MARIE’S PICKS: Semantic Search Engine Hakia

I truly enjoy using Hakia for my queries — not key words–I get more focused (hence less) answers. I use it first before Google. “Search for meaning” indeed. Here is the value described by Hakia verbatim:

hakia is building the Web’s new “meaning-based” search engine with the sole purpose of improving search relevancy and interactivity, pushing the current boundaries of Web search. The benefits to the end user are search efficiency, richness of information, and time savings. The basic promise is to bring search results by meaning match – similar to the human brain’s cognitive skills – rather than by the mere occurrence (or popularity) of search terms. hakia’s new technology is a radical departure from the conventional indexing approach, because indexing has severe limitations to handle full-scale semantic search.hakia’s capabilities will appeal to all Web searchers – especially those engaged in research on knowledge intensive subjects, such as medicine, law, finance, science, and literature.

Dr. Riza Berkan, CEO, states that searches take an average of 11 minutes and 50% are abandoned. He also claims that web search is in its infancy.

The search biz has ballooned with vertical applications including search engines for videos (Purevideo) and blogs (Blogdigger). There are hundreds now. There are Clustering Search Engines (Kartoo), Meta Search Engines, Talking Search Engines (AbbyMe – truly an avatar like person talks to you – great fun!), Filtered Search Engines… There is a lot out there to challenge the supremacy of Google which frankly is the time-gobbler among them all. It is truly this factor that has spawned so many.

Soon we will need a search engine of search engines.

Bite by bite, Google is gobbling up Microsoft’s dinner

 

Last week I could not believe that MS announced they were rolling up XP leaving the marketplace with only Vista in new devices. The cries on the blogosphere were deafening. I read again and again, “I am buying an Apple” and comments I won’t repeat based on my own Code of Conduct. I added my 2 cents by stating this opened the door wider for Google. Well the door swung open further today!

Google’s Doc and Spreadsheets (their version of Word and Excel) is out in beta now with a Power Point clone. I can’t wait to see the antics this latest Google assault will wield from Steve Ballmer (behold his response to iphone).

Between Vista, Zune and now this, 2007 may be the annus horribilus.  

Les Moonves certainly not on the moon! CBS launches its own distribution network today

This just in! It’s called the CBS Interactive Network. The ‘ol networks have been slow to respond to the digital threat but CBS has now grabbed that brass ring. CBS has struck deals with Sling, Comcast, AOL, MSN, CNet, Joost, Bebo, NetVibes, Veoh and more.

CBS Interactive claims it is,  “the most widely distributed professional content provider on the Web.”  And all content will be free, monetized by advertising. No mobile yet but it is open to it.

War of Words Waging in the Valley

Tim O’Reilly launched a call for Bloggers’ Code of Conduct (COC) to end the vitriol that pervades the blogosphere. For those of you who do not know O’Reilly he is rumored to have launched the term Web 2.0; he also manages substantial interests in technology events and publishing in the Valley.

Many take this COC as censorship but Tim is clear to state that it is to offer the Freedom of Civility. The usual suspects are weighing in, including Danny Sullivan (search engine star), Mike Arrington (tech review star), Robert Scoble (blog star) and Doc Searls (of Cluetrain Manifesto fame). The New York Times has also joined the frey.

My take: It’s about time this conversation begins.

The blogosphere does not have the respect of the big business community and many other web users thanks to its limited lexicon, explitives and often baseless posting and commenting. O’Reilly seeks to make blogs more transparent i.e. no stealth journalism. This should keep the web more honest. In a seven step initial proposal, he also exhorts blog owners to be more vigilant with abusers–and to cease their own abuse. O’Reilly’s idea has been mocked by many; this is symptomatic of the fact that these are the voices usually heard. There are many who support him. It will be very interesting to see this play out. Movies always end in good conquers evil.

A Holiday Wish from me

I hope you all enjoy more cowbell on this Easter Monday!

WANTED: mashup or wiki STAT !

I simply cannot keep up with the number of brilliant platforms and hosted services I have subscribed to. This is a problem for me; but it is also a problem for them. Here are the several favorites to which I have subscribed and cannot tend to: del.icio.us, LinkedIn, Technorati, Newsgator, Geni,  Adobe Connect, Eyejot and Paypal (I am missing many). And there are temptations to sign-up for more! Along with my commitment to posting in my two blogs, managing programmers for 3 web sites, email and my demanding business–not to mention my personal life–these wonders are dropping off my radar. I need easy access to them on one screen interface–period!

Now I am on the lookout for an app that mashes it all together without any coding on my part–in a secure environment. But can I find the time for this?!

Plexusity makes Top 10 growing WP blogs

Yes! this blog made top 10 twice and made “fastest growing blogs” again, a third time at WP. Thanks readers. I really appreciate your loyalty and your tripping over Plexusity from the bottom of my heart. Perhaps it’s because I enjoy posting. Something to be said for passion!

eBay: Another on-line ad exchange!

A few days ago I announced in Hot New Launches April 2007 that DoubleClick is launching an on-line ad exchange. But three marketers, Philips Electronics, Home Depot and Hewlett-Packard, had already contracted eBay to the tune of $50 million to build a similar exchange. In lock-step the cable networks are digging in their heels and refusing to sell air time to eBay, fearing the permanent reduction of the price earned by human negotiation.

