2007 April archive at Conceptualist.com, By Sahar Sarid

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Archive for April, 2007

Break Time

Published on April 16, 2007 in Blogging and General. 5 Comments

The whole blogging experience really opened my eyes to a new world, a world full of possibilities.

I have a good idea where I want this blog to go but I do need a little bit of time to put it all together. Maybe one week, maybe few.

Stay tuned.

Dilbert On Domains

Published on April 15, 2007 in Domain Names. 1 Comment

I’m taking it easy this weekend so not much writing. In the meanwhile, enjoy Dilbert.
(Slightly edited version, thanks Kamal!)

– Click image to view full size –

The 10 Principles Of Economics

Published on April 14, 2007 in General. 3 Comments

If you ever read an Economics book or two you know how it is to read few chapters and not understand anything the author is trying to say. This is a cool video which not only will make you laugh, but you will actually learn a thing or two in the process.
Enjoy!

By Yoram Bauman, StandupEconomist.com

Bad Naming or?

Published on April 14, 2007 in General. 0 Comments

From the “What Were They Thinking?” files

I understand this is medical term but the association it carries is simply terrible. See the comments here.

Origin of the word, from Wikipedia

“The origin of the word “retard” comes from intensive prefix re- and the Latin word tardus meaning “slow,” e.g., being tardy. Mental retardation thus derives from the idea that someone is mentally slow.”

A Press Release For Your Blog Post?

Published on April 13, 2007 in Blogging, Business and Domain Names. 0 Comments

Is Rick Schwartz the first to ever put out a press release for a… blog post?

How Madison Avenue Let Down Corporate America and How Both Failed

PRWeb

April 13, 2007

- Rick Schwart’z blog http://www.RicksBlog.com has only been online one week and it is already doing what he promised, ‘Ruffle some feathers.’ In his first week of publishing his blog after 10 years of posting on industry chat boards, Rick takes aim of the failure of the hotel industry and Madison Avenue. He gives a stinging indictment of them missing the single biggest opportunity in any of their careers. Rick lays out a case that has to make one stop and think and then stop and think again to see if it applies to their industry.

As Rick’s blog is new, after reading this post when first published I couldn’t stand the fact that the right crowd, Madison ave execs, is likely not to know about it, therefore won’t read it.
I wrote Rick a minute later suggesting to put out this press release to get the word out and then of course, living on the internet for so many years, I realized I have never yet seen a press release for a blog post.

Blogs are taking off as a serious marketing tool. Yesterday I was visiting some of my friends at a car audio shop and they asked me some advice how to build a better website. My answer was before re-doing your site, start a blog today!
Credibility wise, for new customers, seeing your daily interaction with your clients and work is more important then you telling them about your clients, work.

So if you do run a business, if your next blog post is thought provoking and interesting, don’t ignore old-media tricks. These tricks can help you get old-media eyeballs.

Is Jimmy Wales A Google Threat?

Published on April 12, 2007 in General and Search Technology. 6 Comments

There’s a truly fascinating article about Jimmy Wales by Fast Company. Jimmy Wales is of course the founder of Wikipedia, the very successful encyclopedia site.

From the article:

Wales is a champion of the open-source movement’s public-spirited idealism, and he emphasizes that Search Wikia’s inner workings will be “transparent” to everyone–rather than secretive, like Google’s. He views it philosophically, and much like Wikipedia, saying, “This is fundamental, basic information about the world. It needs to be neutral, and there needs to be an accountable, transparent, public dialogue about how it’s created.” If the processes were open to inspection and debate, Wales feels that people would put more trust in the results. “I trust Google reasonably well,” he says, “but that’s like saying you have a favorite politician. I trust this politician, but I still want the city council to meet publicly. I still want a certain transparency in how government is run, even if you trust the person who’s in charge now.”

I like Jim’s elegant way of thinking. Jim’s philosophy with search is similar to his work with Wikipedia. Contrary to Google and all other Search companies I know of, Jim wants open-to-all algorithm for Search as he believes the community together can do a better job figuring out Search than one company alone.

In order to do better with Search a fundamental philosophical change must occur. Jim’s desire for transparency, openness, and accountability are a refreshing angle from others in the industry, and his track record is something that no one can afford to ignore.

STOP! Before we continue I just want to share my last 30 minutes with you. In the last 30 minutes I searched Google and Yahoo at least 50 different searches, going to tens if not over a hundred different sites, in order to find a quote from an article I read a year or two ago. The quote was either by Steve Ballmer or Bill Gates (I believe Ballmer) and it was a rhetorical question, something like “Do you really believe Search in ten years will be anything like it is today?”. Well, with today’s great search engines and after this time searching, I’m giving up. You will have to just read it the way I remember it. This of course illustrates how far we are from having decent search engine.

Ok, Back to Jimmy Wales story and that quote by either Gates or Ballmer, which of course I have to paraphrase (thanks Google/Yahoo for nothing),

“Do you really believe Search in ten years will be anything like it is today?”

I don’t believe we have yet to scratch the surface. Jimmy Wales may find a better way but I really believe, there are just so many different ways to improve, and one can never do it all.

A little while ago, in a related post, I wrote this..

