Vivisimo Generates Revenue from Recycler.com
November 2, 2010
Short honk: We learned that Vivisimo has been selected to provide search and content processing for Recycler.com. The service, owned by Target Media Partners, has created a single Recycler.com Web site for its three score print publications. Target Media wants to go after a market once dominated by newspapers and now mostly in the death grip of Craigslist. To differentiate itself from Craigslist, Target Media wants to follow Steve Jobs’s path and eliminate the nasty stuff from the firm’s new service. The Los Angeles Business Journal has a useful profile of Target Media in “Rival Reborn”.
The news item “Recycler.com Selects Vivisimo’s Velocity Platform” said [Data Monitor links can go dead so you may have to hunt around]:
Recycler.com chose Velocity for its handling of bins and facets, federated searches, and ability to customize ranking methodologies to ensure the relevant ads are displayed to users.
Our perception of Vivisimo was the company was providing federated search and integration services. The use of Velocity in an application that we associated with functions from Endeca, Exalead, Intelligenx, and other vendors surprised us. For more information about Vivisimo, navigate to www.vivisimo.com.
Stephen E Arnold, November 2, 2010
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Attivio Upping Its Profile
November 2, 2010
First, I received a copy of the Attivio newsletter. Then Overflight delivered “Attivio’s Active Intelligence Engine (AIE)” to me this morning (October 31, 2010). IntraLinks, a leading provider of software as a a service for managing content has licensed the Attivio Active Intelligence Engine to tame some unruly data lions. According to the write up:
AIE has workflow and alerts for a more proactive user experience. It empowers IntraLinks’ permissioning model, enabling users to find and examine critical information, while maintaining strict access rights. Unlike legacy enterprise search software that stores ACLs as a field in each document, Attivio’s real-time fields are indexed separately, so they can be updated instantly without having to re-index entire documents. Attivio also gives us the ability to execute real-time tagging and commenting. AIE retrieves all types of information – content and data – with one query. Information is linked when a query is submitted, using patented SQL-style JOINs that connect entities extracted from content to relational data ingested from databases. AIE also dynamically generates facet recommendations, enhancing navigation and information discovery.
The article provides a summary of Attivio’s strengths. The “only weakness” is AIE’s ability to process video searches. IntraLinks wants a system that does more than index the metadata attached to a video.
If you are interested in a client’s analysis of Attivio’s system, check out the article. Information about Attivio is available at www.attivio.com.
Stephen E Arnold, November 2, 2010
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Blekko, Curation, and American Searchers
November 2, 2010
I agree with most of the points in “Sorry, Blekko Is Doomed.” Here’s an example of a comment similar to one I made to the worms and ants around the goose pond earlier this year:
Yes, search engines could do a much better job of telling you which restaurants you should eat at, which cameras you should buy, and many other things–but, again, the reason search is weak on those queries generally isn’t a Demand Media problem. It’s an imperfect information and subjectivity problem (which is where social media comes in.)
I think that bright young people recognize that search is generally good and often pretty lousy. I can’t figure out if I am lucky or unlucky to get a chance to see new search systems, decision support solutions, and data fusion implementations. There are new search systems coming down the dirt road that comprises America’s online infrastructure.
The challenge is making money. Google has been unchallenged in a meaningful way for more than a decade. As a result, Google fervently hopes that it will be able to maintain the charade that it accounts for about 60 percent of the search traffic. I believe that Google wants another vendor to capture some market share. Once the Google’s actual dominance of search becomes known, the “m” word becomes an even bigger deal. M, in this case, means monopoly.
However, the Google killer will not appeal to a small subset of American searchers. In my view, Google is doomed to become a $100 billion a year company and less and less important. Think about IBM or Microsoft. Neither company is that important to the average person. Google’s on the same path.
There are four reasons:
- Google is effectively neutralized at this time in some important markets. China? Russia? India?
- Google has lost the cachet of THE hot company. Say what you want. Facebook is the next big deal. Orkut? The Google Facebook killer? Buzz? Wave?
- Google has diluted its brand’s impact with legal hassles, executives who say and do things that make the residents of Harrod’s Creek ask, “What? I have to move?”
- Google is now perceived as an advertising company that has after 12 years been able to diversify into more advertising. Google Search Appliance? Knol?
