You: Just Bake in Search
November 17, 2021
Google has a new rival, a search engine built with developers in mind: You.com. The platform, now in beta, uses AI to summarize information while supplying links. It also promises never to track queries, sell user data, or push targeted advertising. A couple test searches reveal results neatly tailored to the subject. My first two searches produces Wikipedia articles at the top, followed by general Web results, then topic-specific selections (News, Music, Shopping, etc.), a customized “quick facts” section, and more. When I typed in “pecan pie,” it was smart enough to lead with recipes.
Though the page itself does not emphasize the creator’s focus on developers, he discusses it on the Y Combinator post, “You.com, Private Search Engine that Summarizes the Web—Built for Devs.” He announces:
“My name is Richard Socher, and I’m the founder of you.com, the world’s first open search engine platform that summarizes the web for you. We launched our public beta today, and are excited to share it with you. If you’re a developer, we have several ‘search-apps’ such as StackOverflow (with code snippets), W3Schools, MDN, Copilot-like Code Completion, json checkers, and more. All of them geared to help you code faster. Let us know if you have other app ideas for how to make your coding life better. … We wanted to create a search engine that delivers relevant content, not ads or SEO’d pages, and do it in a whole new interface that puts you in control through personalized preferences.”
We learn more from an article at Venture Beat, “AI-Driven Search Engine You.com Takes on Google with $20M.” Writer Kyle Wiggers reveals that substantial funding is led by Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff. His publication asked Socher about his inspiration for the platform:
“As the economy moves online, it’s You.com’s assertion that the internet is becoming more centralized and controlled by a few powerful, ill-meaning tech corporations. … ‘I had the original idea [for You.com] eight and a half years ago,’ Socher told VentureBeat via email. ‘Today, there’s too much information, and no one has time to read it, process it, or know what to trust. [A] single gatekeeper controls the vast majority of the search market, dictating what you see: too many advertisements and a flood of search-engine-optimized pages … On top of that, 65% of search queries end without a click on another site, which means traffic stays within the Google ecosystem.’
That is a good point. See the Venture Beat article for details on how Socher uses AI to underpin You’s search, the site’s approaches to customization and privacy, and a comparison to its rivals.
Cynthia Murrell November 17, 2021
Elastic Adds Optimyze for Best Cloud Optimization
November 4, 2021
Elastic specializes in enterprise and cloud search solutions, but the company has also branched out by assisting systems in gaining big data insights. Help Net Security details Elastic’s newest move in this area: “Elastic Acquires Optimyze To Deliver Visibility Into Cloud Native Environments.” Optimyze providers a simpler way for users to gain insights from their entire IT ecosystem, eliminate blind spots with Prodfiler, generates continuous system profiling, and low performance overhead code.
Elastic also recently acquired Cmd and build.security. Combined with these other acquisitions, Optimyze with enable Elastic users to monitor and protect data from the unified Elastic Search Platform:
“Optimyze provides frictionless continuous profiling, while the Elastic Search Platform delivers analytics and machine learning capabilities with the ability to correlate and contextualize profiling data with metrics, logs, and traces. The ability to unify the three pillars of observability—metrics, logs and traces—with emerging continuous profiling capabilities delivers actionable insights to customers, leading to improvements in service quality and performance while reducing MTTD (mean-time-to-detect) and MTTR (mean-time-to-resolution).”
Elastic takes the idea of search to a different level. Instead of only concentrating on finding user generated data, Elastic observes, secures, tracks, and locates all kinds of data related to a system’s performance. Does this change the definition of enterprise and cloud search altogether?
Whitney Grace, November 4, 2021
Microsoft Search: Still Trying after All These Years
November 2, 2021
That was “FAST,” wasn’t it? You lived through LiveSearch, right? Jellyfish? Powerset? Outlook Search in its assorted flavors like Life Savers? I could go on, but I am quite certain no one cares.
