Six Search Technologies You Should Know About

The days of the one-size-fits-all search algorithm are over. As impressed as we all were with Google’s PageRank algorithm back in 2001, the results you’d get from that algorithm today would be laughable in comparison to the results we have come to expect from search engines.

Why? Well, in part because SEOs have gamed the original algorithm to death at this point, but mostly because search technology has gotten so much better since then.

Here, then, are six search technologies that will (or are) reshaping the search landscape.

1. Collaborative Filtering. Loyal readers may wonder why I don’t just change the title of this blog to “Collaborative Filtering Thoughts” since I mention this technology about once a post. Collaborative filtering is technology that matches your interests to people similar to you, best expressed in Amazon’s “People who bought this book also bought . . .” Many Web 2.0 applications are based on this principle, such as StumbleUpon, del.icio.us, and Flixster. I’m very bullish on collaborative filtering, simply because I believe that the “wisdom of crowds” can be far more effective than even the best algorithm for many types of searches (product reviews, restaurant recommendations, someday perhaps even dating!).

Examples of Collaborative Filtering: Collarity, Launchcast, Flickster, Amazon.com.

2. Personalization. As the name implies, personalization uses data a search engine has about you to serve more relevant results in the future. For example, if I continually do searches for “lake trout” and “fly fishing”, a personalization engine will likely conclude that my search for “laker” is not for a basketball team, but rather for a fish. Personalization has the potential to be very powerful, but it also comes with a price – privacy concerns. Ultimately, this technology will only work if consumers really trust a search engine to protect and honor their personal data.

Examples of Personalization: Google Personalization.

3. Semantic Search. Semantic search identifies similarities in words and phrases. Thus, if I searched for “telephone”, the search results might show me results that contained sites about “cell phones.” In the paid search world, this might mean that you buy the word “mortgage” on broad match, but end up getting matched with terms like “refinance” and “home equity” because the search engine considers these words to be semantically related to one another.

Examples of Semantic Search: Hakia, Yahoo “also try” results.

4. Clustering. Clustering, or clustered search, tries to categorize words or phrases into a taxonomy (or groups) of related themes. I might type in “auction” and a clustering engine would show me categories like “Online Auctions” and “Fine Art Auctions” and beneath each category I would find sub-categories like “eBay”, “Ubid” and “Sotherby’s.” Clustering is a great way to provide additional navigation options to users who might feel overwhelmed by the raw search results.

Examples of Clustering: Clusty, eBay search results.

5. Local Search. Local search can be described in two ways – either it’s interactive maps like Google Maps, or it’s geotargeting based on the IP address or user registration information. For example, as a registered user of Yahoo, Yahoo knows that I live in the Bay Area (I gave this info to them when I signed up, and I was actually honest). As a result, I get a lot of ads for local events, car dealers, and Bay Area real estate brokers. But even if I didn’t register, Yahoo could still have a good idea of my location by looking at my IP address, or by cookie-ing my searches.

Examples of Local Search: Google Local, Krillion.

6. Human-Edited Search Engines. As funny as it may sound, humans are making a comeback (here’s hoping I don’t see the top of the Statue of Liberty on my next beach walk . . .). As the number of Web sites multiple, it becomes harder and harder for anyone to filter out the all the noise and get to the good stuff. So rather than do the hard work yourself, why not farm out the effort to someone else? That’s the theory behind search newcomers like ChaCha, Mahalo, and really Wikipedia when you think about it.

Examples of Human-Edited Search Engines: ChaCha, Mahalo.

Phew, that’s a lot of different search options. Ultimately, I’m still throwing my hat in the ring with collaborative filtering, but you can bet that each of the technologies above – as well as many that have yet to be developed – will play a role in the future of search!

 

Nine Online Advertising Companies You’ve Never Heard of, But Are Worth Checking Out

Here’s a list of nine companies (top ten lists are so passe) that you should check out if you are into online advertising. Editor’s note: I’ve tried to avoid listing companies founded by friends, but a couple of these sort of break that rule. Nonetheless, I truly believe that each of these companies will have a significant impact on online advertising in the next two to three years.

In alphabetical order:

• AdChemy: Next gen online lead generation. Like an Azoogle or Adteractive, but with an intense focus on developing algorithms and technology to optimize ad spend.
• Adknowledge: PPC applied to email advertising, with a dose of behavioral targeting thrown in for good measure.
• Collarity: Collaborative filtering and search combined. Great targeting potential for advertisers.
• eSearchVision: A newcomer to bid management agencies from Europe. Have they solved Google’s ‘yield management’ equation?
• Moola: The concept here is that you play games against other people and win money for every victory. In between each win, however, you have to watch an ad and then answer questions about the contents of the ad before you can move on. My sense is that this particular company might not be the one to take this concept to the next level, but I like the idea a lot!
• Quigo: Like AdSense, but far more targeted with far less click fraud.
• SingleFeed: My friend Brian’s company – they enable you to send data feeds to all the major shopping comparison engines through one feed.
• SpotRunner: Bid for remnant TV spots online. Plus pre-designed ads so that you don’t have to make your own spots.
• Visual Sciences: Acquired by WebSideStory, rumor has it that this is going to revolutionize Web analytics.

 

We Hate it When Our Friends Become Successful

OK, I know it has been several months since my last post, and I know I promised something amazing in this post, but . . . it’s not ready yet . . . so you’ll have to content yourself with this (admittedly lame) post.

I’ve realized lately that I have way too many friends founding/funding/advising start-ups, and I figure it’s time to use the massive reach of this blog to promote these cool companies. So, without further ado, a few Web sites to check out (in no particular order):

www.justia.com (SEO for law firms)
www.sokel.net (Web analytics and outsourcing)
www.nabble.com (free forums)
www.tolestake.com (Joel’s musings on life at a start-up)
www.hattricktech.com (NYC software development)
www.collarity.com (collaborative filtering search engine?)
www.thintail.com (comparison shopping)
www.singlefeed.com (one product feed to multiple comparison shopping sites)
www.helmetcity.com (motorcycle helmets online)
www.marinsoftware.com (stealth mode!)
www.logicalads.com (online lead-gen platform?)
www.tixnix.com (fight traffic tickets online)
www.payscale.com (online salary information)

Like some of these? Hate others? Feel free to add a comment about a particular site you feel passionate about – I’ll make sure to pass it on to the owner!

OK, I know that someone is going to write in and complain that I missed your site. If so, I promise to include it in the next post. Of course, there’s no guarantee that the next post will happen in the next three months . . .

PS, gold star for anyone who figures out the reference in the blog title.