Troubling Filter Bubbles in Google Search
November 26, 2012
It is another reason to love my favorite search engine, DuckDuckGo. The folks at that search site, which collects no user information and does not personalize results, ran a Google experiment and found some disturbing effects of the search giant’s results tailoring. DuckDuckGo’s Gabriel Weinberg discusses the results in his blog post, “Magic Keywords on Google and the Consequences of Tailoring Results.” I recommend skipping to the bottom of the page and watching the one-minute video, either on its own or before delving into the thought-provoking article.
The upshot: many users searched Google for the same terms simultaneously and got very different personalized results, even when logged out of their Google profiles. Weinberg reports:
“No ordering received a majority across the whole study, and several orderings were only seen by one or two people. In fact, the data only includes the top five links — if you open it up to the whole first page (usually 7-11 links) it fragments a lot more.
“We saw a lot of different links (not just orderings). And we also saw a lot of different news results within the news blocks.
“The news varied a lot. In the ‘obama’ search, news was the first link. Some people were getting Fox News while others got the LA Times and a few people got other stuff.
“Individual people often saw the same things on the off and on versions, but there was of course more variation person to person. That this tailoring exists even when making an attempt to de-personalize (signing out or going incognito) makes it impossible for an individual to pop their own Google filter bubble.”
Some folks have long been leery of Google’s personalization efforts, largely for privacy reasons. This article highlights another reason to dislike results tailoring—it takes confirmation bias to a new, insidious level. Rather than actively rejecting perspectives with which you don’t already agree, you don’t get to see them at all. So, if one is using Google to objectively research all viewpoints and develop an informed opinion. . . well, good luck with that. I’ll stick with the Duck, myself.
Cynthia Murrell, November 26, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Collective Intelligence without Real Steele?
November 24, 2012
I just read “The Emerging Science of ‘Collective Intelligence’ — and the Rise of the Global Brain.” Much of the information was familiar to me. How could an addled goose in rural Kentucky know anything about a “global brain.” As it turns out, the notion of a global brain has been talked about for a number of years. Google spits out a half million hits to the bound phrase “global brain.” I may have overlooked something in the article, but the phrase “global brain” is more closely associated in my mind with the prescient thinker Robert Steele. See for example this short list on Experience Festival. What is interesting to me about Mr. Steele’s approach is that he uses the concept within the intelligence work process. In my context, “intelligence” is not IQ. “Intelligence” is the profession of analyzing information for certain government purposes. I like the academic approach, but I relate to the professional application of the concept due to my interest in findability.
Stephen E Arnold, November 24, 2012
Complexificaton: Is ElasticSearch Making a Case for a Google Search Solution?
November 24, 2012
I don’t have any dealings with Google, the GOOG, or Googzilla (a word I coined in the years before the installation of the predator skeleton on the wizard zone campus). In the briefings I once endured about the GSA (Google speak for the Google Search Appliance), I recall three business principles imparted to me; to wit:
- Search is far too complicated. The Google business proposition was and is that the GSA and other Googley things are easy to install, maintain, use, and love.
- Information technology people in organizations can often be like a stuck brake on a sports car. The institutionalized approach to enterprise software drags down the performance of the organization information technology is supposed to serve.
- The enterprise search vendors are behind the curve.
Now the assertions from the 2004 salad days of Google are only partially correct today. As everyone with a colleague under 25 years of age knows, Google is the go to solution for information. A number of large companies have embraced Google’s all-knowing, paternalistic approach to digital information. However, others—many others, in fact—have not.
One company which is replete with $10 million in venture money is ElasticSearch. Based on the open source technology which certain university computer science departments hold in reverence, ElasticSearch is marketing its heart out. I learned that Searchblox, the brother owned and operated cloud search service, has embraced ElasticSearch. Today I received a link to “Working with ElasticSearch in Scala.”