Nevertheless,
Bing’s new feature may possibly prompt some workers to switch to the search-engine underdog. TechRadar Pro reports the development in its brief write-up, “One of Microsoft’s Most-Hated Products Might Actually Be Getting a Useful Upgrade.” Writer Mike Moore reveals:
“The tech giant is boosting one of its less-celebrated products to give enterprise users an easier way to search online. The update means that enterprise users will now get their historical searches as suggestions in the autosuggest pane on Bing and Microsoft Search in Bing, according to the official Microsoft 365 roadmap entry. … The new update should mean that enterprise users looking to quickly find files that they’ve searched for or opened before will no longer need to manually trawl through endless files and folders in search of the elusive location. The update is still currently in development, but Microsoft will doubtless be keen to get it out soon and help boost Bing engagement. The feature is set to be available to Microsoft Search users across the globe via the company’s general availability route, meaning web, desktop and mobile users will all be able to utilize it upon release.”
Moore notes Microsoft’s tenacity in continuing to support Bing despite Google’s astounding market share lead. He wonders whether the company may have lost some enthusiasm recently, though, when it was revealed that the most searched-for term on Bing is “Google.” A tad embarrassing, perhaps. Does Microsoft suppose its file-finding feature will turn the tide? Unlikely, but some of our readers may find the tool useful, nonetheless.
What’s next for Microsoft search? Perhaps broader and deeper indexing of US government Web sites for a starter?
Cynthia Murrell, November 2, 2021
Google Launches Even More Personalized Search Upgrade
October 21, 2021
Google is already the most used search engine on the planet and delivers fairly accurate results. Like many companies, Google continues to push innovation and The National News shares the latest search upgrade in: “Google To Introduce Search 1,000 Times More Powerful Than Current Engine.” Google’s new search technology leverages AI that combines search criteria for more personalized and accurate results.
Google revealed its latest search achievement at the Search On ’21 event, where executives discussed how they plan to use their AI research to stop the spread of misinformation and make information on the Web more useful. Google also wants to regain shopping traffic from Amazon, Alibaba, Lazada, and other commerce Web sites. The new search technology aims to improve the shopping search experience:
“Google teased the MUM technology during its annual I/O summit last May. It uses its so-called T5 – Text-To-Text Transfer Transformer – framework and is said to be 1,000 times more powerful than the Bert (Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers) technology the company currently uses.
The revamped search technology, using the company’s image-recognition tool Google Lens, will combine data from text, images and even videos, which would then provide more accurate and tailor-made results. Lens has been updated with new AI-powered language features that will narrow searches further. ‘For example, when you search for ‘cropped jackets’, we’ll show you a visual feed of jackets in various colors and styles, alongside other helpful information like local shops, style guides and videos,’ Bill Ready, president of commerce, payments and next billion users at Google, said.”
Google will also include a “wildfire layer” on its Maps to keep track of forest fires in real time. To combat misinformation, search results will include an “About This Result”option that cites the result’s sources and what others users think of it.
Google designed a picture search engine for shopping and is actually citing sources for search results? Yes, please!
Whitney Grace, October 20, 2021
Glean: Another Enterprise Search Solution
October 12, 2021
Enterprise search features are interesting, but users accept it as an unavoidable tech problems like unfindable content and sluggish indexing.. A former Google engineering director recognized the problem when he started his own startup and Forbes article, “Glean Emerges from Stealth With $55 Million To Bring Search To The Enterprise” tells the story.
Arvind Jain cofounded the cloud data management company Rubrik and always had problems locating information. Rubrik is now worth $3.7 million, but Jain left and formed the new startup Glean with Google veterans Piyush Prahladka, Tony Gentilcore, and T.R. Vishwanath. The team have developed a robust enterprise search engine application from multiple applications. Glean has raised $55 million in funding.
Other companies like Algolia and Elastic addressed the same enterprise search problem, but they focused on search boxes on consumer-facing Web sites instead of working for employees. With more enterprise systems shifting to the cloud and SaaS, Glean’s search product is an invaluable tool. Innovations with deep learning also make Glean’s search product more intuitive and customizable for each user:
“On the user side, Glean’s software analyzes the wording of a search query—for example, it understands that “quarterly goals” or “Q1 areas of focus” are asking the same thing—and shows all the results that correspond to it, whether they are located in Salesforce, Slack or another of the many applications that a company uses. The results are personalized based on the user’s job. Using deep learning, Glean can differentiate personas, such as a salesperson from an engineer, and tailor recommendations based on the colleagues that a user interacts with most frequently.”
Will Glean crack the enterprise search code? Interesting question to which the answer is not yet known.
