Sci-Tech Queries Versus Google Queries
May 8, 2017
I saw a reference to an academic paper. Its title is “Academic Search in Response to Major Scientific Events.” The main point is that Web searchers, based on Google Trend data, are “bursty” and demonstrate “surging interests.” The sci-tech crowd like college professors in search of tenure use a “gradually growing search pattern.”
My thought when I read the write up was that more than half of Google’s online traffic comes from mobile devices; for example, “Where can I buy a pizza?”-type queries. The academics, based on the information in the write up, paw through journal literature using more traditional methods. I have used the phrase “boat anchor” computers to characterize “real” academic research.
The write up does not address mobile queries, which seems to me to be important. I am fuzzy on how Google hooks mobile queries delivered via voice, apps, and icons on a pixel with its Google Trend data. And about that Google Trend data. Is it accurate as Google works overtime to distribute ads in more places as users’ displays on mobile devices are small compared to the boat anchor gizmos.
The other point I hoped would be addressed is the role of personalization in Google queries. In this week’s HonkinNews, we give the example of searching for “filters.” Google’s smart and invasive system delivered Bloom filters, not water filters. We wanted information about water filters. Helpful.
My thought is more focused data collection is necessary by the researchers. Three word queries. Hasn’t that been the norm for a while?
Stephen E Arnold, May 8, 2017
US Still Most Profitable for Alphabet
May 8, 2017
Alphabet, Inc., the parent company of Google generates maximum revenue from the US market. Europe Middle East and Africa combined come at second and Asia Pacific occupying the third slot.
Recode in its earnings report titled Here’s Where Alphabet Makes Its Money says:
U.S. revenue increased 25 percent from last year to $11.8 billion. Sales from the Asia-Pacific region rose 29 percent to $3.6 billion. Revenue from Europe, the Middle East, and Africa was up 13 percent to $8.1 billion.
Despite the fact that around 61% of world population is in Asia Pacific region, Google garnering most of the revenues from a mere 322 million people is surprising. It can be attributed to the fact that China, which forms the bulk of Asia’s population does not have access to Google or its services. India, another emerging market though is open, is yet to embrace digital economy fully.
While chances of Chinese market opening up for Google are slim, India seems to be high on the radar of not only Google but also for other tech majors like Apple, Amazon, Microsoft and Facebook.
Vishol Ingole, May 8, 2017
Salesforce Einstein and Enterprise AI
May 5, 2017
One customer-relationship-management (CRM) firm is determined to leverage the power of natural language processing within its clients’ organizations. VentureBeat examines “What Salesforce Einstein Teaches Us About Enterprise AI.” The company positions its AI tool as a layer within its “Clouds” that brings the AI magic to CRM. They vow that the some-odd 150,000 existing Salesforce customers can deploy Einstein quickly and easily.
Salesforce has invested much in the project, having snapped up RelatelQ for $390 million, BeyondCore for $110 million, Predicition IO for $58 million, and MetaMind for an undisclosed sum. Competition is fierce in this area, but the company is very pleased with the results so far. Writer Mariya Yao cites Salesforce chief scientist Richard Socher as she examines:
The Salesforce AI Research team is innovating on a ‘joint many-task’ learning approach that leverages transfer learning, where a neural network applies knowledge of one domain to other domains. In theory, understanding linguistic morphology should also accelerate understanding of semantics and syntax.
In practice, Socher and his deep learning research team have been able to achieve state-of-the-art results on academic benchmark tests for main entity recognition (identifying key objects, locations, and persons) and semantic similarity (identifying words and phrases that are synonyms). Their approach can solve five NLP tasks — chunking, dependency parsing, semantic relatedness, textual entailment, and part of speech tagging — and also builds in a character model to handle incomplete, misspelled, or unknown words.
