Thursday, April 27, 2006
Is Google Search More Relevant Or Is There A Brand Factor?:
"The battle of which search engine is the most relevant has been going on for years. Yesterday at SES Toronto's Searcher Behavior Research Update panel we had two presenters talk about studies they have conducted to determine which search engine is the most relevant. Google has won the relevancy battle in those studies, but was it due to Google's brand or due to Google's search results?
An InternetNews.com article also has a nice summary of the session. But let me explain them in a nutshell for you.
Gord Hotchkiss showed part two of his study, where he conducted an eye tracking test on users on both MSN, Yahoo and Google search results page. Google's results showed that people were more likely not to look down the page at results below the 2nd or 3rd listings, but MSN and Yahoo results showed that the user was much more likely to look down the results to results as low as 6 or 7. Does that mean Google's results were more relevant, sooner? Meaning people did not have to scroll to see more results sooner? He said, maybe or maybe not. He noted that the layout of Google's results at that time had bolded the keywords queried by the searcher, on the page - which may have prompted searchers to click on those results sooner with the bolded words than without the bolded words.
Lance Jones was the next speaker he conducted a study that took all the branding off the Google results and tested searchers to see if they like the results with and without knowing the results were from Google. The users scored the results from scores from 0 to 1,000. The users scored the results that were identical on both groups, 800 for Google branded results and 737 for unbranded Google results. This shows that knowing the results are from Google, adds a bias to how relevant the results are or are not.
So is Google more relevant? Well, my RustySearch live results show Google is now the leader in relevancy. When I first published the results, Yahoo was in the lead. At some point in the last 3-months or so, Google took over the lead.
The bottom-line is that relevancy is an incredibly hard factor to measure..."
"The battle of which search engine is the most relevant has been going on for years. Yesterday at SES Toronto's Searcher Behavior Research Update panel we had two presenters talk about studies they have conducted to determine which search engine is the most relevant. Google has won the relevancy battle in those studies, but was it due to Google's brand or due to Google's search results?
An InternetNews.com article also has a nice summary of the session. But let me explain them in a nutshell for you.
Gord Hotchkiss showed part two of his study, where he conducted an eye tracking test on users on both MSN, Yahoo and Google search results page. Google's results showed that people were more likely not to look down the page at results below the 2nd or 3rd listings, but MSN and Yahoo results showed that the user was much more likely to look down the results to results as low as 6 or 7. Does that mean Google's results were more relevant, sooner? Meaning people did not have to scroll to see more results sooner? He said, maybe or maybe not. He noted that the layout of Google's results at that time had bolded the keywords queried by the searcher, on the page - which may have prompted searchers to click on those results sooner with the bolded words than without the bolded words.
Lance Jones was the next speaker he conducted a study that took all the branding off the Google results and tested searchers to see if they like the results with and without knowing the results were from Google. The users scored the results from scores from 0 to 1,000. The users scored the results that were identical on both groups, 800 for Google branded results and 737 for unbranded Google results. This shows that knowing the results are from Google, adds a bias to how relevant the results are or are not.
So is Google more relevant? Well, my RustySearch live results show Google is now the leader in relevancy. When I first published the results, Yahoo was in the lead. At some point in the last 3-months or so, Google took over the lead.
The bottom-line is that relevancy is an incredibly hard factor to measure..."
Monday, April 10, 2006
YouTube lubed with second-round funding | CNET News.com:
"YouTube, a video-sharing site that has caught the attention of both youths and Internet executives, has received $8 million in funding from Sequoia Capital.
YouTube lets anyone upload and share original video clips. Since its birth in early 2005, the site has reaped recognition from teens and young adults. YouTube also set off a buzz at last month's Digital Hollywood Conference in California..."
"YouTube, a video-sharing site that has caught the attention of both youths and Internet executives, has received $8 million in funding from Sequoia Capital.
YouTube lets anyone upload and share original video clips. Since its birth in early 2005, the site has reaped recognition from teens and young adults. YouTube also set off a buzz at last month's Digital Hollywood Conference in California..."
Yahoo! Search blog: MyWeb Social Search Update:
"“Search, with a little help from your friends.” That's how we described MyWeb when it launched. The idea was to tap into the knowledge your friends collect as they search and bookmark the web, and include their saved links and pages when you search on Yahoo!
While the result is often more relevant search results, the quest for better search through people should involve more than just your friends. You may also want to tap into the expertise of people you may not know personally, but whose knowledge you respect – experts, celebrities, or just that guy who saves the most interesting stuff on remix.
Well, we’ve just updated MyWeb to make that easier. Now you can include the public bookmarks of any MyWeb user in your searches by adding them as a contact.
Read more on the My Web blog..."
"“Search, with a little help from your friends.” That's how we described MyWeb when it launched. The idea was to tap into the knowledge your friends collect as they search and bookmark the web, and include their saved links and pages when you search on Yahoo!
While the result is often more relevant search results, the quest for better search through people should involve more than just your friends. You may also want to tap into the expertise of people you may not know personally, but whose knowledge you respect – experts, celebrities, or just that guy who saves the most interesting stuff on remix.
Well, we’ve just updated MyWeb to make that easier. Now you can include the public bookmarks of any MyWeb user in your searches by adding them as a contact.
Read more on the My Web blog..."
Search Engine Lowdown :: Industry News, Marketing Trends: Yahoo MyWeb's Gonna Kick MySpace in the Jimmies:
"...Now I see in Yahoo's latest rendition of MyWeb pretty much exactly what I wrote about two days ago: 'I think that the social networking killer app, will be the tools for users to create their own myspaces that can connect easily and fluidly and CONTROLABLY through [a] single interface. Oh yeah, and it has to be mobile and local too of course :).'