Whitney Grace, October 12, 2021
Yext: Payoff Marketing
October 8, 2021
Years ago my team took a look at a search system called EasyAsk (originally Linguistic Technology Corporation and eventually as a unit of Progress Software and then a stand alone company headed by Craig Bassin, founder of B2Systems.
Yes, EasyAsk is licensing a range of software, but the company seems to lead with search for eCommerce.
What’s interesting is that the firm used what I called “payoff marketing.” The idea is that use of a particular search-and-retrieval system with appropriate technical enhancements can deliver a big financial return.
Here’s a snip from the EasyAsk Web site. Note the tagline: “Cognitive eCommerce.”
The “payoff” angle is evident in “Watch revenues soar by at least 20% within 90 days.”
In some sales presentations from other vendors I have heard words that suggest increased return on investment, reduced cost of search, and increased sales. Not too many vendors have gone out on a limb at put a number in the customer’s mind.
However, Yext has taken a page from the EasyAsk marketing playbook. I read “People’s United Bank Sees 15x Annualized ROI from Site Search Integration between Yext, Virtusa, and Adobe.” Wouldn’t the word “among” be more accurate? Oh, well.
Here’s the snippet I circled:
The launch of Yext Answers assisted in about a 50% and as much as 70% reduction in unnecessary support call volume in the months following its launch compared to the months before. By integrating locations into the Yext search experience with Adobe AEM, People’s United saw an estimated 15x annualized return on investment (ROI) on the platform — a number that rose to 35x annualized ROI when including locations, FAQs, and products.
I think this is another example of payoff marketing.
I find the angle an interesting one. Search-and-retrieval systems have been seeking a model for sustainable revenue for more than 40 years. Subscriptions, license fees, and engineering support have worked. The winning method is to charge people to appear in search results and sell advertising.
What happens if the search system does not deliver a “15x annualized return”? My hunch is that companies confident enough to provide a numeric peg for search technology have the hard data to shoot down doubters.
Stephen E Arnold, October 8, 2021
Elastic: Differentiation and Wagon Circling
September 22, 2021
Elastic expects two recent acquisitions to beef up its security in the cloud. Betakit reports, “Cybersecurity Startup Cmd to Be Acquired by Enterprise Search Firm Elastic.” This deal is on the heels of the company’s announcement that it snapped up authorization policy management platform build.security. Writer Josh Scott tells us:
“Cmd was founded in 2016 by CSO Jake King, former security operations lead at Hootsuite, and Milun Tesovic, general partner at Expa. The startup offers a runtime security platform for cloud workloads and Linux assets, providing infrastructure detection and response capabilities to global brands, financial institutions, and software companies. Cmd’s offering observes real-time session activity and allows Linux administrators and developers to take immediate remediation action. … Following the close of the deal, Elastic plans to work with Cmd to integrate Cmd’s cloud native data collection capabilities directly into the company’s Elastic Agent product, and Cmd’s user experience and workflows into Kibana, Elastic’s data visualization offering.”
Citing an article from TechCrunch, Scott notes that Cmd’s employees will be moving to Elastic, with King and CEO Santosh Krishnan slipping into executive roles. Elastic says current customers of both firms will benefit from the integration and specifically promises its existing clients will soon receive Cmd’s cloud security capabilities. Built around open source software, Elastic began as Elasticsearch Inc. in 2012, simplified its name in 2015, and went public in 2018. The company is based in Mountain View, California, and maintains offices around the world.
Cynthia Murrell, September 22, 2021
Useless Search Results? Thank Advertising
September 17, 2021
We thought this was obvious. The Conversation declares, “Google’s ‘Pay-Per-Click’ Ad Model Makes it Harder to Find What You’re Looking For.” Writers Mohiuddin Ahmed and Paul Haskell-Dowland begin by pointing out “to google” has literally become synonymous with searching online via any online search platform. Indeed, Google has handily dominated the online search business, burying some competitors and leaving the rest in the dust. Not coincidentally, the company also rules the web browser and online advertising markets. As our dear readers know, Google is facing pushback from competition and antitrust regulators in assorted countries. However, this article addresses the impact on search results themselves. The authors report:
“More than 80% of Alphabet’s revenue comes from Google advertising. At the same time, around 85% of the world’s search engine activity goes through Google. Clearly there is significant commercial advantage in selling advertising while at the same time controlling the results of most web searches undertaken around the globe. This can be seen clearly in search results. Studies have shown internet users are less and less prepared to scroll down the page or spend less time on content below the ‘fold’ (the limit of content on your screen). This makes the space at the top of the search results more and more valuable. In the example below, you might have to scroll three screens down before you find actual search results rather than paid promotions. While Google (and indeed many users) might argue that the results are still helpful and save time, it’s clear the design of the page and the prominence given to paid adverts will influence behavior. All of this is reinforced by the use of a pay-per-click advertising model which is founded on enticing users to click on adverts.”