Scala, in case you are not hip to the brave new world, is a “general purpose programming language designed to express common programming patterns in a concise, elegant, and type-safe way. It smoothly integrates features of object-oriented and functional languages, enabling Java and other programmers to be more productive. Code sizes are typically reduced by a factor of two to three when compared to an equivalent Java application.”
Source: The Strategic Complexity Framework for Dummies by Vinay Gupta. See http://goo.gl/k042J Who wants to be “borked”? Not I when implementing an overly complex search solution. Your mileage may vary, of course.
Score one for Google. The article makes clear that Scala and ElasticSearch may require some technical skills which are not likely to be found in the local trucking company’s IT department. Truth be told, the expertise to work through the information in the write up can be found at Google type companies, a good sized state university, and in the noodle shops of Wuhan-like places.
Here’s a snippet from the write up:
Elasticsearch is schemaless. We can index any json to it. We have a bulk json file, each line is a json. For our implementation: Application reads file line by line and index json to the elasticsearch.
Moving on, we learn:
Rise Beyond the Cloud: Enterprise Search Consultation Powers Decisions
November 23, 2012
Savvy companies will not be getting their head out of the clouds anytime soon because the cloud is the place to be for businesses seeking success. ZDNet’s article “A Snapshot of Enterprise Cloud Adopters at Workday Rising” explains why the sky is not the limit when it comes to the enterprise cloud as it is continuing to evolve.
In order to keep up with the growing demands of the enterprise, Cloud providers have to stay on top of the latest developments:
“Having opted for the speed, agility and on-demand responsiveness of a cloud platform, customers rely on their chosen vendor maintaining the same pace going forward. One of the most remarkable things about watching a cloud vendor like Workday evolve is the extent of innovation that happens in the underlying infrastructure. These are not static structures. New components are constantly being introduced that advance performance, scalability and functionality — not just the three-times-a-year functional updates but architectural advances too.”
With the ongoing evolution of the enterprise, utilizing the expert advice of an established enterprise search consultant can keep a company’s head above the cloud, so to speak. Cloud search adopters could benefit from the services of enterprise search providers who offer a full range of assessment and solution selection services. Intrafind has offered solid guidance to customers seeking the right solution that improves efficiency and offers a solid return on investment in enterprise search for well over 10 years.
Jennifer Shockley, November 23, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Protecting and Maintaining Web Site Search Rankings
November 23, 2012
Web site search rankings are important. There is no denying that search engine optimization (SEO) is an important and necessary endeavor for those who earn their livelihood on the Web. But getting there is only half the battle when it comes to SEO. Simply achieving the rankings isn’t enough – you must hold onto them. Entrepreneur tells us how in, “3 Steps to Protecting Your Website’s Search Rankings.”
The author begins:
You’ve worked hard to follow search engine optimization (SEO) best practices to earn high rankings for your website in the search engine results pages (SERPs). After weeks or even months of content creation, customer outreach and link building efforts, you’ve finally reached a coveted spot in the rankings. Unfortunately, your hard work isn’t over. To understand why, think about the difficulty of maintaining your ideal body weight. While taking off pounds can be a challenge, keeping the weight off is often an even bigger struggle. Similarly, maintaining high rankings in the natural search results can be even more of a challenge than obtaining them in the first place.
One way to add a level of currency and usability to your Web site (both of which improve SEO) is to add an effective Web site search function like Fabasoft Mindbreeze Insite. Insite comes from a trusted leader in enterprise, Fabasoft Mindbreeze, and its automatic indexing is maintenance free and requires no installation. Insite is just one way to ease the heavy burden of Web site maintenance and the struggle to achieve and maintain high search engine rankings.
Emily Rae Aldridge, November 23, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext.
Yandex Enjoys Hefty Revenues
November 23, 2012
Google’s Russian rival has been doing very well, we learn from TechCrunch’s “Yandex Reports Revenues Up 43% to $235.2M Year-on-Year for Q3 2012, Boosting its Expansion Plans.” The brief article reports that the company’s 2012 third quarter year-on-year revenues have risen 41 percent, garnering a profit of over $74 million. Last quarter, it saw a handsome 50 percent revenue increase, which represents a whopping 76 percent increase over the same time last year.