I like the access these exchanges provide to marketers indeed. Will these auction platforms provide the intuitive thinking media planners and buyers bring to the table? Most media planning is based on numbers, ratings, reach and frequency. Program selection requires more than Nielsen ratings; however, the marketer will be able to choose content on-line. So will these auctions put traditional media negotiations at risk? Will eBay offer a visual plan and buy spreadsheet? Will it be this intelligent?

Air time buys have always been made within a model that includes a number of impressions within a four week period. Ideally, a minimum of three impressions are required to get advertising to the minds of viewers. That means you must buy multiples of three :30s to ensure that you are seen three times e.g. 24 spots and more.  (With audience fragmentation this increases!) There is no doubt as neuroscience proves that repetition can result in message absorption; BUT if the advertising is not engaging emotionally, a higher buy is required. More spots. Frankly, air time is a commodity. The content rules. No auction will ever benefit content, its relevance and resonance. This is the untouchable. TV is still the best device today for quality, intrusive content delivery–and it is now that networks have a morsel of power left to ensure their sustainability.

I don’t think off-line media will soon die. Simply, the players will increasingly adopt on-line media and both will subsidize each other depending on the momentum of this media evolution. No doubt, this is THE industry under siege at the hands of web 2.0.

So for now these exchanges will have to find propulsion through other than cable delivery networks. Will the resistance end here? On-line is hot and will breathe life into these engines. Don’t forget this ad space:  outdoor, radio, print, shelter, transit, mall, elevator, grocery carts, product placement (brand integration), dirigeables, wall graffitti, urinals and forehead tattoos.

Radio ID bar code on surgical sponges save many

Just when I thought I had the big picture on mobile bar codes it got bigger. This morning, watching my favorite morning news show on ABC, the network interviewed a surgeon come author about his use of a 2D code on surgical sponges. With a swipe from the reader, no sponge is left behind. Clever. 2D bar codes and their readers allow information and decisions to be immediate–the world is getting faster. But it also leaves more time for living. No pun.

HOT NEW LAUNCHES April 2007

1. Ballhype.com: It’s a social, collaborative site for sports fans. They can comment on their favorite teams local to national and rate the comments Digg style. This site is totally dedicated to sports fans with no other aim.

 

2. EMI  launches DRM-free music! That means no anti-copying software. Steve Jobs is putting his and Apple’s name and reputation behind the move. The music in question is said to be of higher quality and now available on iTunes.

 

3. YuMe Networks launches first advertising within downloaded videos on BitTorrent entertainment network! On any device! Add to your lexicon,  air-time “pre-roll”, “mid-roll”, “post-roll”, watermark and more on-line.

 

4. DoubleClick announced today that it is launching an ad exchange. It’s like a cross between Sabre (airline booking software) and eBay. Any advertiser will be able to bid for ad space on this interface.

 

5. Google Desktop for Mac. It’s a Universal application which indexes the contents of your hard drive. The image on the right is the new side bar. Reviews are not half bad.

 

6. The Coop: Mozilla adds social networking into Firefox.

 

7. Sansa Connect: A collaboration between Yahoo!, SanDisk and Zing Systems to launch yet another wireless MP3 player this Friday April 13th for $250 US. 

 

8. MailChannels launches a new spam filtering program that slows email by an additional 8 seconds rather than the former 2 seconds. This cuts down on impatient spammers. It can retrofits into any email infrastructure saving corporations a great deal.

Keep posted daily for more hot launches to this month’s awesome beginning!

Motorola sponsoring world’s highest cell call atop Everest

British mountain climber Rob Bader will make the call this May courtesy of Motorola, the sponsor. It’s a little pretentious since there is a tower in China with a clear view; but really, there are still many dead zones event if you can check in from Everest! Fun promotional idea though.

Another Bubble is here

A new launch late March 2007 named BubbleGuru is all about interrupting the viewer at your web site with a sizeable bubble housing a webcam-produced video of yours truly. If you are a guru indeed it may captivate the viewer. Think demo assistance. Or words from the CEO. The Bubble guys would be wise to show the various usages rather than “good for business”–show me how! Inspire me.

But judging from the quality of most home-grown videos, “BubbleGoof” may be a required brand extension. Indeed, for the casual user this will be fun. For established web sites and blogs……hmmm? Many “gurus” would not be hired as extras anywhere (they tend to be knock-offs of Napoleon Dynamite!) All kidding aside, I would hesitate to annoy with trite content (the bubble can be turned off by the viewer at any time). The Bubble is not to be taken lightly; good content is key.

The bubble follows you as you scroll down–blocking whatever is behind it. Intrusiveness is not where it’s at-but hey, this tool offers an easy turn-off button. Frankly, I would not be surprised if many refreshed their pages just to see it again. Because after all, it is a fresh idea.

On the up side, I think there is too much friction getting videos live at any address. It’s nice that the user is empowered, doesn’t need a programmer and can change the message every day. Really, it’s a bubble-vlog.

Have a look here and see how the bubble looks in action at our tech event site: http://www.bubbleguru.com/flag_page.html?=DKs75MpI&=www.Plexus2007.com

BubbleGuru is in beta like most of The Valley. You can test drive it for free. Kick back one night this week with a glass of Chardonnay and have some fun.