Big Data Search Made Better with LucidWorks
March 19, 2013
LucidWorks has caught the attention of Mark Smith at Ventana Research. He takes a deeper looks at the LucidWorks search and Big Data offerings in his open letter, “Big Data Search is Getting Better with LucidWorks.”
Smith sums up the LucidWorks’ offerings:
“LucidWorks has two product offerings in the search market. LucidWorks Search provides the ability to rapidly set up search and index content using Apache Solr. The company not only provides full commercial-grade support and services and a security framework, but has also improved on Solr’s usability for developers and business users. Solr, built on top of Lucene, is an enterprise platform that provides full-text search, dynamic clustering, geospatial search and other enterprise-class capabilities . . . LucidWorks is definitely a vendor to examine if you are looking to bring enterprise-class search to your organization and big data deployments.”
It is no surprise that LucidWorks is catching the eye of a global research organization. Enterprise search, and Big Data specifically, is on the lips of all developers these days. It is good to know that research is available to steer buyers in the right direction. LucidWorks seems to be well-supported, and a great value.
Emily Rae Aldridge, March 19, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Beyond Search
Facebook Not Planning On Launching External Search
March 19, 2013
Despite numerous rumors and requests pleading for the contrary, it appears Facebook will not be pursuing external search. The intentions are laid out in the article on Search Engine Land titled “Facebook: No Plans For An External Search Engine.”
The article reveals comments from Grady Burnett, Vice President of Global Marketing Solutions for Facebook, who stated that the social media giant has no plans or intentions to launch an external search engine, such as that run by Google or Bing.
The article includes an excerpt from the live blog coverage of the SMX West keynote address from Burnett:
“DS: Do you ever see Facebook wanting a dedicated search product outside of Facebook? Mentions the past rumors that Facebook might buy Bing from MSFT.
GB: I don’t see that happening. We called it ‘Graph Search’ because we’re focused on letting people search the Facebook graph. So my answer would be no.”
The James Bond Film “Never Say Never” comes to mind when we hear these kinds of statements. We think that given some time, this is not the last we will hear from Facebook on this topic. As the company explores the possibilities of graph search, the improved search capabilities discovered in the process could just be the nudge that is needed to jump into external search.
Andrea Hayden, March 19, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Beyond Search
SLI Steps up to Fill Google Commerce Gap
March 19, 2013
Google Commerce has opened a wide gap in the online market since it pulled up its stakes and left town. While this has some worried, we think it’s going to make for an interesting frontier. In fact, it is already getting that way as we discovered from a recent Virtual Strategy story, “SLI Systems Offers and Easy Migration Path for Retailers Using Google Commerce Search to SLI’s Full Service Learning Center.”
According to the story:
“SLI Systems (www.sli-systems.com) today announced that it is offering special terms for its full-service site search solution for retail and eCommerce sites currently using Google Commerce Search, which Google recently announced will be discontinued. To help companies continue to offer uninterrupted site search capabilities, SLI is giving them a fast, simple way to implement its industry-leading Learning Search solution, a highly robust and customizable site search that is shown to increase conversions and improve the online experience on retail sites like Jelly Belly, ULTA, Vermont Teddy Bear, and hundreds more.”
Let the games begin. In the aftermath of Google Commerce’s disappearance, we have read a few stories like this. The marketplace is wide open for companies like SLI and EasyTask who have begun making attempts to shepherd in wayward users of Google’s. We think the winner will be the company with the best customer service. Who that will be is anyone’s guess right now.
Patrick Roland , March 19, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Beyond Search
Navigation Misses the Point of Search and Retrieval
March 18, 2013
How does one become a sheeple? One answer is, “Accept search outputs without critical thinking.”
I don’t want to get into a squabble with the thinkers at Nielsen Norman Group. I suggest you read “Converting Search into Navigation” and then reflect on the fact that this was the basic premise of Endeca and then almost every other search vendor on the planet since the late 1990s. The idea is that users prefer to click than type queries or, better yet, have the system just tell the user what he or she wants without having to do so much as make a click.
Humans want information and most humans don’t want to expend much, if any, effort getting “answers.” In the late 1970s, I worked on a Booz, Allen & Hamilton study which revealed that managers in that pre-Internet Dark Age got information by asking the first person encountered in the hall, a person whom an executive could get on the phone, or by flipping through the old school trade magazines which once flowed into in boxes.
A happy quack to http://red-pill.org/are-you-one-of-the-sheeple-take-the-quiz/
What’s different today? According to the write up, as I understand it, not too much. The article asserts:
Users are incredibly bad at finding and researching things on the web. A few years ago, I characterized users’ research skills as “incompetent,” and they’ve only gotten worse over time. “Pathetic” and “useless” are words that come to mind after this year’s user testing.