Tim Mayer says the changes in MyWeb are 'about lowering the barriers to entry to mainstream users so they can experience social search.'
I see the MyWeb changes as empowering users to more clearly define specific relationships within their ENTIRE SOCIAL UNIVERSE.... "
"...Now I see in Yahoo's latest rendition of MyWeb pretty much exactly what I wrote about two days ago: 'I think that the social networking killer app, will be the tools for users to create their own myspaces that can connect easily and fluidly and CONTROLABLY through [a] single interface. Oh yeah, and it has to be mobile and local too of course :).'
Tim Mayer says the changes in MyWeb are 'about lowering the barriers to entry to mainstream users so they can experience social search.'
I see the MyWeb changes as empowering users to more clearly define specific relationships within their ENTIRE SOCIAL UNIVERSE.... "
Search Engine Journal » Google Banning DMOZ Open Directory Clones?:
"A featured WebmasterWorld thread shows that Google Is Banning Sites That Use Open Directory (DMOZ) Data. The thread creator conducted a “study” that looked at the published sites using the ODP database. He then checked Google, Yahoo Search, and MSN Search using a site command, and found that approximately “50 percent of them were banned by at least one search engine.” Google had a ban rate of Google 37%, Yahoo 11%, and MSN 9%.
Pretty much anyone can go ahead and clone the ODP by using the freely available Open Directory RDF Dump. But this is the first time someone did a study (not sure the validity of the study) showing which sites are banned and which are not. What brought on the study? Yea, this individual was penalized “after operating for more than five years.” Was it specifically the ODP data that got him banned? Who knows. Was it the ODP data that got the other 37% banned in Google? Who knows… There are some out there, believe it or not, that use the ODP data to better their rankings, exclusively.
Is it possible that some of those people try other things to better there rankings, that may have warranted a penalty outside of the ODP data side? Possibly. Does Google or any other engine want duplicate content? Not likely.-"
"A featured WebmasterWorld thread shows that Google Is Banning Sites That Use Open Directory (DMOZ) Data. The thread creator conducted a “study” that looked at the published sites using the ODP database. He then checked Google, Yahoo Search, and MSN Search using a site command, and found that approximately “50 percent of them were banned by at least one search engine.” Google had a ban rate of Google 37%, Yahoo 11%, and MSN 9%.
Pretty much anyone can go ahead and clone the ODP by using the freely available Open Directory RDF Dump. But this is the first time someone did a study (not sure the validity of the study) showing which sites are banned and which are not. What brought on the study? Yea, this individual was penalized “after operating for more than five years.” Was it specifically the ODP data that got him banned? Who knows. Was it the ODP data that got the other 37% banned in Google? Who knows… There are some out there, believe it or not, that use the ODP data to better their rankings, exclusively.
Is it possible that some of those people try other things to better there rankings, that may have warranted a penalty outside of the ODP data side? Possibly. Does Google or any other engine want duplicate content? Not likely.-"
Search Engine Journal » Yahoo MyWeb Improvements:
"...Social search is still a differentiator for Yahoo! (although everyone’s now jumped on the bandwagon). But it’s not clear that mainstream search users understand what the MyWeb value proposition is: collected links from people who’ve done the work before you. That needs to be more clearly and simply communicated.
My sense (not substantiated by anything) is that Yahoo! Answers is easier for people to “get” and thus has more traction. Both MyWeb and Answers have powerful Local implications, but Answers is more conceptually accessible to people in my view.
Yahoo! now has lots of great “social” assets and the challenge is bringing them together in useful/meaningful ways that are all but self-evident to users..."
"...Social search is still a differentiator for Yahoo! (although everyone’s now jumped on the bandwagon). But it’s not clear that mainstream search users understand what the MyWeb value proposition is: collected links from people who’ve done the work before you. That needs to be more clearly and simply communicated.
My sense (not substantiated by anything) is that Yahoo! Answers is easier for people to “get” and thus has more traction. Both MyWeb and Answers have powerful Local implications, but Answers is more conceptually accessible to people in my view.
Yahoo! now has lots of great “social” assets and the challenge is bringing them together in useful/meaningful ways that are all but self-evident to users..."
Search Engine Journal » Google Partners with Clear Channel:
"And just as I was right in the middle of Dan Gillmor’s excellent book We the Media, a completely timely and ironically relevant news tidbit came my way; this from Adotas:
“Making a further shift towards control over “old media” outlets, Google has partnered with Clear Channel to implement its AdSense network in over 1,100 radio station websites. Clear Channel announced Wednesday that Google will exclusively power search engines in all of its local radio sites and give local advertisers top billing in the search results pages. The sites combine to give advertisers the ability to reach over 7 million online radio listeners a month.”"
"And just as I was right in the middle of Dan Gillmor’s excellent book We the Media, a completely timely and ironically relevant news tidbit came my way; this from Adotas:
“Making a further shift towards control over “old media” outlets, Google has partnered with Clear Channel to implement its AdSense network in over 1,100 radio station websites. Clear Channel announced Wednesday that Google will exclusively power search engines in all of its local radio sites and give local advertisers top billing in the search results pages. The sites combine to give advertisers the ability to reach over 7 million online radio listeners a month.”"
Wednesday, April 05, 2006
iMedia Connection: Yahoo! Outnumbers Google:
"Despite Google's reputation, Yahoo! ranks as top search engine and Yahoo Mail grabs the top telecom/internet services site spot week ending March 19..."
"Despite Google's reputation, Yahoo! ranks as top search engine and Yahoo Mail grabs the top telecom/internet services site spot week ending March 19..."