Socher believes that AI researchers will achieve transfer learning capabilities in more comprehensive ways in 2017 and that speech recognition will be embedded in many more aspects of our lives. ‘Right now, consumers are used to asking Siri about the weather tomorrow, but we want to enable people to ask natural questions about their own unique data.’
That would indeed be helpful. The article goes on to discuss the potentials for NLP in the enterprise and emphasizes the great challenge of implementing solutions into a company’s workflow. See the article for more discussion. Based in San Francisco, Salesforce was launched in 1999 by a former Oracle executive.
Cynthia Murrell, May 5, 2017
Facebook Excitement: The Digital Country and Kids
May 4, 2017
I read “Facebook Admits Oversight after Leak Reveals Internal Research On Vulnerable Children.” The write up reports that an Australian newspaper:
reported that Facebook executives in Australia used algorithms to collect data on more than six million young people in Australia and New Zealand, “indicating moments when young people need a confidence boost.”
The idea one or more Facebook professionals had strikes me as one with potential. If an online service can identify a person’s moment of weakness, that online service could deliver content designed to leverage that insight. The article said:
The data analysis — marked “Confidential: Internal Only” — was intended to reveal when young people feel “worthless” or “insecure,” thus creating a potential opening for specific marketing messages, according to The Australian. The newspaper said this case of data mining could violate Australia’s legal standards for advertising and marketing to children.
Not surprisingly, the “real” journalism said:
“Facebook has an established process to review the research we perform,” the statement continued. “This research did not follow that process, and we are reviewing the details to correct the oversight.”
When Facebook seemed to be filtering advertising based on race, Facebook said:
“Discriminatory advertising has no place on Facebook.”
My reaction is to this revelation is, “What? This type of content shaping is news?”
My hunch is that some folks forget that when advertisers suggest one has a lousy complexion, particularly a disfiguring rash, the entire point is to dig at insecurities. When I buy the book Flow for a friend, I suddenly get lots of psycho-babble recommendations from Amazon.
Facebook, like any other sales oriented and ad hungry outfit, is going to push as many psychological buttons as possible to generate revenue. I have a hypothesis that the dependence some people have on Facebook “success” is part of the online business model.
What’s the fix?
“Fix” is a good word. The answer is, “More social dependence.”
In my experience, drug dealers do not do intervention. The customer keeps coming back until he or she doesn’t.
Enforcement seems to be a hit-and-miss solutions. Intervention makes some Hollywood types oodles of money in reality programming. Social welfare programs slump into bureaucratic floundering.
Could it be that online dependence is a cultural phenomenon. Facebook is in the right place at the right time. Technology makes it easy to refine messages for maximum financial value.
Interesting challenge, and the thrashing about for a “fix” will be fascinating to watch. Perhaps the events will be live streamed on Facebook? That may provide a boost in confidence to Facebook users and to advertisers. Win win.
Stephen E Arnold, May 4, 2017
Microsoft Offers Android Users a (Weak) Bing Incentive
May 4, 2017
It looks like Microsoft has stooped to buying traffic for Bing; that cannot bode well. OnMSFT reports, “Set Bing as Your Search Engine on iPhone or Android, Get a Microsoft Rewards $5 Gift Card.” Paradoxically, they don’t seem terribly anxious to spread the word. Reporter Kareem Anderson writes:
Sleuthers over in the Reddit forums have dug up a neat little nugget of savings for iPhone and Android users. According to a thread at the Xbox One subreddit, iPhone and Android users who set their default search engine to Bing can receive a Microsoft Rewards $5 gift card. The details were originally pulled from a Microsoft site instructing users on how to make the change from Google to Bing on smartphone devices. We should note that the redemption process hasn’t been without its issues as several Android users have mentioned that it has not worked or appears delayed in confirming the release of gift cards.
So, they’ve created an incentive, but are not promoting it or, apparently, fulfilling it effectively—talk about mixed messages! Still, if you use an Android device and are inclined toward Bing, but haven’t yet set it as your default browser, you may be able to profit a little by doing so. Anderson shares a link to the Microsoft Rewards page for our convenience.
