How To Overhype Your Search Engine
(Search Engine Land)
After covering search for 13 years, I’m more than a little jaded. I’ve seen any number of search start-ups promise to revolutionize how we search. None of them have in the huge way they’ve promised, other than Google — and it’s a special case. Over the past few weeks, I’ve been watching Wolfram Alpha walk the same hype path so many have followed before. So I thought I’d offer a little advice, for what it’s worth. Here’s how to set your search service up for a disappointing fall.
1) Fail to brief those in the know
2) Use controlled demonstrations
3) Claim you’re the “next Google” or fail to set expectations
4) Trot out big names with no connection to search
5) Offer me or anyone an “exclusive” to break your launch
Monday, April 27, 2009
Monday, March 16, 2009
Happy 20th birthday, World Wide Web - and here's to another 20! (About.com)
Today, March 13, is the twentieth anniversary of the World Wide Web. On this date twenty years ago, Sir Tim Berners-Lee submitted his historical Information Management: A Proposal document, basically a blueprint by which the scientific community could easily share and search their information.
His far-reaching paper led to the development of HTML, which is the language that initially enabled us all to see documents on the Web, and links to leap from one place to another easily.
Today, March 13, is the twentieth anniversary of the World Wide Web. On this date twenty years ago, Sir Tim Berners-Lee submitted his historical Information Management: A Proposal document, basically a blueprint by which the scientific community could easily share and search their information.
His far-reaching paper led to the development of HTML, which is the language that initially enabled us all to see documents on the Web, and links to leap from one place to another easily.
Friday, July 11, 2008
Online Privacy Hearings See Conflicting Testimony And Recommendations (Search Engine Land)
No discussion of Congressional hearings on privacy would be compete without reference to the recently "updated" Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), versions of which were passed last week by both the US House and Senate. According to the AP, the bill "would allow the government to obtain broad, yearlong intercept orders from the FISA court that target foreign groups and people, raising the prospect that communications with innocent Americans would be swept up."
Under FISA virtually all communications, including all online activity and email, would be covertly accessible by the government with few checks and balances against abuse. So even as the government is critically examining the privacy policies and practices of search engines, portals and ad networks, it's granting the executive branch largely unchecked discretionary power to track and spy on Americans.
No discussion of Congressional hearings on privacy would be compete without reference to the recently "updated" Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), versions of which were passed last week by both the US House and Senate. According to the AP, the bill "would allow the government to obtain broad, yearlong intercept orders from the FISA court that target foreign groups and people, raising the prospect that communications with innocent Americans would be swept up."
Under FISA virtually all communications, including all online activity and email, would be covertly accessible by the government with few checks and balances against abuse. So even as the government is critically examining the privacy policies and practices of search engines, portals and ad networks, it's granting the executive branch largely unchecked discretionary power to track and spy on Americans.
No discussion of Congressional hearings on privacy would be compete without reference to the recently "updated" Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), versions of which were passed last week by both the US House and Senate. According to the AP, the bill "would allow the government to obtain broad, yearlong intercept orders from the FISA court that target foreign groups and people, raising the prospect that communications with innocent Americans would be swept up."
Under FISA virtually all communications, including all online activity and email, would be covertly accessible by the government with few checks and balances against abuse. So even as the government is critically examining the privacy policies and practices of search engines, portals and ad networks, it's granting the executive branch largely unchecked discretionary power to track and spy on Americans.
No discussion of Congressional hearings on privacy would be compete without reference to the recently "updated" Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), versions of which were passed last week by both the US House and Senate. According to the AP, the bill "would allow the government to obtain broad, yearlong intercept orders from the FISA court that target foreign groups and people, raising the prospect that communications with innocent Americans would be swept up."
Under FISA virtually all communications, including all online activity and email, would be covertly accessible by the government with few checks and balances against abuse. So even as the government is critically examining the privacy policies and practices of search engines, portals and ad networks, it's granting the executive branch largely unchecked discretionary power to track and spy on Americans.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
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Is Google Flouting Privacy Law? (RedmontMag)
A California assemblyman and a number of consumer and privacy advocacy groups have demanded that Google adhere to a California law that requires Web sites to include a link to the privacy policy on their home pages.
Google has thus far refused to do so, citing the clean appearance of its home page.
According to the company, users can simply type "Google privacy policy" into the search field and bring up both the privacy policy and further information on Google and privacy. Google says that this conforms to the spirit of the law.