Writer Mike Butcher observes:
“Yandex is on something of a roll. It’s launched its own ‘social’ browser, opened its own Android store and boosted its Yandex.Disk cloud storage service.
“In addition it is experimenting with expanding beyond the Russian ‘RuNet’ with a service in Turkey, but with mixed results so far. Word on the street has it that they plan to get Turkey ‘right’ first before thinking about expanding into other markets. At which point, I wonder if we’ll start to see headlines like ‘The Russians are coming’. I do hope so…”
I doubt Google shares that hope. In fact, if Yandex does find success in Turkey, the global search giant could have reason to worry about its search revenue worldwide. Perhaps the company has seen this, or something similar, coming. After all, it has been exploring alternate revenue streams (some more successful than others) for quite some time. Somehow, I think Google will be okay.
Cynthia Murrell, November 23, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Synata Unveils SAAS for the Enterprise
November 22, 2012
Synata is a San Francisco start-up that is soon to unveil as disruptive search platform for the enterprise cloud. As part of their efforts, they are seeking the opinions of major users of the following services: LinkedIn, Google Apps, and Zendesk. The San Francisco Chronicle gives the full perspective in, “San Francisco Startup Bringing Enterprise Search to the Cloud, Looking to Talk to Salesforce, LinkedIn, Zendesk, and Google Apps Users.”
Patrick White, the founder of Synata, gives his overview of the product:
‘Call it decision-point data, or real-time insight, or anything you want, but we’re going to make it insanely simple to search across your cloud data sources easily and get answers quickly.’ said Patrick White, Co-founder and CEO . . . But, the vision for Synata isn’t just about search – it’s also about giving users a really elegant way view data about a single topic or person, even when that data comes from a lot of different places. Eventually the platform will allow users to answer hard questions and find connections in their data they never knew were there.
It looks like Synata is doing two things: enterprise search and Web site search. We have not had much experience with this new product, but it seems like Fabasoft Mindbreeze might already be tackling both of these tasks. Fabasoft Mindbreeze Insite offers Cloud based maintenance-free Web site search for your public facing sites. Fabasoft Mindbreeze Enterprise offers an enterprise search solutions that works as a standalone piece or serves as a compliment to an existing Sharepoint infrastructure. Either way, service is quick, customer-oriented, and cost-efficient. New and exciting names and ideas will continue to pop up in the enterprise world, but sometimes its good to stick to the ones that you know, like Fabasoft Mindbreeze.
Emily Rae Aldridge, November 22, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext.
A Rocking Search Expert Calls for Congress to Target Search Engines
November 22, 2012
I never thought that I would see the day when the singer of Jack and Diane would be speaking out against Google and attacking internet copyright laws. According to the recent CNet piece, “John Mellencamp: Congress Must Target Search Engines”, the musician wrote an op-ed piece that appeared in the Huffington Post calling for a revision of the 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).
Mellencamp is not the only one making this argument. the Recording Industry Association of America and the Motion Picture Association of America feel the same way. Last year, however, their legislative effort the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), was designed to make allegedly piratical Web sites virtually disappear from the Internet.
Once major websites started disappearing, SOPA was met with protests from millions of internet users and SOPA lobbyers backed off.
Google however, does have a system in place to deal with copyright infringement:
“For its part, Google says it receives 1.2 million requests per month to remove links to pages, with Microsoft being the most frequent complainant, followed by the RIAA and movie studios.
It says it complies with 97 percent of the requests, which are submitted under a process created by the DMCA for the benefit of copyright holders — a turbocharged takedown process not available to people who believe their privacy is violated by a YouTube video, for instance, or think a blog post is libelous or defamatory.”
While this system may not be perfect, it will have to do for now. America loves their free music and movies and it appears that it may lead to the death of both industries.