Cynthia Murrell, May 4, 2017
Google Science Club: The Montgolfiere May Rise
May 3, 2017
The French have some nifty words for balloons. There is the mundane ballon. I much prefer dirigible. But the gem is gonfler or “to inflate.” This wonderful word has a number of variants; for example, se gonfler (to inflate oneself) and gonflage (inflating). I am buoyed by vocabulary.
These words floated through my mind when I read “Sergey Brin’s Secret Zeppelin.” The main idea is that Mr. Brin may be pumping up a big floating balloon. I noted this passage:
Dirigibles became a go-to metaphor for futurism, occupying a space in the popular imagination that would eventually make way for flying cars, jet packs, space elevators, and driverless vehicles. In the late 19th century, zeppelins appeared in newspaper headlines and artists’ renderings of the future like dreamy industrial clouds.
Steam punk? Hot air punk? An aerial sprite?
I also highlighted this altocumulitic passage:
Which brings us back to Brin and his secret zeppelin, apparently taking form somewhere in the shade of a massive hangar under the California sky. The mystery of Brin’s motivations only highlights the parallel to the golden era of dirigibles, when the intrepidity of the aeronaut was seen as equal parts heroic and insane. Their balloons may have been mere scientific toys. Perhaps that’s all Brin is after. Either way, the promise of what the airship might have become has kept generations of great minds transfixed by the skies.
If the Googler floats a dirigible, I wonder if an idea emerging from a bistro on La rue des Écoles would trail this banner, “Une idée se gonfle.” Does this mean AdWords?
Oh, how is that solving death work coming along?
Rising above the clouds?
Stephen E Arnold, May 3, 2017
Forrester Research Loses Ground with Customer Management Emphasis
May 3, 2017
Yikes, the Wave people may be swamped by red ink. The investor-targeted news site Seeking Alpha asks, “Forrester Research: Is Irony Profitable?” Posted by hedge fund manager Terrier Investing, the article observes that Forrester has been moving away from studies on business technology and toward customer-management research. The write-up reports:
The definition of irony, for $500 please? Forrester’s customers… don’t like what they’re selling. This is unfortunate, because as I explain in my Gartner write-up, selling technology research is actually a great business model in general – the value proposition to clients is strong […] and the recurring annual contracts with strong cash flow characteristics make it a hard business to kill even if you really try. To wit, while Forrester’s revenue growth and margins haven’t been anywhere near their targets for quite some time, the business hasn’t imploded and still throws off strong cash flow despite sales force issues and the ongoing product transition.
Perhaps that strong cash flow will ease the way as Forrester either pivots back toward business technology or convinces their customers to want what they’re now selling. The venerable research firm was founded back in 1983 and is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Cynthia Murrell, May 3, 2017
Voice Recognition Software Has Huge Market Reach
May 3, 2017
Voice recognition software still feels like a futuristic technology, despite its prevalence in our everyday lives. WhaTech explains how far voice recognition technology has imbedded itself into our habits in, “Listening To The Voice Recognition Market.”
The biggest example of speech recognition technology is an automated phone system. Automated phone systems are used all over the board, especially in banks, retail chains, restaurants, and office phone directories. People usually despise automated phone systems, because they cannot understand responses and tend to put people on hold for extended periods of time.
Despite how much we hate automated phone systems, they are useful and they have gotten better in understanding human speech and the industry applications are endless:
The Global Voice Recognition Systems Sales Market 2017report by Big Market Research is a comprehensive study of the global voice recognition market. It covers both current and future prospect scenarios, revealing the market’s expected growth rate based on historical data. For products, the report reveals the market’s sales volume, revenue, product price, market share and growth rate, each of which is segmented by artificial intelligence systems and non-artificial intelligence systems. For end-user applications, the report reveals the status for major applications, sales volume, market share and growth rate for each application, with common applications including healthcare, military and aerospace, communications, and automotive.”