I wish Blekko well. I think another search engine will help me in my research. However, I am not Chinese or Russian. I don’t live in Mumbai. Those and similar non US sectors that will spawn an alternative to Google. Google’s problem, like Blekko’s, is that it is a company designed for American searchers. That’s not where the future is pitching its tent. American’s want a Happy Meal for finding information. Complex queries and real synthesis are like a day old McRib.
Stephen E Arnold, November 2, 2010
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Arnold For Fee Columns, November 2010
November 1, 2010
Another month and another round of for fee columns from Harrod’s Creek. Keep in mind that you are reading a free Web log and it conforms to the editorial policy stated on the About page. The for fee columns are closer to “real writing” than the swizzle in this blog. Here’s the line up of topics for what I submitted for November publication. Keep in mind that some of these publishers require my write up two or three months before the article appears in print and on a Web site. For copies of these articles, you will need to hound the publisher, not me. I just write ‘em. I don’t archive work for hire.
- For Information Today, “Open Source Search: Revolution or Evolution?”. Open source search and content processing continues to gain strength. There are upsides and downsides, of course.
- For Information World Review, “HP, Oracle, and SAP: The Crankies.” Lots of hostility in the pleasant clime of Silicon Valley land. Nasty stuff in my opinion. I explore the motives and risks of big guns shooting at one another.
- For KMWorld, “Google Levels Up Its Search Appliance.” In this column I talk about the pricing of the Google Search Appliance, using publicly available data from the US government.
- For Smart Business Network, “Google Instant: A Reason to Buy AdWords.” Google’s new search approach is designed, in my opinion, to generate more money for Google.
- For Online Magazine (yep, a new customer), “A Bitter Cup of Java: The Oracle-Google Percolation”. This article looks at the uncertainty created by the Oracle assertion that Google allegedly used in an improper manner Oracle’s intellectual property. I have written for this publication before, and I am delighted to be contributing again. In year 2000, I received an award for an article I submitted. Winning an award, however, does not make me a good writer or a journalist. At age 66, I am pretty sure my flaws are non remediateable.
Once again, a suggestion to public relations stallions and fillies. Read the About information for this blog. I sell time, ads, interviews, and stories. Each story points out that it is a freebie or in some way sponsored. Beyond Search does not do news. I write this blog for myself and the fact that some outfit has named Beyond Search one of the top 500 technology blogs means zero to me. The blog is marketing, PR stallions and fillies. If you majored in journalism and wonder why the Courier Journal recycles content instead of hiring local reporters, look in the mirror and ask yourself, “Do I pay for a daily newspaper written by liberal arts majors?” If you are like most informed Web users, you just use online stuff like the baloney in this blog.
Stephen E Arnold, November 1, 2010
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Google TV Fail Predicted
October 28, 2010
I am not sure I agree with MSNBC. I mean how objective can anything with either a hint of Microsoft or Comcast, but “Google Tamed Text, but Video Is Biting Back” is a must read. The author explains why the text-meister is having some problems with video. The write up even drags the dead fish of YouTube’s past through one paragraph. Nice touch.
Here’s a passage that caught my attention:
Now, with a new set-top box called Google TV, the company is trying to circumvent the usual channels again, and getting caught in the act. Ideally, Google sees the box’s software as a video equivalent of the Google Reader news program — you just tell it what you like, and all the freshest content will be there when you fire it up. But already, NBC, CBS and ABC have formally blocked Google TV’s Web browser from accessing the video content on their websites. This means that anyone who hopes to enjoy “everything … you’re accustomed to doing online” via Google TV will have to go without the lion’s share of popular TV content — even the full shows that are indeed available “free” online. Informally, other blocks are in place: Google TV includes a link to HBO GO in its “Spotlight” section, but when any Comcast customer visits that link, they are told to go to Fancast, Comcast’s own streaming service. Hop over to Fancast, and you’re told that the browser is not supported. Will Comcast ever let Google TV’s browser stream its content? I suppose that depends on who pays what to whom.
I am no TV or rich media goose. When I want to watch a sports program and my wife is recording one of her faves, I have to ask her how to make the weird switch channels or cancel recording message go away. But the MSNBC post speaks about those who are TV savvy. The argument advanced sounds reasonable.