The Spyware - Click-Fraud Connection -- and Yahoo's Role Revisited:
"...My August examples demonstrate what I call 'syndication fraud' -- Yahoo placing advertisers' ads into spyware programs, and charging advertisers for resulting clicks. But Yahoo's spyware problems extend beyond improper syndication. In my August syndication fraud examples, an advertiser only pays Yahoo if a user clicks the advertiser's ad. Not so for three of today's examples. Here, spyware completely fakes a click -- causing Yahoo to charge an advertiser a 'pay-per-click' fee, even though no user actually clicked on any pay-per-click link. This is 'click fraud.'...
...Note that traffic passes through Intermix's Sirsearch servers. This is not Intermix's first involvement with spyware, nor Intermix's first involvement with Yahoo in the context of spyware. During the New York Attorney General's summer 2005 investigation of Intermix for improper installation of advertising software onto users' computers, a NYAG investigator reported that more than 10% of Intermix's revenues came from Yahoo. The investigator further commented that the NYAG was "not ruling out ... going after ... Overture" for its role in funding Intermix. My findings here suggest that Intermix's relationship with Yahoo and Intermix's funding of spyware may extend beyond what was previously known.
I have tested the Qklinkserver advertising software at length. Of the links I have received from Qklinkserver, every single one ultimately passes through Yahoo Overture. As best I can tell, Yahoo Overture is the sole source of funding for Qklinkserver. (Compare: Yahoo Overture funding 31% of Claria, per Claria's 2003 SEC S1.)...
...Yahoo recently announced its support (as a founding sponsor) of TRUSTe's forthcoming Trusted Download Program. The Trusted Download program intends to certify advertising software -- so advertisers can confidently buy ads from such programs. I have a variety of concerns about the program -- including that its standards may be too lax, that it will face exceptional difficulties in performing meaningful enforcement, and that I don't know that any "adware" deserves a certification or endorsement. But even if Trusted Download were fully operational and working as expected, it would not have identified or prevented the problems described in this article. At best, Trusted Download would tell Yahoo that it may work with whatever adware vendors earn TRUSTe's certification. But Yahoo's problem isn't uncertainty about which adware vendors are good. Instead, Yahoo's problem is that, time and time again, it finds itself working with (and its advertisers defrauded by) notorious "adware" vendors -- vendors Yahoo has already resolved to avoid (e.g. 180solutions, Direct Revenue), or vendors that wouldn't come close to passing any ethics test (e.g. Qklinkserver, Look2me/Ad-w-a-r-e). Trusted Download doesn't and won't monitor advertisement syndication; Trusted Download won't and can't prevent these bad Yahoo PPC syndication relationships.
I see two basic strategies for Yahoo. Yahoo could try to limit its exposure to fraud, i.e. by scaling back its partner network, by more thoroughly vetting its partners, and by prohibiting its partners from further resyndicating Yahoo's ads. Alternatively, Yahoo could try to detect fraud more thoroughly and more quickly, i.e. by implementing aggressive and robust testing methods to find more examples like those above, and like the dozens more examples I have on file. I tend to think both strategies are appropriate; in combination, they might serve to blunt this growing problem. But merely ignoring the issue is not a reasonable option; Yahoo's advertisers pay top dollar for Yahoo PPC ads, and they deserve better.
Yahoo cannot expect these fraudulent techniques to disappear. Yahoo is an attractive target for fraudsters due to Yahoo's high advertising charges and Yahoo's high payments to partners. As spyware vendors find other revenue sources increasingly difficult (i.e. because advertisers do not want to buy spyware-delivered advertising), spyware vendors are likely to continue to turn to more complex advertising channels such as PPC, which are more amenable to fraud due to their reduced transparency and increased complexity. Yahoo, like other PPC services, needs to anticipate and block this growing problem.
Similar issues confront Google -- though, in my testing, more often through bad syndication and less often through click fraud. I'll cover Google's problems in a future piece. Meanwhile, see my prior articles about Google and spyware: 1, 2..."
"...My August examples demonstrate what I call 'syndication fraud' -- Yahoo placing advertisers' ads into spyware programs, and charging advertisers for resulting clicks. But Yahoo's spyware problems extend beyond improper syndication. In my August syndication fraud examples, an advertiser only pays Yahoo if a user clicks the advertiser's ad. Not so for three of today's examples. Here, spyware completely fakes a click -- causing Yahoo to charge an advertiser a 'pay-per-click' fee, even though no user actually clicked on any pay-per-click link. This is 'click fraud.'...
...Note that traffic passes through Intermix's Sirsearch servers. This is not Intermix's first involvement with spyware, nor Intermix's first involvement with Yahoo in the context of spyware. During the New York Attorney General's summer 2005 investigation of Intermix for improper installation of advertising software onto users' computers, a NYAG investigator reported that more than 10% of Intermix's revenues came from Yahoo. The investigator further commented that the NYAG was "not ruling out ... going after ... Overture" for its role in funding Intermix. My findings here suggest that Intermix's relationship with Yahoo and Intermix's funding of spyware may extend beyond what was previously known.
I have tested the Qklinkserver advertising software at length. Of the links I have received from Qklinkserver, every single one ultimately passes through Yahoo Overture. As best I can tell, Yahoo Overture is the sole source of funding for Qklinkserver. (Compare: Yahoo Overture funding 31% of Claria, per Claria's 2003 SEC S1.)...
