Social Media Analytics Podcast Availalbe
January 9, 2012
Text Analytics News has posted the podcast of their insightful Social Media Analytics Panel. Check it out for a taste of what you can expect at April’s inaugural Social Media Analytics Summit.
The panel brings together Bill Touhig of J.D. Power & Associates, Robin Seidner of Radian6, and Beyond the Arc’s Steven J. Ramirez. The social media analytics experts share their insights in the 55 minute podcast. The description describes the discussion content:
- Analytic technologies and techniques being used to make business sense of the flood of user-generated content
- The cutting edges of social media and sentiment analysis – what works, where improvements are being made, and which platforms are leading the way
- The comparison between proprietary and do-it-yourself tools for social media analysis
- Effective ways for leveraging social media information to get a leg up on your competition
The most memorable points from this podcast for me hinge on the unexpected. Social media is still a very new field that continues to supply surprises. For example, Touhig shared a discovery his company made for a major cosmetics company: trying to stay ahead of the curve, generation Y women were using skin care products made for older women. The company then had to find a way to communicate that using products for their skin type will actually be more effective for these customers.
Another surprise—Ramirez pointed out that, with social media data, more is not better. This may seem obvious to some, but it is not the case with other data types, where more volume produces more accurate results. Instead, analysts find that they need to narrow the data to exclude the vast amounts of irrelevant input that social media provides. As Ramirez commented, “people will say anything!”
It may be no surprise that text analytics is experiencing a talent gap. As Ramirez quipped, if you know young people just starting out, advise them to go into this young field. Yes, general business users are usually capable of analyzing data, but they need a leg-up. It is best to develop a program and invest in tools and training before expecting results from non-specialized employees.
There is much more to this podcast than I can fit here, so be sure to check it out for yourself. Then, plan to attend the Social Media Analytics Summit next spring.
Cynthia Murrell, January 9, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Search Technology Evolves to Encompass Sound
December 6, 2011
Lockergnome reported on the evolution of search technology this week in the article “In Search Of Sound With MediaMined.”
As a way to continue to evolve search technology beyond searching for text and images, audio engineers at Imagine Research in San Francisco have been working on what they call “the world’s first sound object recognition Web service.”
The service is called MediaMined, and is driven by artificial intelligence that is able to “listen” to sound files — whether they’re properly labeled, mislabeled, or not labeled at all — and analyze what they actually are.
Writer Robert Glen Fogarty states:
“Musicians, podcasters, radio broadcasters, and audio engineers would obviously benefit from this kind of technology, but some other unexpected applications could make use of it, as well. Mobile devices could use a MediaMined type of system to detect their surroundings and present new ways to interact with their users based on this incoming data (think augmented reality cranked up to 11). Medical professionals might be able to use this technology in order to gather data based on sounds made by patients — such as sneezing, snoring, coughing, and wheezing — to help with more keenly diagnosing their condition.”
Here at beyond search we believe that this new search technology is definitely a step in the right direction. The experts at Search Technologies can provide organizations with search
solutions–text or talk.
Iain Fletcher, December 6, 2011
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Microsoft and Video Search
November 29, 2011
the revolution in video search continues to arrive, just slowly. Google’s video search continues to improve. The Google TV findability function is due for enhancement. The first go-round was a baffler to many people. Now Engadget reports that “Microsoft Acquires VideoSurf, Promises to Bring Better Video Search and Discovery to Xbox Live.”
VideoSurf, founded in 2006, discovers and analyzes content by focusing on frames of video. Microsoft plans to use its technology to drive search on its Xbox 360’s entertainment platform, accessed via XboxLIVE.
This bid for speedier, more efficient search comes as Microsoft continues to push its console into the center of the living room. We learned from the write up:
In the coming months, Microsoft will bring nearly 40 world-leading TV and entertainment providers to Xbox LIVE. . . . With Kinect, users will be able to easily search and discover content across multiple entertainment providers within Xbox LIVE and then interact with and enjoy content in extraordinary ways using voice search powered by Bing on the Xbox 360.
I have to wonder whether success on the console will spur growth of video search in other quarters. I don’t like video search myself, but it is a big deal for the non-reading, attention deficit crowd. We have to accommodate them, right? Video is a serial information experience. Search is tricky in text. Toss in moving images, and task becomes harder. Text search remains a baffler for many. Video is a step beyond. We’re hopeful.
Channel surfing may not be productive, but it is easy to explain. Finding a specific program remains a challenge. Getting a specific program to display without payment hassles, start and stop rendering, and without time consuming dead ends are hurdles which must be overcome. Maybe Microsoft can resolve the issues which are evident to me.