Key players in the voice recognition software field are Validsoft, Sensory, Biotrust ID, Voicevault, Voicebox Technologies, Lumenvox, M2SYS, Advanced Voice Recognition Systems, and Mmodal. These companies would benefit from using Bitext’s linguistic-based analytics platform to enhance their technology’s language learning skills.
Whitney Grace, May 3, 2017
HonkinNews for 2 May 2017 Now Available
May 2, 2017
The HonkinNews show for 2 May 2017 features the Buzzfeed Palantir beatdown. Our intrepid researcher reveals that some Silicon Valley CEOs give talks in order to motivate employees or move the herd in a specific direction. Buzzfeed, however, sees a 2016 Palantir video as another example of Palantir Technologies’ inability to go steady with US government spy agencies. Marissa Mayer caught out attention this week. She will be leaving the Yahoo organization when the savvy Verizon outfit gobbles up an Internet dowager. But don’t feel too bad. The existing Yahooligan will be dragging a bag filled with $187 million.Yahoot! CIO Review’s remarkable analysis of “analytical engines” caught our attention. Not only were the recommendations a bit unusual, but CIO Review recommended a product no longer sold. Yep, that’s analysis analyzing analytical engines at its best. Google is working hard to ferret out hate speech and fake news. Forbes’ Magazine raises a question few wish to consider; specically, are Google’s search results declining in quality. Beyond Search is of the opinion that the more important question is, “Were Google’s search any good when compared with commercial online services’ systems?” Spoiler: Nope. Go with the commercial online databases. Editorial policy is useful in our opinion. You can view the video at this link.
Kenny Toth, May 2, 2017
Revealing the Google Relevance Sins
May 2, 2017
I was surprised to read “Google’s Project Owl”. Talk about unintended consequences. An SEO centric publication reported that Google was going to get on the stick and smite fake news and “problematic content.” (I am not sure what “problematic content” is because I think a person’s point of view influences this determination.”
The write up states in real journalistic rhetoric:
Project Owl is Google’s internal name for its endeavor to fight back on problematic searches. The owl name was picked for no specific reason, Google said. However, the idea of an owl as a symbol for wisdom is appropriate. Google’s effort seeks to bring some wisdom back into areas where it is sorely needed.
Right, wisdom. From a vendor of content wrapped in pay to play advertising and “black box” algorithms which mysteriously have magical powers on sites like Foundem and the poor folks who were trying to make French tax forms findable.
My view of the initiative and the real journalistic write up is typical of what folks in Harrod’s Creek think about Left Coast types:
- The write up underscores the fact that Google’s quality function, which I wrote about in my three Google monographs, does not work. What determines the clever PageRank method? Well, a clever way to determine a signal of quality. Heh heh. Doesn’t work.
- Google is now on the hook to figure out what content is problematic and then find a way to remove that content from the Google indexes. Yep, not one index, but dozens. Google Local (crooked shops, anyone), YouTube (the oodles of porn which is easily findable by an enterprising 12 year old using the Yandex video search function), news (why are there no ads on Google News? Hmmm.), and other fave services from the GOOG.
- Relevance is essentially non existent for most queries. I like the idea of using “authoritative sources” for obscure queries. Yep, those Lady Gaga hits keep on rocking when a person searches for animal abuse and meat dresses.
Let me boil this down.
If a person relies on a free, ad supported Web search system for information, you may be getting a jolt from which your gray matter will not recover.
What’s the fix? I know the write up champions search engine optimization and explaining how to erode relevance for a user’s online query. But I am old fashioned. Multiple sources, interviews, reading of primary sources, and analytical thinking.
Hey, boring. Precision and recall are sure less fun than relaxing queries to amp up the irrelevance output.
Tough.
Stephen E Arnold, May 2, 2017
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