...Yahoo recently announced its support (as a founding sponsor) of TRUSTe's forthcoming Trusted Download Program. The Trusted Download program intends to certify advertising software -- so advertisers can confidently buy ads from such programs. I have a variety of concerns about the program -- including that its standards may be too lax, that it will face exceptional difficulties in performing meaningful enforcement, and that I don't know that any "adware" deserves a certification or endorsement. But even if Trusted Download were fully operational and working as expected, it would not have identified or prevented the problems described in this article. At best, Trusted Download would tell Yahoo that it may work with whatever adware vendors earn TRUSTe's certification. But Yahoo's problem isn't uncertainty about which adware vendors are good. Instead, Yahoo's problem is that, time and time again, it finds itself working with (and its advertisers defrauded by) notorious "adware" vendors -- vendors Yahoo has already resolved to avoid (e.g. 180solutions, Direct Revenue), or vendors that wouldn't come close to passing any ethics test (e.g. Qklinkserver, Look2me/Ad-w-a-r-e). Trusted Download doesn't and won't monitor advertisement syndication; Trusted Download won't and can't prevent these bad Yahoo PPC syndication relationships.
I see two basic strategies for Yahoo. Yahoo could try to limit its exposure to fraud, i.e. by scaling back its partner network, by more thoroughly vetting its partners, and by prohibiting its partners from further resyndicating Yahoo's ads. Alternatively, Yahoo could try to detect fraud more thoroughly and more quickly, i.e. by implementing aggressive and robust testing methods to find more examples like those above, and like the dozens more examples I have on file. I tend to think both strategies are appropriate; in combination, they might serve to blunt this growing problem. But merely ignoring the issue is not a reasonable option; Yahoo's advertisers pay top dollar for Yahoo PPC ads, and they deserve better.
Yahoo cannot expect these fraudulent techniques to disappear. Yahoo is an attractive target for fraudsters due to Yahoo's high advertising charges and Yahoo's high payments to partners. As spyware vendors find other revenue sources increasingly difficult (i.e. because advertisers do not want to buy spyware-delivered advertising), spyware vendors are likely to continue to turn to more complex advertising channels such as PPC, which are more amenable to fraud due to their reduced transparency and increased complexity. Yahoo, like other PPC services, needs to anticipate and block this growing problem.
Similar issues confront Google -- though, in my testing, more often through bad syndication and less often through click fraud. I'll cover Google's problems in a future piece. Meanwhile, see my prior articles about Google and spyware: 1, 2..."
Search Engine Lowdown :: Industry News, Marketing Trends: Yahoo! Pounding Google and MSN; Y!'s Social Networking Riff:
"Yahoo! is POUNDING MSN and Google when it comes to Time Per Person spent on property. (And AOL's clobbering Yahoo! on TPP, but this is a Yahoo! post dammit.)
To continue driving that number up and to maintain its Google-and-MSN-beating user base and reach, watch for Yahoo! to increase its investment in enabling social networks. Oh wait, Yahoo! announced that "On Wednesday, April 5th at 8 pm PDT, My Web 2.0 will be upgraded to introduce some exciting new features."...
...
Further, I think that the social networking killer app, will be the tools for users to create their own myspaces that can connect easily and fluidly and CONTROLABLY through this single interface. Oh yeah, and it has to be mobile and local too of course :)..."
"Yahoo! is POUNDING MSN and Google when it comes to Time Per Person spent on property. (And AOL's clobbering Yahoo! on TPP, but this is a Yahoo! post dammit.)
To continue driving that number up and to maintain its Google-and-MSN-beating user base and reach, watch for Yahoo! to increase its investment in enabling social networks. Oh wait, Yahoo! announced that "On Wednesday, April 5th at 8 pm PDT, My Web 2.0 will be upgraded to introduce some exciting new features."...
...
Further, I think that the social networking killer app, will be the tools for users to create their own myspaces that can connect easily and fluidly and CONTROLABLY through this single interface. Oh yeah, and it has to be mobile and local too of course :)..."
ResearchBuzz: Google's Got a New Related Links Feature:
"Thanks to Google Blogoscoped for this pointer to a new feature from Google: the ability to pull a related links list from Google into your pages along with pointers to relevant news, etc. Check it out: http://www.google.com/relatedlinks/index.html.
The service is free but Google asks that pages which have "over 10,000 hits a day" contact the Google team. Hits? Or page views? If a hit is a page element loading -- an image or whatever -- 10,000 hits isn't that many. Anyway, assuming that you have less than 10,000 hits a day and you agree to Google's terms of service, you can get going.
The process for generating the link code looks a lot like the process for generating AdSense code. Pick a type of format you want (banner, leaderboard, rectangle), link type (searches, news, web pages), and then pick your color palette. Down at the bottom of the page you'll have the code, Javascript which you paste into your Web page. There's an example at the end of this entry if I can get it to work.
This offering reminds me of Yahoo's Y!Q product, which also offers the ability to embed content in Web pages. The difference, as I remember, is that Yahoo required that a JavaScript snippet be put in the head of a Web page. That's why I never played with it on ResearchBuzz; I would have had to put the JavaScript in my page template and I didn't want to do that to just play around with it. I'll have to go back and see if it's changed... "
"Thanks to Google Blogoscoped for this pointer to a new feature from Google: the ability to pull a related links list from Google into your pages along with pointers to relevant news, etc. Check it out: http://www.google.com/relatedlinks/index.html.
The service is free but Google asks that pages which have "over 10,000 hits a day" contact the Google team. Hits? Or page views? If a hit is a page element loading -- an image or whatever -- 10,000 hits isn't that many. Anyway, assuming that you have less than 10,000 hits a day and you agree to Google's terms of service, you can get going.
The process for generating the link code looks a lot like the process for generating AdSense code. Pick a type of format you want (banner, leaderboard, rectangle), link type (searches, news, web pages), and then pick your color palette. Down at the bottom of the page you'll have the code, Javascript which you paste into your Web page. There's an example at the end of this entry if I can get it to work.