Stephen E Arnold, October 28, 2010
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SDL Real Time Automated Translation
October 27, 2010
UK-based SDL has moved real time, automated translation to the cloud. The translation system complements the firms publishing system. According to “SDL Unveils Cloud Platform for Real-Time Automated Translation,” Through an easy-to-use web-based portal, SDL BeGlobal instantly enables users to manage global, trusted communications with customers in real-time, through one central interface for multiple types of content, communication and social media. SDL BeGlobal is an intuitive cloud platform that can turn any business user into a multilingual publisher, delivering content faster than ever before.” SDL asserts that it…
is the leader in Global Information Management solutions. SDL’s solutions increase business agility to enterprises by accelerating the delivery of high-quality multilingual content to global markets. The company’s integrated Web Content Management, eCommerce, Structured Content and Language Technologies, combined with its Language Services drive down the cost of content creation, management, translation and publishing. SDL solutions increase conversion ratios and customer satisfaction through targeted information that reaches multiple audiences around the world through different channels.
Our view is that there is a growing interest in on-the-fly translation. With the shift to mobile computing, making seamless, near real time translation available for text and spoken content is a hot area. We keep thinking about Google’s “free” translation service. Specialists will have to content with Google if the company gets serious about moving translation to the world once described in science fiction novels. For more information about SDL, navigate to the firm’s Web site at www.sdl.com.
Stephen E Arnold, October 27, 2010
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NARA Wants US Government Social Media Content Tamed
October 26, 2010
If you are a firm believer in records management nuclear power plants and aircraft, you may find “NARA: Federal Social Media Requires Archiving Attention” interesting. NARA is shorthand for the National Archives. For more information about NARA, navigate to www.archives.gov. The idea is that the tweets, Facebook wall posts, and other social content should be archived. There is a bulletin that explains what social content should be archived. But the interesting item in the write up is a flow chart to help the Federal professional figure out what to do with social, webby two oh content.
If you can’t read the text, click here for the big version.
Social content is like lots of still living anchovies. The content is often small and slippery. Out of context social content can, like fish, become pretty interesting unless preserved promptly and with considerable care.
My hunch is that figuring out how to suck content from cloud services, organize it, and make it findable is a pretty challenging task. My earlier reference to the records management work for nuclear power plants and aircraft was not an idle reference. The complexity of US government social content may be as complex and costly.
Stephen E Arnold, October 26, 2010
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How to Cope with Google: Change Your Name, Just Move
October 26, 2010
I find Math Club folks darned entertaining. I recall learning from someone that Google’s top dog suggested that one could deal with privacy issues by changing one’s name. No problem, but not exactly practical. Today (October 25, 2010) several people mentioned to me Dr. Schmidt’s suggestion regarding Street View’s imaging one’s home. The recommendation was, according to “Schmidt: Don’t Like Google Street View Photographing Your House? Then Move,” even more impractical than changing one’s name. In today’s real estate market, most folks struggle to make payments. The cost of moving is out of reach even if there were a compelling reason to uproot oneself. The idea of moving because Google is making snaps of one’s domicile is either pretty funny (my view) or pretty crazy (the view of one of the people in my office).
So which is it? Colbert Report material or an answer that could get you stuck in a hospital’s psychiatric ward for observation?
I side with the Math Club. Dr. Schmidt was just joking.
What’s not so funny is the mounting legal friction that Google faces. My concern is that the push back could impair Google’s ability to do deals. The issue is partially trust and partially mind share. With lawyers wanting discovery and depositions, the two Ds can get even the A student in Math Club in academic hot water. That’s bad for Google, its partners, and its stakeholders. Competitors know Google has lots of cash, but with Apple and Facebook surging, Google can no longer rely on controlled chaos to converge on a solution. Lawyers are into procedures and often lack a sense of humor.
Just move. Man, that’s a hoot. Getting a cow on top of a university bell tower will not elicit a chuckle from me. But “just move.” I am in stitches. Absolutely hilarious. But there is that other point of view… the hospital… the observation thing. Hmmm.
