQ details that their algorithm is improving with time and they are in the beta phase. So the quirkiness is to be expected, at least for a while.
Will this change the internet as we know it? Doubtfully, but it is cool way to leverage information in another format, and by someone other than Google and Microsoft.
Sarah Rogers, May 11, 2011
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Keep on Top of Microsoft Knowledge Base Updates
May 11, 2011
We are always on the look out for useful SharePoint resources. At a small gathering of corporate clients I attended last month, more than 80 percent were heading for SharePoint 2010 at various speeds. Not a scientific study, but it concurs with anecdotal evidence we have seen recently. At that meeting a colleague at Search Technologies mentioned a new service that provides hourly updates to Microsoft FAQs (frequently asked questions). I took a look at Microsoft Knowledge Base Articles, a site not affiliated with Microsoft.
A cursory review of the site suggests that it would have considerable value if the service kept pace with Microsoft’s own knowledge base publication flow. Microsoft FAQs are called knowledge base articles, and these appear at irregular intervals. There may be few KBs provided and then a number of them become available.
According to the independent site:
The purpose of this site is to inform you about the latest information of the Microsoft Knowledge Base articles. Every day Microsoft releases new KB articles. This site checks Microsoft’s information 24 times a day. This means that the Microsoft Knowledge Base information provided here is up to date.”
One quick example: the story “Description of the SharePoint Foundation 2010 Cumulative Update Package” from April 28, 2011, described the hot fixes available in that update and tips for implementing them. On May 5, 2011, I found “TFS Test Manager – Run Test Error: 403: Forbidden,” which explains the reasons for, and resolution of, that particular error.
Many, many more examples are available for your perusal. Check it out— keeping up with this site could save a lot of frustration.
At www.searchtechnologies.com, we focus on search-related implementation services, especially for SharePoint. We have delivered more than 25,000 consultant days of Fast Search-related services in the last four years along. We are currently helping more than a dozen organizations take a search-led approach to upgrading to SharePoint 2010.
Iain Fletcher, May 11, 2011
Yahoo Acting Fast. Another Broadcast.com?
May 11, 2011
Yahoo is at it again. Reminiscent of its 1999 $5-billion purchase of Broadcast.com, the Web site is acquiring IntoNow for reportedly $13 million. This deal is different. Yahoo is spending less. On the other hand, IntoNow is a newly hatched operation.
According to Forbes’ “Yahoo Acquires IntoNow For TV Check-ins,” IntoNow’s mobile software “makes it easier for people to let their friends know what TV shows they’re watching.” BusinessWeek’s “Yahoo acquisition adds way to share TV show info,” points out that the IntoNow technology also “lets viewers identify their favorite TV commercials, a feature that might open up ways for Yahoo to sell more ads in its online videos.”
While Yahoo is looking to combine rich media with the power of social media, the company doesn’t have a great track record with video acquisitions. Financial analyst Michael Onghai warns that while “Yahoo had a great instinct for the value of video, the problem was timing in 1999 and the problem in 2011 may be timing. Yahoo has to demonstrate that it can buy a property and generate significant revenue.” Mr. Onghai is active in a promising operation, www.thinkweb3.com.
Yahoo seems to be moving in interesting ways. Search does not seem to be a priority. Hopefully these will pay off for Yahoo’s stakeholders.
Rita Safranek, May 11, 2011
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Tracking: Does It Matter?
May 11, 2011
A news story broke this week that was more difficult for many to ignore; it seems our beloved iPhones and iPads are paying us the same attention we lavish on them. It turns out these Apple devices keep an internal log of every cell tower or hot spot they connect to, in essence creating a map of the user’s movements for as long as ten months. It gets better. The log file is highly visible and unencrypted, making it accessible to anyone with your device in their hands.
Getting the scent. Source: http://www2.journalnow.com/news/2011/feb/07/wsweat01-beagle-found-in-a-jiffy-by-tracking-dogs-ar-760887/
This news stems from a couple of British programmers who stumbled upon said “secret” location file. In the midst of the melee that ensued from outraged consumers and lawmakers alike, I was directed to a Bloomberg article titled “Researcher: iPhone Location Data Already Used By Cops”.
Interestingly enough, a rendition of this same story has been covered by the press months ago, only featured in a different light courtesy of an individual studying forensic computing. Per the write-up: “In a post on his blog, he explains that the existence of the location database—which tracks the cell phone towers your phone has connected to—has been public in security circles for some time.
While it’s not widely known, that’s not the same as not being known at all. In fact, he has written and presented several papers on the subject and even contributed a chapter on the location data in a book that covers forensic analysis of the iPhone.”
Google I/O Toggled Off
May 11, 2011
How much does it cost to kill the Google media buzz? Give up? With its alleged $8.5 billion purchase of Skype, that’s the price. According to “Microsoft Buys Skype for $8.5 Billion; Creates New Business Division,”
In its press release announcing the deal, Microsoft played up the potential synergies between Skype and its own communications offerings.
The operative word is “press release.” When the news hit, the toggle for Google I/O, the super cool conference, was flipped to “off.” Various aggregation services put the Skype story at the top of the pile, pushing the Google I/O news down, down, down. With the buy and the precisely timed news release, the Google looked off balance and out of focus.
Will Microsoft turn the Skype deal to big money? Probably not. Will Google recover from the PR drubbing administered with surgical precision? Sure. But for now, Microsoft looked a bit like its old self with one key difference: Giving Google a PR lesson cost a lot of money.
What about the other news, other conferences, and other dust ups in the Webby world? Nuked, gentle reader. When the provenance indifferent Internet grabs a big money story, an information weaponization sends out shock waves.
And what about the Skype voice thing? I think killing Google I/O may be the story.
Stephen E Arnold, May 11, 2011
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