We are reminded Google-owned YouTube is another important source of information for billions of users, and it is perhaps the leading platform for online ads. In fact, these ads now intrude on videos at a truly annoying rate. Unless one pays for a Premium subscription, of course. Ahmed and Haskell-Dowland remind us alternatives to Google Search exist, with the usual emphasis on privacy-centric DuckDuckGo. They conclude by pointing out other influential areas in which Google plays a lead role: AI, healthcare, autonomous vehicles, cloud computing, computing devices, and the Internet of Things. Is Google poised to take over the world? Why not?
Cynthia Murrell, September September 17, 2021, 2021
Mythic Search: Yext Introduces the Phoenix with Summer Updates
September 15, 2021
Enterprise search firm Yext is launching new features and a revamped algorithm, poetically named “Phoenix.” We learn about the updates from the press release, “New Yext Features and Algorithm Update Bring AI Search Optimizations to Businesses” at PR Newswire. We learn:
“In addition to features powered by Phoenix like dynamic reranking, the release introduces revamped test search and experience training, as well as a reimagining of Yext’s data connector and app frameworks — all to equip businesses with modern and powerful search solutions.”
The dynamic reranking feature sounds promising. Phoenix analyzes user behavior to push the most relevant results to the top. We are given an example:
“If customers consistently click on a blog post when searching for vaccine information on a healthcare organization’s website, dynamic reranking will push that content to the top of the search results page so it appears first any time someone searches about vaccines. The Phoenix update also introduces more relevant results for queries about locations that are ‘open now’ and rich text fields, like lists, in featured snippets.”
Another feature is the ability to build Yext platform configurations and package them into installable apps. The update also makes it easy to test search experiences from the customer’s point of view. But Yext may promise a bit much with its updates to data connectors:
“With the new update to Yext’s data connectors framework, businesses can use a low-code ‘extract, transform, load’ (ETL) tool that extracts all of their data and transforms it into the same format for easy integration into their knowledge graph (a unique brain-like database of facts).”
We do not want to be critical, but we are skeptical when a vendor of search and retrieval uses the word “all.” Certain types of data are notoriously difficult to access, like chemical structures, audio, video, images, and product-management quality assurance data, to name a few. Retrieving “all” data is unlikely at prices most organizations can afford. Still, it does sound like Phoenix is a step forward from the company that promises “Search made for today. Not 1999.” Today’s “search” dates back a half century, but who is interested in history?
Cynthia Murrell, September 15, 2021
Coveo: A Search Vendor Repositions, Pivots, and Spins
September 13, 2021
Coveo was a vendor of search and retrieval software. Then Coveo morphed into help desk and self-service software. Now the company appears to be spinning like a whirling dervish into a new positioning. “Coveo Adds More Developer Features to Its AI Powered Digital Experience Platform” explains:
Coveo Solutions Inc., a unicorn startup that helps companies such as Salesforce.com Inc. and Adobe Inc. improve their websites with artificial intelligence, today introduced new features to help developers more easily use its technology.
A couple of minor points. Coveo has ingested about $330 million since it was set up in 2005. I think that works out to 16 years, which in my experience makes Coveo something other than a start up. Your book may be different, of course.
I am not into enterprise search, but I find it interesting that this company is spinning in an AI powered digital experience platform. I don’t have a clue how to define “artificial intelligence.” I simply don’t know what a “digital experience platform” is.
That may not matter. The point is keep moving, changing, and morphing in order to generate sufficient revenue to make long suffering investors happy campers and differentiate the commodity of search technology from open source and proprietary options.
Oh, do dervishes get dizzy? I do.
Stephen E Arnold, September 13, 2021
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