There you go. When top quality minds like those Booz, Allen & Hamilton tried to hire took the path of least resistance almost 50 years ago, is it a big surprise that people are clueless when it comes to finding information?
The point of the article is that people who make interfaces have to design for mediocre searchers. Mediocre? How about terrible, clueless, inept, or naive? The article says:
… you should redirect users from a normal SERP to a category page only when their query is unambiguous and exactly matches the category. A search for “3D TV” could go to the subcategory page for these products, but a search for “3D” should generate a regular SERP. (Costco does this correctly, including both 3D televisions and other products relevant to the query.) Until people begin to grasp the complexities of search and develop skills accordingly, businesses that take such extra steps to help users find what they need will improve customer success — and the bottom line.
My view is just a little bit different and not parental like the preceding paragraph.
New Updates to Solr and Lucene
March 18, 2013
Apache Solr and Lucene are notable for good maintenance and frequent updates. These updates are one of the many reasons why Solr and Lucene are considered top choices in open source software. Another upgrade has just been announced in the default codec update 4.2. Read all the details in the article, “Apache Solr and Lucene 4.2 Update Default Codec Again.”
The article sums up some of the improvements:
“The Solr search platform now has a REST API which allows developers to read the schema; support for writing the schema is coming. DocValues are now integrated with Solr and as they allow faster loading and can use different compression algorithms, the integration offers a wide range of feature possibilities and performance benefits. Collections now support aliasing allowing for reindexing and swapping while in production, and the Collections API has now been improved to make it easier to ‘see how things turned out.’ It is also now possible to interact with a collection in a node even if it doesn’t have a replica on that node.”
The full details of the changes can be read in the Lucene 4.2 and Solr 4.2 release notes. When foundational software is improved, the value-added software attached to it gets an automatic upgrade as well. This is the case with LucidWorks and their suite of search offerings built upon the open source strength of Lucene and Solr. Interestingly, LucidWorks has been criticized for not having a RESTful API, but with the newest upgrade to Solr, the claim is no longer valid. LucidWorks will no doubt remain on top.
Emily Rae Aldridge, March 18, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Beyond Search
Google Commerce Creates Opportunities for Others
March 18, 2013
Google Commerce seems to have gone the way of so many other seemingly good ideas from the search giant: it was sent out to the pasture. However, this leaves an interesting wake as we discovered in a recent Virtual Strategy story, “EasyAsk Announces Google Commerce Replacement Program.”
The article shares:
“The search industry is undergoing an enormous change as the largest companies in the world evolve from simple Keyword Search to a more advanced, semantic Natural Language search model. IBM Watson, Apple Siri, and even Google Internet search are now deploying smarter search algorithms that don’t rely on Keyword Search. Since 2001, EasyAsk has lead the industry in providing the fastest, most accurate search results for online shoppers using Natural Language search that understands the context of the search query.”
Despite some initial fears, this is an exciting time for search. With Google’s flawed Commerce program out of the way, we suspect there will be a rise in others who will pick up the slack. Interestingly, EasyAsk has the early lead in this race and one we suspect they will hold on to. Ever since the company rolled out it’s Quiri (a Siri-like verbal component), we’ve had a feeling this was a hot company on the rise. Now, with Google Commerce gone, we know it’s a fact.
Patrick Roland, March 18, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Beyond Search
Mark Bennett on Open Source Search
March 15, 2013
Mark Bennett is a recent edition to the LucidWorks team, after New Idea Engineering joined LucidWorks. Steven Arnold recently interviewed Bennett for his noteworthy series, Search Wizard Speak. “An Interview with Mark Bennett,” can be found on the ArnoldIT Web site.
After discussing many of the latest trends in search, Arnold and Bennett turn to the question of proprietary search solutions, and how they are responding to the surge in open source.
Bennett weighs in:
“Some organizations will use open source because its efficiencies are recognized by management. Other organizations will embrace open source because a vendor offers 24×7 support like LucidWorks and has world class engineers available to customize the system. The feature-set is different as well, enterprise buyers care about analytics and data quality, and would prefer a graphical UI. Other organizations will stick with what has been traditionally licensed year after year indifferent to the fact that what’s in an IBM solution may be open source or totally proprietary like Oracle Endeca or Oracle InQuira.”
Bennett is a great addition to the LucidWorks team, which has expanded again recently with the addition of Stephen Tsuchiyama as SVP. LucidWorks is increasing their staff to meet the growing demands of open source software for the enterprise. But LucidWorks is not just responding to a trend, they have been a leader in search and customer service for years, so they are also benefiting from their stellar reputation.