Cynthia Murrell, November 29, 2011
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Search Sound
November 26, 2011
Lockergnome reported on the evolution of search technology this week in the article “In Search Of Sound With MediaMined.”
As a way to continue to evolve search technology beyond searching for text and images, audio engineers at Imagine Research in San Francisco have been working on what they call “the world’s first sound object recognition Web service.”
The service is called MediaMined , and is driven by artificial intelligence that is able to “listen” to sound files — whether they’re properly labeled, mislabeled, or not labeled at all — and analyze what they actually are.
Writer Robert Glen Fogarty states:
??“Musicians, podcasters, radio broadcasters, and audio engineers would obviously benefit from this kind of technology, but some other unexpected applications could make use of it, as well. Mobile devices could use a MediaMined type of system to detect their surroundings and present new ways to interact with their users based on this incoming data (think augmented reality cranked up to 11). Medical professionals might be able to use this technology in order to gather data based on sounds made by patients — such as sneezing, snoring, coughing, and wheezing — to help with more keenly diagnosing their condition.”
Here at Beyond Search we believe that this new search technology is definitely a step in the right direction.
Jasmine Ashton, November 25, 2011
Google and Logitech: Fool Me Once
November 12, 2011
I am not a TV person. We leave on financial shows and when something exciting happens, one of the goslings will turn up the sound. Otherwise, I ignore the boob tube. Some of the younger goslings at ArnoldIT are rich media wackos. TV on the mobile phone. TV on the iPad. Not me. In fact, I always wondered how the Google professionals would cope with TV. The medium is porky, serial, and generally superficial. The ads have appeal, but as audiences fragment, the value of blasting out a Chevrolet commercial becomes an unwieldy task. Explaining the payoff from TV advertising is also tricky. But it seems logical that selling TV ads is not that much different from selling online ads. No brainer, right? The search part, I assumed, would be a slam dunk. How tough is it to point to a TV show. A no brainer, right?
My knowledge of TV bumped up a notch when I read “Revue This: Logitech Is Done with Google TV after $100M Loss.” Here’s the passage I noted:
At a Logitech-hosted Investors Day event Wednesday, De Luca called the Revue a mistake that cost the company well over $100 million in operating profits. The company, he said, intends to allow the device’s current inventory levels to run out this quarter. It also has no plans to introduce another box to replace the Revue. As for why the Revue was a mistake, De Luca blames the Google TV software for not being ready at launch.
Yep, software. When a software company flubs on software for TVs or iPad apps, I ask, “What is management doing?”
Logitech may have learned the meaning of the idiom “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.” TV, software, $100 million. Quite a mix.
Stephen E Arnold, November 12, 2011
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Google TV Seems Shockingly Vivid
November 10, 2011
What is your definition of vivid, of evil, of family-appropriate video?
Don’t know. I was just asking.
We read “Can 24/7 Porn Rescue Google TV?” If you are interested in this alleged content type, you may want to read the article. We find it interesting that such companies as Thomson Reuters will be participating in Google’s new television initiative. What if the staid Thomson Reuters’ channel and the alleged off color channel are adjacent or easily confused? Google needs to sharpen its video search precision and recall or there will be some surprised financial TV watchers who will wonder what happened to their money channel.
Stephen E Arnold, November 10, 2011
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Google and TV
November 3, 2011
Last year, we worked on a project about Google’s rich media plans. We uncovered a number of interesting initiatives, including a wild and crazy plan to provide back office services to those who would make motion pictures. Alas, that information is part of our for fee service. We can, however, offer several observations based on the announcement that Google is cutting deals for original content. The idea is that YouTube.com will become the next big thing in television, cable, entertainment, etc.
It’s the new face of search at Google: browsing for shows. PhysOrg.com reveals the company’s plans for a key asset in “YouTube Making Deals for Original Content: Report.” Discussing a recent Wall Street Journal article, the write-up reports that YouTube will soon announce content-producing partnerships with media companies and celebrities:
The Journal, citing people familiar with the matter, said expected media partners include IAC/InterActiveCorp.’s Electus, News Corp.’s ShineReveille unit, RTL Group’s FremantleMedia Ltd., skateboarding legend Tony Hawk and “CSI” creator Anthony Zuiker.
An interesting collection; I think we can look forward to some innovative new programming here. Probably some flops, too. Maybe lots of flops. The approach triggered three ideas or thoughts:
- Throw lots of content out “there” and see what works
- Googlers have a non consumer approach in many of their products and services and this play is the very opposite of some competitors’ angle of attack
- How will some of these high profile individuals produce content to fill a “channel”. Video takes time, money, and, oh, did I mention time.