What if we can ask search engines better questions then just showing the most relevant links? questions such as “How do I learn how to ask possibility questions?” or “What is the difference between Child Slavery and Human Trafficking?”

Or maybe, just maybe, we would be able to ask, and get accurate results, for this question:

Likely in the second half of 2005, in a major publication (possibly news.com), was it Bill Gates or Steve Ballmer who said “Do you really believe Search in ten years will be anything like it is today?” or something of that sort?

How To Stop Google? Part II

Published on April 12, 2007 in Business and Search Technology. 1 Comment

Following up on my other article, The Reluctant Blogger writes yet another effective way to ~~stop~~ kill Google:

The height of simplicity. Introduce an integrated ad-blocker to Windows (purely as a customer service, of course) that blocks all Google ads in both IE and Firefox.

Allow users to temporarily or permanently turn off the blocker if they choose. (Knowing full well that 95% of users just keep the default settings.)

Microsoft would probably need to block their own ads too, in order to make the effort legitimate, but how big a loss would that be for them really, on a relative basis?

For G, on the other hand, it would literally eliminate their entire revenue stream. Overnight. And Microsoft could push this out via a Windows Update in a few weeks time, at most. Buy the very excellent AdMuncher and bundle it if it’s too time consuming to build.

Utah to ban trademark keyword purchasing? - Part II

Published on April 12, 2007 in Business and Search Technology. 2 Comments

Following up on a post which I wrote about earlier.

SearchEngineLand coverage:

Google opposes Utah law limiting keyword advertising from the LA Times picked up on Eric Goldman’s coverage of a new state law passed in Utah that limits the use of the types of keywords you can buy in your sponsored search campaigns. Reportedly, Google is “objecting” to this law “approved by Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. and a unanimous Legislature,” that limits the use of competitive ads in the sponsored listings.

House Majority Leader David Clark compared this type of advertising to being “right to the front door and somebody whisks you away to a different store.“

This is more like product placement in your local Walgreens. If you were selling headache pills can you pay Walgreens to place your product next to Advil? Can you pay Walgreens to have x10 space as Advil right next to Advil? Of course you can!
The simple reason for that is Walgreens owns the darn store, it is theirs to do what they wish to do with it, who to carry, and how to use their space to their advantage. Why can’t life be as simple online?

Internet Connectivity Coming To A Planet Near You

Published on April 12, 2007 in Search Technology. 0 Comments

If you read some of my prior posts (1, 2, 3) you would know I’m into Personalization Search. I didn’t yet write too much about it but I will at a later point, that’s a promise.
So that said, what Personalization Search has to do with ubiquitous worldwide internet connectivity? From the article:

According to Rick Sanford, director of Cisco’s Space and Intelligence group, the system could promise worldwide ubiquitous Internet connectivity within the next decade, and unlike the previously conceived consumer satellite services such as Iridium and Teledesic, the demand is now well developed.

For Personalization Search to work really well the collection of information must happen 24/7. Think of it as your life experiences as your memory. The more you collect of it the more you can tap into it. If you for example record automatically yesterday’s walk on the beach then 30 years from now, when discussing this day with your grandchild, you can bring these memories to LIFE.

But I hear you say.. “Sahar, this is hardware issue, not connectivity issue!”. Well, wrong. You cannot have your harddrive on your back 24/7. The information is better sent back to a central protected database in real time. Not just to protect the data but also in order to tap into it in a moment’s notice.

Connectivity isn’t everything to achieve Personalization Search (other such challenging issues are cpu power, software), but I believe it is a major issue. Solving it and we’re in the right direction to achieving it.

Rich Schwartz Is Back!

Published on April 12, 2007 in Business and Domain Names. 0 Comments

After a number of posts that set up the foundation for his new blog, Rick Schwartz tells brand managers, and brand owners, one of the biggest screwups in recent history in business. A MUST READ!

Step in Madison Avenue. These folks are sooooo hooked on “Branding” that they forgot the REASON they brand is to INCREASE SALES. So their REAL job is to increase sales. THAT is ultimate branding. Having your product everywhere. Funny how in time they have LOST SIGHT of that basic core contract. So Madison Avenue failed the hotel industry as well. IMAGINE, of all these high paid execs at all these companies and not a single one could figure it out. Figure that if they own a domain like Hotels.com they would be a leader in their sector. But they are all so hung up on BRANDING that they would rather IGNORE a reservoir of new business. New business snatched directly from the competition.

Even before it was attached to a business plan or went online hotels.com was going to be a million user a day site because it had a substantial traffic base. My guess would be that a domain like that would have gotten somewhere between 25,000 and 50,000 new visitors every day since the moment the domain went live. I guess the corp guys and Madison Avenue saw no value in having their call centers receive 9 to 18 MILLION added calls a YEAR. 9 to 18 MILLION calls that Hyatt would not lose to Marriott or Westin or Hilton or Holiday Inn or Ritz-Carlton or the other way around. They EACH had a chance to lock out the other hotel chains and they ALL missed it. They spend millions on a superbowl ad with results that can’t compare and cannot even truly be measured. They let IAC beat them and for that they will pay dearly.