This offering reminds me of Yahoo's Y!Q product, which also offers the ability to embed content in Web pages. The difference, as I remember, is that Yahoo required that a JavaScript snippet be put in the head of a Web page. That's why I never played with it on ResearchBuzz; I would have had to put the JavaScript in my page template and I didn't want to do that to just play around with it. I'll have to go back and see if it's changed... "
Tuesday, April 04, 2006
TechCrunch » CNET rolls out “College Live” at Webshots:
"Webshots, a photo publishing and sharing service which was acquired by CNET in August 2004, is starting to launch social networking features to compete with the more cutting edge photo services like Flickr. Last month they launched the social networking features. Later today they will launch a new service called “College Live”, which targets the 30 million or so U.S. young adults between 18-25 years.
College live is a network of college specific Webshots sites that focus on photos from students at that college, and event planning. It’s for students only, and Webshots is using the same method as Facebook to try and keep a sense of exclusivity - by requiring the use of a .edu email address. The idea is to create a sense of community around those photos and events, and allow students to get to know eachother. It targets the same audience as Facebook, but offers different features. And while photos uploaded to a specific college site will be grouped there, the individual pictures will also be available on Webshots as well..."
"Webshots, a photo publishing and sharing service which was acquired by CNET in August 2004, is starting to launch social networking features to compete with the more cutting edge photo services like Flickr. Last month they launched the social networking features. Later today they will launch a new service called “College Live”, which targets the 30 million or so U.S. young adults between 18-25 years.
College live is a network of college specific Webshots sites that focus on photos from students at that college, and event planning. It’s for students only, and Webshots is using the same method as Facebook to try and keep a sense of exclusivity - by requiring the use of a .edu email address. The idea is to create a sense of community around those photos and events, and allow students to get to know eachother. It targets the same audience as Facebook, but offers different features. And while photos uploaded to a specific college site will be grouped there, the individual pictures will also be available on Webshots as well..."
A interesting piece on the implications and economics of the "new frontier". Worth reading the whole thing:
GigaOM : » SocialNets & The Power of The URL:
"...Social networks represent an innovation in the use of URLs. In any social network, URLs are mainly used as a container for self-expression, or as danah boyd would say, “identity production”. And since URLs can be linked to one another, doing so in this case creates what we all know as social networks. These consumer-generated URLs shift the power between corporations and consumers because identity production represents the simplest form of “user-generated content”. And as more content is being generated by the user, ownership of traditional media machines represents less power for the corporations in the overall media economy. The same goes for the blogosphere. This is why Rupert Murdoch’s acquisition of MySpace is now widely-recognized as such a brilliant strategic move (as I have written much about)...
...
Simply put, each and every URL should be viewed as a container for content that, in turn, can be distributed and redistributed. And the control of such distribution is increasingly in the hands of consumers, not corporations. For instance, if NBC.com puts up a video on their site and I point to the URL in a blog entry, I have exercised my influence over the distribution of that content. And if my blog post subsequently starts a huge viral redistribution of that URL to millions of other people, my control and influence over the distribution of that NBC video will have been at the expense of all other distribution outlets that are under the control of NBC. Therefore, when one is attempting to analyze the business model potential of Internet-based media, it is critical to understand the power and control any party may have over URLs. Consequently, the total share of the URLs under the control of consumers should also include all the outbound links that are included in the pages authored by users (whether they own the destination URL or not, users are controlling the traffic by posting hyperlinks and directing other users to them).
Looking out several years, it’s not too difficult to envision a media landscape where the majority of traditional media distribution outlets reliant on the benefits of natural monopoly economics have largely been replaced with a highly-fragmented layer of people-powered community-based distribution networks. As a case in point, I hardly ever go directly to the NY Times, LA Times, and the Wall Street Journal any more. Instead, I rely wholly on the authoritative blogs I rely on to filter out the articles of interest in those publications. In fact, the sites I prefer offer both an original voice as well as a consistently generous collection of outbound links to other related content, professionally produced or not. It’s just a matter time before I do the same with all my media consumption, including my audio and video needs..."
And I might add; search"
GigaOM : » SocialNets & The Power of The URL:
"...Social networks represent an innovation in the use of URLs. In any social network, URLs are mainly used as a container for self-expression, or as danah boyd would say, “identity production”. And since URLs can be linked to one another, doing so in this case creates what we all know as social networks. These consumer-generated URLs shift the power between corporations and consumers because identity production represents the simplest form of “user-generated content”. And as more content is being generated by the user, ownership of traditional media machines represents less power for the corporations in the overall media economy. The same goes for the blogosphere. This is why Rupert Murdoch’s acquisition of MySpace is now widely-recognized as such a brilliant strategic move (as I have written much about)...
...
Simply put, each and every URL should be viewed as a container for content that, in turn, can be distributed and redistributed. And the control of such distribution is increasingly in the hands of consumers, not corporations. For instance, if NBC.com puts up a video on their site and I point to the URL in a blog entry, I have exercised my influence over the distribution of that content. And if my blog post subsequently starts a huge viral redistribution of that URL to millions of other people, my control and influence over the distribution of that NBC video will have been at the expense of all other distribution outlets that are under the control of NBC. Therefore, when one is attempting to analyze the business model potential of Internet-based media, it is critical to understand the power and control any party may have over URLs. Consequently, the total share of the URLs under the control of consumers should also include all the outbound links that are included in the pages authored by users (whether they own the destination URL or not, users are controlling the traffic by posting hyperlinks and directing other users to them).
Looking out several years, it’s not too difficult to envision a media landscape where the majority of traditional media distribution outlets reliant on the benefits of natural monopoly economics have largely been replaced with a highly-fragmented layer of people-powered community-based distribution networks. As a case in point, I hardly ever go directly to the NY Times, LA Times, and the Wall Street Journal any more. Instead, I rely wholly on the authoritative blogs I rely on to filter out the articles of interest in those publications. In fact, the sites I prefer offer both an original voice as well as a consistently generous collection of outbound links to other related content, professionally produced or not. It’s just a matter time before I do the same with all my media consumption, including my audio and video needs..."