YouTube, bought by Google in 2006, is the king of amateur video. However, it is up against some real powerhouses in the professional arena. Amazon, Hulu, Netflix, and iTunes are all fighting tooth and nail for digital domination. The “real” television industry is in the game for keeps too just like the nice people sitting around pools in Los Angeles May the best streamer win!
And search? Hmmm.
Cynthia Murrell November 2, 2011
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Is Video the New Reading?
November 2, 2011
Something quite intriguing happened this fall, and chances are if you are reading this, you were probably involved.
Stats released by comScore Video Metrix showed that 182 million U.S. Internet users watched 39.9 billion videos in September; meaning 85.3 percent of the U.S. Internet audience watched online video content for an average of 19.5 hours per viewer. Search Engine Watch tells us more in the article, “85.3% of the U.S. Internet Audience Viewed Online Videos in September 2011”:
Google Sites, driven primarily by video viewing at YouTube.com, ranked as the top online video content property in September with 161 million unique viewers. Even the most watched network television prime-time broadcasts – including multiple Super Bowls, mini-series, series finales, special events, and regular television shows – haven’t reached that many Americans.
Amazing. And what were we watching? Jennifer Lopez, rap covers by children, people getting hurt, and other very worldly, intelligent pieces. It makes me very proud of our society. Hey, at least there wasn’t a funny cat video on the Top 40.
Video is becoming more accessible and easy to use online, but users need to remember that point-and-click and easy may not equal knowledge. The future of search is apparently mobile and touch – which we aren’t so sure about.
Perhaps Google isn’t so sure either? This might be the reason some Google executives are sending their children to the Waldorf school in Los Altos where computers are not used until the 8th grade. At this school – computers aren’t allowed in the classroom and are frowned upon being used at school.
The growing trend is discussed in the article, “Some Googlers Don’t Want Their Kids Using Google Products,” which tells us:
‘At Google and all these places, we make technology as brain-dead easy to use as possible,’ [Google executive Alan Eagle] told the Times.
So who are these ‘brain-dead’ users? The rest of us who cannot afford to spend over $17,000 a year on elementary school? The children in third world countries?
The school backs its methods with high rates of graduates going to college and gaining post graduate degrees – not for an instance thinking it could be the influence of the educated parents who would see this not happening as failure.”
I believe the video stats I cited earlier make it very clear that, like it or not, books are not exactly the future. What’s the future of search in a semi-literate video saturated world? Yikes.
Andrea Hayden, November 2, 2011
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Google YouTube Outside the US
October 29, 2011
The blogosphere is abuzz with Google’s shift from user posted stuff to “real” content. The consultants serving the video and motion picture industry are now officially out of the recessionary mire.
I will leave it to the news aggregators, the New York Times, and the Wall Street Journal to explain how Google is spending millions of dollars to get “real” content and create “channels.” The Pope already has a YouTube channel, so presumably he is not shooting additional videos this weekend.
But there is new venture for Google has been released, and no, it has nothing to do with Google+ social networking.
YouTube in Kenya, a localized version of the popular video sharing site, has been unveiled and will allow Kenyans to easily find local content and videos popular in Kenya. YouTube is already localized in 33 other countries and in 52 languages. The Standard’s article, “YouTube Eyes Broadcast Sector With New Product” tells us more about the site, the fourth to be localized in Africa:
‘What we are going through is a revolution,’ Information PS Dr Bitange Ndemo said, ‘There is huge hunger for content in Africa, and there is room for everyone. Through social media, every citizen of the world is being empowered,’ Ndemo said.
Google, the tech giant that revolutionized the Internet web search and changed the mobile phone landscape with its Android operating system, literally controls lives.
From news on Google News, email on Gmail, calls on Google Android phone to directions on Google Maps, watching videos on YouTube and organizing documents of Google documents, Google wants to own your every waking minute online.
One question, “Will this approach work in countries like China or Russia?”
Developments like this are ideal for creativity, news, education, and countless other possibilities. Yet the creativity seems to be constantly branded by the same corporations. That’s why local video-sharing sites, like www.naibase.com, are able to compete with the big fish; people are aware of the impact these social-media giants could potentially have on their lives and are making the decision to empower local businesses instead. And advertising? Nah, Google is focusing on “real” content.
Andrea Hayden, October 29, 2011
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Can the Sum of Digital Media be Classified?
October 13, 2011
The ALRC Discussion Paper released today contains 44 proposals relating to a proposed new National Classification Scheme. It suggests that at its heart will sit a new Classification of Media Content Act. It will identify what content needs to be classified, who should do it, and who has responsibility for breaches of the guidelines.
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