Emily Rae Aldridge, March 15, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Beyond Search
SEO Industry Clear and Ethical for the New Year
March 15, 2013
Whenever the SEO starts talking business tactics this usually stirs up controversy and critics quickly bring up Google and their business motives. However, the Search Engine Journal article “Let’s Make the SEO Industry Crystal Clear and Ethical in the Year Ahead!” points out that SEO firms are actually misunderstood and that regardless of Google’s motives that the actual ethics and transparency of the industry has nothing to do with Google but more with reputation and ultimately survival as a business.
The article goes onto describe some key tactics or skills that can be used to tackle SEO ethically. One of the simplest rules is to remember that the client is part of the strategy. Which means that instead of trying to be the expert and keep information from your client engage them and make sure they are involved because just like you know your job your clients knows their proprietary data. Bad ethics equals bad reputation which ultimately means bad for business. Transparency is key. You need to be able to be comfortable talking to your client and vice versa. Each needs to be able to call on the other and talk if necessary. The author makes an important correlation in the conclusion.
“SEO has become an online branding effort with an emphasis on search, requiring many of the general marketing skills that other online marketers take advantage of. Unlike, say, PPC, we don’t have the option of specializing on a small and specific set of skills. Link building, social media, keyword research, branding, conversions, content production, relationship building, viral marketing, and rich snippets: it’s all a part of SEO. This is the year to let our clients know that we are comprehensive internet marketing experts with the skills to bring them long term success and opportunities!”
Though it won’t happen overnight hopefully this year SEO firms can show they can be trusted and they are the key to growth in the future but as with any new friendship it’s going to be a bumpy ride.
April Holmes, March 15, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Is Search a Thing of the Past
March 15, 2013
It seems that search companies are no longer the big man on campus. Instead tech, social media and other industries are now the leaders in the pack. The CB Insights blog article “2012 Tech M&A Activity Report-Private Company Acquisitions” talks about the private tech companies that were acquired in 2012. According to the article
“2012 saw 2277 private technology companies acquired globally. Acquirers paid $46.8B for targets (in deals with disclosed valuations) with 30% of deals accounting for 80% of the value.”
It really doesn’t come as a big surprise but two of the biggest active acquirers were Google and Facebook. The two tech companies did 12 private tech company acquisitions in 2012. Out of all of those acquisitions none of them were for search companies. The MIT Technology Review article “50 Disruptive Companies 2013” lists 50 companies to pay attention to in 2013. Companies such as Google, Apple, Samsung and Amazon come as no surprise as they are some of the biggest names in the business world. However what is interesting is that not one search company made the list. A car company and even a chemical company made the list but there is no sign of search. To some this may not seem like a big deal and most people probably wouldn’t even notice but for the search community this is a big deal. In a world where people are scrambling to keep up with the latest technology has search lost its place? Are the days of big search deals gone? Maybe, maybe not but one thing is clear, right now search is not where the action is.
April Holmes, March 15, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Autonomy in the Spotlight
March 13, 2013
Keep in mind that I don’t have a dog in the fight or a horse in the race. I am struck by the flurry of interest in the Hewlett Packard dust up.
The most recent excitement concerns the Serious Fraud Office’s looking into the sale by Autonomy to Hewlett Packard. HP precipitated the situation because it bought Autonomy. The Board of Directors kicked tires and wrote a check with some help from their bankers for $8 to $11 billion. The number keeps changing.
The most recent twist is that the Guardian newspaper in London reported on March 12, 2013, that the UK’s Serious Fraud Office may have a conflict of interest. Ah, only in merrie old Englande. You will want to read the story “Conflict of Interest May Prevent SFO Investigating Autonomy.”
The UK’s corruption agency, dubbed the “Seriously Flawed Office” after being forced to abandon its high-profile case against financier Robert Tchenguiz, announced on Tuesday morning that it may have a conflict of interest preventing it from pursuing Autonomy directors for alleged accounting irregularities. The SFO has a £4m contract, with annual payments of £664,098, to use Autonomy’s software.
But if the software doesn’t work what then? Perhaps an IT person from SFO could be called to provide some information. The HP money was for the UK’s leading software company. How eager will those in the UK be to discuss the intricacies of enterprise software in a forum which is not exactly information technology savvy.
I assume that a government entity in the UK not using Autonomy’s software will pick up the investigation. Given the broad market penetration of Autonomy, candidates for the investigation may be asked to volunteer their services. Norway has an experienced team in place with some experience in search related probes as well.
Last time I was in Slough, I thought I saw a city office which had an investigative team.
Stephen E Arnold, March 13, 2013
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