And I might add; search"
Pixsy unveils visual Web search | CNET News.com:
"...That's the virtual promise of Pixsy, a visual search engine that scours syndication feeds (in the format of Really Simple Syndication) for up-to-date images and then makes them searchable.
On Tuesday, the company will relaunch its engine with a revolving repository of millions of thumbnail images, which are drawn from photos and videos on sites ranging from The New York Times to YouTube..."
"...That's the virtual promise of Pixsy, a visual search engine that scours syndication feeds (in the format of Really Simple Syndication) for up-to-date images and then makes them searchable.
On Tuesday, the company will relaunch its engine with a revolving repository of millions of thumbnail images, which are drawn from photos and videos on sites ranging from The New York Times to YouTube..."
Search Engine Lowdown :: Industry News, Marketing Trends: Advertising Locally on Google Maps:
"Barry Schwartz dug right into Google's new local advertising offering with 'How To Add Your Local Business Ad In Google AdWords?'
His step by step guide in the SEW blog gives a great overview for those considering getting started.
It also cleared up a misconception I'd had: I thought originally that advertisers controlled the icons on the map. These are apparently pre-crafted and don't offer opportunity for customization.
Advertisers CAN put logos on the info page that pops up when users click on their map icon..."
"Barry Schwartz dug right into Google's new local advertising offering with 'How To Add Your Local Business Ad In Google AdWords?'
His step by step guide in the SEW blog gives a great overview for those considering getting started.
It also cleared up a misconception I'd had: I thought originally that advertisers controlled the icons on the map. These are apparently pre-crafted and don't offer opportunity for customization.
Advertisers CAN put logos on the info page that pops up when users click on their map icon..."
TechCrunch » Stealth Startup Goop to Launch:
"Posted by Michael Arrington
Rumors about Palo Alto based stealth startup Goop have been buzzing for weeks now. A standard landing page accepting email submissions for beta testing is now up, and some information has been leaked about the company.
CEO Peter Gibbons (previously at Initech, a TPS automation company) gave me a walk through of the product earlier today, April 1, 2006. Goop certainly has the next generation web 2.0 features needed to compete with the more established players. And the whopping $30 million financing from prominent angel investor Josh Kopelman should give it enough staying power to attract the 20,000 or so email addresses it needs to be acquired by one of the big guys.
The core feature set includes a fully interactive 3D social tagging environment, first rate cut and paste bookmarklets, and with an Ajax/Flash rich interface with rounded corners and easy-on-the-eyes pastels. Also, RSS feeds are available for all FAQs.
The most interesting aspects of the service, however, are a number of del.icio.us/flickr-like features to allow anyone to create their own topic-based version of the main service, create a mashup with any XUL or LUX interface and prominently display the results to users on a Soap based platform with fully closed APIs. At this time, the service is available for download on the Mac platform only, using the Internet Explorer browser. Sign up for the closed beta here. Goop is a winner."
"Posted by Michael Arrington
Rumors about Palo Alto based stealth startup Goop have been buzzing for weeks now. A standard landing page accepting email submissions for beta testing is now up, and some information has been leaked about the company.
CEO Peter Gibbons (previously at Initech, a TPS automation company) gave me a walk through of the product earlier today, April 1, 2006. Goop certainly has the next generation web 2.0 features needed to compete with the more established players. And the whopping $30 million financing from prominent angel investor Josh Kopelman should give it enough staying power to attract the 20,000 or so email addresses it needs to be acquired by one of the big guys.
The core feature set includes a fully interactive 3D social tagging environment, first rate cut and paste bookmarklets, and with an Ajax/Flash rich interface with rounded corners and easy-on-the-eyes pastels. Also, RSS feeds are available for all FAQs.
The most interesting aspects of the service, however, are a number of del.icio.us/flickr-like features to allow anyone to create their own topic-based version of the main service, create a mashup with any XUL or LUX interface and prominently display the results to users on a Soap based platform with fully closed APIs. At this time, the service is available for download on the Mac platform only, using the Internet Explorer browser. Sign up for the closed beta here. Goop is a winner."
InformationWeek | Mobile Phones | AOL Offers New Services For Mobile Users | April 3, 2006:
"AOL is offering new information and location services, including an integrated addition to mobile AOL Search suite and a Web-enabled MapQuest service. The company announced the news Monday, saying it represents an expansion of partnerships with Sprint and InfoGin Ltd.
The new service automatically adapts Web pages for Web-enabled wireless customers' screens. AOL uses InfoGin's transcoding and content analysis technologies to extend the ease of desktop search and navigation to wireless devices..."
"AOL is offering new information and location services, including an integrated addition to mobile AOL Search suite and a Web-enabled MapQuest service. The company announced the news Monday, saying it represents an expansion of partnerships with Sprint and InfoGin Ltd.
The new service automatically adapts Web pages for Web-enabled wireless customers' screens. AOL uses InfoGin's transcoding and content analysis technologies to extend the ease of desktop search and navigation to wireless devices..."
Monday, April 03, 2006
Hey YouOS!:
"...The practical details: YouOS runs on a handful of servers in San Francisco and can be accessed by anybody through a Web browser at www.youos.com. Consumers who register for free can use a host of simple applications for everything from writing a letter and scheduling their life to managing their e-mail accounts. They can manage all of their Web services and files in one place, share files through a simple buddy list, and add applications written by themselves or their friends. Anybody with the skills and will can write programs on YouOS using Javascript, a simple programming language, plus all sorts of other equally free programming tools..."