Jasmine Ashton, November 22, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Search and the Poetic Giant Stinking Mess
November 21, 2012
I did not craft that elegant phrase “giant stinking mess.” I am not Shakespeare of software. Turn to “It’s Not Just HP And Autonomy, The Enterprise Software Space Is A Giant Stinking Mess.” The article is a good example of a meta-play. One takes a newsy item like Hewlett Packard’s realization that it may have overpaid for Autonomy, watched the founders exit, and then figured out that enterprise search is not quite what it seems. The idea is that enterprise software is going “social” and that the data science behind workflow is the future. The article told me:
Berkholz’s [an expert at RedMonk] post reflects how not all is rotten in the enterprise world. EMC is taking steps to adapt to the new collaborative market. It’s also evident at SAP, VMware and even in some quarters at HP. But the cult of sales still looms over these big companies. Breaking down that culture means creating a new dynamic that embraces modern social and collaborative practices.
Okay, I agree that looking at a particular issue from a different elevation is useful. Let’s assume that social and a collaborative market is the future.
I just wrapped up 13 or 14 reports for IDC. I focused on open source enterprise search. What I learned was that it is getting tough to figure out where an open source search company and an proprietary search company differ. The most successful of the open source vendors look quite a bit like traditional software vendors. One open source vendor in my report—IBM—is a proprietary outfit which uses open source search technology. More interesting is that IBM keeps its arms around its traditional business model. The “new” IBM is not much different from the “old” IBM. Open source software allows IBM to shave off some costs and deploy expensive engineers in what seems to be higher value work.
The question is, “Why do open source search vendors drift toward the traditional business models?” My opinion is that these business models produce revenue and yield margins when they work. What are the elements of a traditional software business model for the enterprise? Those which come to mind include:
- License fees for something—software, upgrades, support
- Variable fees for some other things—engineering services, specialized code widgets, access to previews at a slick looking lab
- Box office tickets for training, webinars, etc.
- Premier services so that the best engineers respond right away to a problem
- A surcharge for working with a pre-eminent firm
- Options like cloud services, appliances, remote optimization
A software company has to produce revenue and my hunch is that this line up of options for a business model exist because customers want these services. When a software company has to generate revenue, the traditional business model is something that investors and stakeholders understand.
One can pop up a level and invoke social, collaboration, and even open sourciness. At the half time news break, the talk turns to booking revenue. Deals will be crafted which meet the resources the client has available. Are these deals convoluted and opaque? Do accountants write haikus? Not too often. Enterprise software, even when delivered from something as wonderful as the Amazon cloud, can become hideously complex and fraught with Byzantine pricing.
I like popping up a level. Revenue generation has a way of bringing some of these viewpoints down to the ground zero.
Stephen E Arnold, November 21, 2012
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Web Site Redesign Important for Many Reasons
November 21, 2012
When organizations want to redesign their Web presence, reasons like updating content or refreshing the look and feel are often tops. But with the increased news and controversy surrounding the Google algorithm, usability and search engine optimization should be reasons that make that list as well. Search Engine Watch adds SEO considerations to the topic of Web site redesign in, “Website Redesign? Get Some SEO Consultation Before You Launch.”
The author writes that organizations often get to the topic of SEO long after those initial discussions of color, content, and other cosmetics:
It’s typically not until launch is around the corner that folks start asking about SEO. ‘Sometimes’ they have serious discussions about usability . . . Usability and SEO go hand-in-hand. Search engines want to rank websites that provide a quality user experience for the searcher. How that’s defined can be somewhat subjective (every website is unique and its target audience will also be unique).
One way to increase usability and the overall user experience is to incorporate effective search. Fabasoft Mindbreeze Insite offers a cloud-based search service that requires no installation or maintenance and recognizes the semantics that are important to you and your user. Fabasoft Mindbreeze as a company has been an important and growing leader in enterprise services, offering a wide range of enterprise solutions. Consider adding Insite to your Web redesign plans, ensuring the SEO and usability are addressed just as thoroughly as look and feel.
Emily Rae Aldridge, November 21, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext.
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