California lawmaker puts Google on notice about missing link to privacy policy (Computer World)
Under the California privacy act, Web sites that collect personal information are required to include a prominent link to their privacy policies on their home pages. In addition, the links must provide one-click access to the policies.
Google didn't immediately return a call seeking comment about Anderson's letter. The company has maintained that although it considers privacy protections to be important, it doesn't think a link to its policy is needed on its home page.
"If Google continues to hide behind legal loopholes, then I will take matters into my own hands and close the loophole," Anderson [State Assemblyman Joel Anderson] said in the statement. "New legislation is one way I can close that loophole."
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Is Google Flouting Privacy Law? (RedmontMag)
A California assemblyman and a number of consumer and privacy advocacy groups have demanded that Google adhere to a California law that requires Web sites to include a link to the privacy policy on their home pages.
Google has thus far refused to do so, citing the clean appearance of its home page.
According to the company, users can simply type "Google privacy policy" into the search field and bring up both the privacy policy and further information on Google and privacy. Google says that this conforms to the spirit of the law.
California lawmaker puts Google on notice about missing link to privacy policy (Computer World)
Under the California privacy act, Web sites that collect personal information are required to include a prominent link to their privacy policies on their home pages. In addition, the links must provide one-click access to the policies.
Google didn't immediately return a call seeking comment about Anderson's letter. The company has maintained that although it considers privacy protections to be important, it doesn't think a link to its policy is needed on its home page.
"If Google continues to hide behind legal loopholes, then I will take matters into my own hands and close the loophole," Anderson [State Assemblyman Joel Anderson] said in the statement. "New legislation is one way I can close that loophole."
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Monday, June 16, 2008
Google Translate Adds 10 Languages (Digital Trends)
Google has added 10 new languages to its Google Translate tool for a total of 23, and now has a detect language feature so users can discover the identity of the language being translated.
Google has added 10 new languages to its Google Translate tool for a total of 23, and now has a detect language feature so users can discover the identity of the language being translated.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Teams from 17 countries vie in multimedia search technology contest (The Earth Times Online Newspaper)
Singapore - Fifty-six teams from 17 countries will compete in a next-generation multimedia search technology contest starting on Sunday, organizers said.
The team with the best designed search engine for trawling through multimedia data will take home 100,000 US dollars and intellectual property rights to its search engine, said the Agency for Science, Technology and Research on Tuesday.
The participants will work on creating new technology that can search audio and video files online, instead of just text files.
Singapore - Fifty-six teams from 17 countries will compete in a next-generation multimedia search technology contest starting on Sunday, organizers said.
The team with the best designed search engine for trawling through multimedia data will take home 100,000 US dollars and intellectual property rights to its search engine, said the Agency for Science, Technology and Research on Tuesday.
The participants will work on creating new technology that can search audio and video files online, instead of just text files.
Monday, June 9, 2008
Mozilla Firefox 3.0 Is the Best Browser for Web — For Now (Walt Mossberg - AllThingsD)
When Firefox first came out, it was the fastest browser, but it lost that title over the years. However, in my tests, this new third version of Firefox regained the speed crown. It beat IE 7 handily on my test Windows computers and edged Safari slightly on my test Macs.
Security is also improved. The old version of Firefox would warn you when a site you were visiting appeared to be a fake, designed to steal your identity. (IE has a similar feature, though Safari doesn’t.) But Firefox 3.0 now warns you about sites that are known for trying to plant viruses, spyware and other malicious software on your computer, a warning the other big browsers don’t yet provide.
My verdict is that Firefox 3.0 is the best Web browser out there right now, and that it tops the current versions of both IE and Safari in features, speed and security. It is easy to install and easy to use, even for a mainstream, non-technical user.
When Firefox first came out, it was the fastest browser, but it lost that title over the years. However, in my tests, this new third version of Firefox regained the speed crown. It beat IE 7 handily on my test Windows computers and edged Safari slightly on my test Macs.
Security is also improved. The old version of Firefox would warn you when a site you were visiting appeared to be a fake, designed to steal your identity. (IE has a similar feature, though Safari doesn’t.) But Firefox 3.0 now warns you about sites that are known for trying to plant viruses, spyware and other malicious software on your computer, a warning the other big browsers don’t yet provide.
My verdict is that Firefox 3.0 is the best Web browser out there right now, and that it tops the current versions of both IE and Safari in features, speed and security. It is easy to install and easy to use, even for a mainstream, non-technical user.
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