"...The practical details: YouOS runs on a handful of servers in San Francisco and can be accessed by anybody through a Web browser at www.youos.com. Consumers who register for free can use a host of simple applications for everything from writing a letter and scheduling their life to managing their e-mail accounts. They can manage all of their Web services and files in one place, share files through a simple buddy list, and add applications written by themselves or their friends. Anybody with the skills and will can write programs on YouOS using Javascript, a simple programming language, plus all sorts of other equally free programming tools..."
YouTube: Way Beyond Home Videos:
"...The trouble is, the freewheeling approach that has made YouTube a hit could be its downfall. Users have been posting videos that are still under copyright, without any of the required legal approvals. These include clips from the Olympics, prime-time news shows, episodes of The Office, and music videos. Needless to say, this doesn't sit well with the major media companies. NBC, CBS, and others have requested that YouTube remove clips taken from them. Hurley and Chen typically don't screen out copyrighted works before they're posted, but they do comply with all such requests.
That raises the question: What does YouTube want to be when it grows up? Is it the next NBC or the next Napster (NAPS )? Hurley and Chen think they're working toward the future of TV. Venture stalwart Sequoia Capital is betting on the prospect, having invested $3.5 million. But skeptics wonder if the startup can balance its surging popularity with the looming legal risks. "I think YouTube is fantastic," says Joanne Bradford, head of sales at MSN and other Microsoft properties. "But five years from now I don't know how they make their money. Their problem is all the pirated content."
The next few months will be critical. Hurley and Chen are investigating whether they can generate revenues by adding advertising. They're also working to convince media companies that YouTube can be a good partner, capable of delivering an audience of millions. The San Mateo (Calif.) company is rolling out tools aimed at protecting copyrighted works, including technology that prevents clips from being uploaded again once they've been removed. They're also limiting videos to 10 minutes to cut out entire TV episodes and movies. "We want to be a destination that promotes the entertainment offered by these guys," says Hurley, YouTube's chief executive...."
"...The trouble is, the freewheeling approach that has made YouTube a hit could be its downfall. Users have been posting videos that are still under copyright, without any of the required legal approvals. These include clips from the Olympics, prime-time news shows, episodes of The Office, and music videos. Needless to say, this doesn't sit well with the major media companies. NBC, CBS, and others have requested that YouTube remove clips taken from them. Hurley and Chen typically don't screen out copyrighted works before they're posted, but they do comply with all such requests.
That raises the question: What does YouTube want to be when it grows up? Is it the next NBC or the next Napster (NAPS )? Hurley and Chen think they're working toward the future of TV. Venture stalwart Sequoia Capital is betting on the prospect, having invested $3.5 million. But skeptics wonder if the startup can balance its surging popularity with the looming legal risks. "I think YouTube is fantastic," says Joanne Bradford, head of sales at MSN and other Microsoft properties. "But five years from now I don't know how they make their money. Their problem is all the pirated content."
The next few months will be critical. Hurley and Chen are investigating whether they can generate revenues by adding advertising. They're also working to convince media companies that YouTube can be a good partner, capable of delivering an audience of millions. The San Mateo (Calif.) company is rolling out tools aimed at protecting copyrighted works, including technology that prevents clips from being uploaded again once they've been removed. They're also limiting videos to 10 minutes to cut out entire TV episodes and movies. "We want to be a destination that promotes the entertainment offered by these guys," says Hurley, YouTube's chief executive...."
YouTube: New NBC or New Napster?:
"When someone from YouTube told a gathering at PC Forum a few weeks ago that it was serving 30 million video streams a DAY, no small number of people there did a double-take. I assumed they meant 30 million a MONTH. Nope, 30 million a day. My colleague Heather Green explains what's up. I don't know how they'll handle the people who are uploading copyrighted material. But having struggled to post videos online a few months ago, I know that you can never underestimate the value of making a service dead-simple..."
"When someone from YouTube told a gathering at PC Forum a few weeks ago that it was serving 30 million video streams a DAY, no small number of people there did a double-take. I assumed they meant 30 million a MONTH. Nope, 30 million a day. My colleague Heather Green explains what's up. I don't know how they'll handle the people who are uploading copyrighted material. But having struggled to post videos online a few months ago, I know that you can never underestimate the value of making a service dead-simple..."
Murdoch Will Earn A Payday From MySpace - Forbes.com:
"...Of the top global sites in the Alexa rankings, six are U.S.-based. They are, in order, Yahoo! (nasdaq: YHOO - news - people ), Google (nasdaq: GOOG - news - people ), MSN from Microsoft (nasdaq: MSFT - news - people ), eBay (nasdaq: EBAY - news - people ), MySpace and Passport (again from Microsoft ). In terms of market cap, Yahoo!’s is $46 billion, Google’s is $115 billion and eBay’s is $56 billion. I leave Microsoft out of the picture because it is hard to say what part of its market cap can be attributed to its Web site properties, but one would expect that it would be a decent amount of its $280 billion market cap.
The reason I’m pulling up these numbers is that MySpace, the social networking site for 18- to 30-year-olds, is a peer, and while it’s not a pure play, market-listed Internet property, you would expect its worth to be somewhere in the region of its counterparts in the global top ten.
If this is the case, then its parent company, News Corp. (nyse: NWS - news - people ), is simply trading at the wrong price. News Corp. bought Intermix, owner of MySpace, last year for a mere $580 million, which in hindsight looks like the purchase of the century...."