Stephen E Arnold, October 26, 2010
Walled Gardens: A Blast from the Dark Ages
October 26, 2010
No self respecting war lord would have a garden and leave it open to the folks who did grunt work. The powerful family wanted a place to chill without the annoyances some people generate. Flash forward to 2010. The war lord at Apple wants to keep the orchard free of pests. Farewell Flash. Java is getting its walking papers soon too. Microsoft likes to keep its SharePoint kids clean and neat. Fees, training, and some sales leads do the job. Get too frisky in a Microsoft centric company, and you and your Linux box get a chance to find your future elsewhere. The Google jaws about open, but I don’t think the Google wants to let Facebook poach Orkut users. In fact, Google does not want a competitor in search or anywhere else for that matter. Great war lords think similar thoughts.
“Facebook Disconnect” may be a third party extension today, but my hunch is that open gates may be equipped with the spike gizmos that rental car companies use to keep me from sneaking out the “In” gate. With the Internet making consolidation an inevitable consequence of the utilization and commoditization of online services, architects and builders of walled gardens are likely to enjoy a business boom.
Stephen E Arnold, October 26, 2010
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Recommind Estimated 2010 Revenues: Fact or Fiction?
October 25, 2010
Last week I heard that Recommind disclosed its revenues. The information I saw surfaced on the e-discovery 2.0 blog in “Recommind Publicly Discloses Its Revenue—and It’s Less than You Might Think.” The write up contained some interesting information, but I don’t know if the figures and factoids are spot on. Nevertheless, I did find the information interesting and in line with what my Overflight model spits out for a privately-held company in the search and content processing business.
Smash cut to the death of the fox in the jaws of the search hounds: Recommind’s estimated 2010 revenue is $23 to $28 million. That’s nothing to sneeze at. Most of the companies chugging along in the search and content processing rendering yard generate less revenue. And even with the outfits with great visibility and a strong client list, the need for cash is growing. Endeca accepted an intravenous drip from Intel and SAP Ventures. High flying Palantir sucked on a $90 million money milk shake this summer. And BA-Insight—a vendor of Microsoft SharePoint snap in systems—palmed $6 million.
The challenge with numbers from privately held companies is that the data are difficult to verify. Heck, try and figure out what publicly traded Amazon spends on R&D and makes on its widely publicized Amazon Web Services product line. Impossible task in my opinion. Move those finances into a private company and figuring out what’s what is tough. Google allegedly used some fancy dancing to trim its tax bill and that arabesque is only now being evaluated.
With regard to finances, a top line revenue figure or a growth rate are handy hand holds for the arm chair analyst or the azure chip consultant. In the real world, some financial types are interest in the company’s long term expenditures for R&D, the debt, the structure of deals’ payouts, executive compensation, etc. Without more numerical grit, who really knows. I recall looking at financial data for one high profile search system and learned that a number of debts had been rolled together, refinanced repeatedly, and the burden was little more than an annoying payment. The approach was similar to the person who buys a new vehicle by looking at the monthly payment, not the cost of the debt. In the Enron and Tyco world, these were old tricks. In the BearStearns Lehman Brothers world, magic accounting is what makes MBA men men and MBA women get a zest for living.
There were some factoids in the write up. Here are ones I noted:
- Recommind is placed on a par with Exterro and kCura. Fascinating to me because Exterro and kCura are what I consider next generation systems.
- Recommind is chasing three markets and according to the write up, Recommind’s revenue from the legal sector is “less than many other companies in the space.” No support but I found this an interesting observation.
- Recommind had a lousy 2009. No big surprise there.
I am not so quick to chastise Recommind for the alleged revenue. Compared to some of the search and content processing vendors I track, that $20 million or so looks pretty good compared to $1.5 to $3.0 million. We don’t know the cost structure or the net, but at least Recommind is still in business. It is, therefore, doing something right which is more than I can say for the search vendors listed on my Death Watch list. I recall I tried to visit the company, but it was too busy to make time for the addled goose. I suppose that’s a marketing ploy of sorts. I still want to understand the difference between the Recommind approach and the Autonomy IDOL approach. But now I am pretty busy and will content myself with recycling the Recommind revenue figures. And as for the “smaller than you might think”, I don’t think too much about Recommind or its revenues. I am a busy goose indeed. For more information about Recommends, navigate to www.recommind.com.
Stephen E Arnold, October 25, 2010
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