"...Of the top global sites in the Alexa rankings, six are U.S.-based. They are, in order, Yahoo! (nasdaq: YHOO - news - people ), Google (nasdaq: GOOG - news - people ), MSN from Microsoft (nasdaq: MSFT - news - people ), eBay (nasdaq: EBAY - news - people ), MySpace and Passport (again from Microsoft ). In terms of market cap, Yahoo!’s is $46 billion, Google’s is $115 billion and eBay’s is $56 billion. I leave Microsoft out of the picture because it is hard to say what part of its market cap can be attributed to its Web site properties, but one would expect that it would be a decent amount of its $280 billion market cap.
The reason I’m pulling up these numbers is that MySpace, the social networking site for 18- to 30-year-olds, is a peer, and while it’s not a pure play, market-listed Internet property, you would expect its worth to be somewhere in the region of its counterparts in the global top ten.
If this is the case, then its parent company, News Corp. (nyse: NWS - news - people ), is simply trading at the wrong price. News Corp. bought Intermix, owner of MySpace, last year for a mere $580 million, which in hindsight looks like the purchase of the century...."
GigaOM : » BubbleShare, Simply Bubbly:
"By Jackson West
When he’s not busy having lunch with Microsoft multi-billionaire Bill Gates, Albert Lai is a passionate evangelist for his product, BubbleShare. The software, which allows you to quickly and easily create photo slide shows with voice and text notes and narration, is an easy sell. With a super-simple interface, it’s aimed squarely at the mainstream market. In fact, you don’t even have to register for an account to begin creating a slideshow, making for an incredible shallow adoption and learning curve for new users.
The product has been in beta for the last six months, but the development team has been working on it in stealth mode for at least two years. “We focused on building something that would help people radically simplify their sharing experience,” says Albert. “Our focus has been to target first time photo sharing users, with a particular focus on digital sharing (vs. printing) which is what most people are interested in.” He was equivocal that they weren’t trying to compete with services like Flickr. “Our focus has been on helping people tell their stories…simply.”
This approach, targeting novice users instead of mainstream users, has allowed the BubbleShare user base to grow quickly without any traditional marketing around the product. So far, all of the growth has been by word of mouth. While he wouldn’t disclose any numbers regarding their user base, he pointed to their Alexa ranking as a metric that reliably mirrors their own data in terms of reach and growth. He added that revenue models they’re considering include premium subscription services, advertising and partnerships. (For now there is nothing resembling a business model, right now, but then these are web 2.0 days, so who cares right ;-) - Om)..."
"By Jackson West
When he’s not busy having lunch with Microsoft multi-billionaire Bill Gates, Albert Lai is a passionate evangelist for his product, BubbleShare. The software, which allows you to quickly and easily create photo slide shows with voice and text notes and narration, is an easy sell. With a super-simple interface, it’s aimed squarely at the mainstream market. In fact, you don’t even have to register for an account to begin creating a slideshow, making for an incredible shallow adoption and learning curve for new users.
The product has been in beta for the last six months, but the development team has been working on it in stealth mode for at least two years. “We focused on building something that would help people radically simplify their sharing experience,” says Albert. “Our focus has been to target first time photo sharing users, with a particular focus on digital sharing (vs. printing) which is what most people are interested in.” He was equivocal that they weren’t trying to compete with services like Flickr. “Our focus has been on helping people tell their stories…simply.”
This approach, targeting novice users instead of mainstream users, has allowed the BubbleShare user base to grow quickly without any traditional marketing around the product. So far, all of the growth has been by word of mouth. While he wouldn’t disclose any numbers regarding their user base, he pointed to their Alexa ranking as a metric that reliably mirrors their own data in terms of reach and growth. He added that revenue models they’re considering include premium subscription services, advertising and partnerships. (For now there is nothing resembling a business model, right now, but then these are web 2.0 days, so who cares right ;-) - Om)..."
GigaOM : » Dial Meez To Pimp Your Virtual Self:
"With the virtual worlds breaking out, social networks gaining in popularity, just like blogs and IM, Sean Ryan, a former Real Networks executive, is convinced that there is a money making opportunity when it comes to 3D avatars.
Perhaps that explains why he just launched Meez, the first offering from his San Francisco-based start-up, Donnerwood Media. “Meez allow users to personalize their communications in a completely new way,” says Ryan.
Meez.com“Our ever-growing selection of clothing and accessories gives consumers millions of possible ways to turn their Meez I.D. into a personal statement that can be shared on their favorite online services.” Donnerwood has raised about $4.3 million in venture funding, from Battery Ventures, Transcosmos Partners, Allen & Co. and other individuals.
It is an interesting idea, and I have spent a lot of time trying to make a virtual avatar for myself. But it is quite fun and addictive. You can pick clothing, hairstyles, piercings, accessories, backgrounds and fun animations. In places like South Korea, this has become a mega million dollar business. Okay, we can laugh at it, but then we laughed at ringtones as well."
"With the virtual worlds breaking out, social networks gaining in popularity, just like blogs and IM, Sean Ryan, a former Real Networks executive, is convinced that there is a money making opportunity when it comes to 3D avatars.
Perhaps that explains why he just launched Meez, the first offering from his San Francisco-based start-up, Donnerwood Media. “Meez allow users to personalize their communications in a completely new way,” says Ryan.
Meez.com“Our ever-growing selection of clothing and accessories gives consumers millions of possible ways to turn their Meez I.D. into a personal statement that can be shared on their favorite online services.” Donnerwood has raised about $4.3 million in venture funding, from Battery Ventures, Transcosmos Partners, Allen & Co. and other individuals.
It is an interesting idea, and I have spent a lot of time trying to make a virtual avatar for myself. But it is quite fun and addictive. You can pick clothing, hairstyles, piercings, accessories, backgrounds and fun animations. In places like South Korea, this has become a mega million dollar business. Okay, we can laugh at it, but then we laughed at ringtones as well."
