Matt Solar’s Search Blog

Big day for Google: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13580_3-10026577-39.html

With a face recognition feature set to launch at noon PDT Tuesday, Google’s Picasa Web Albums will help users label their photos with the names of subjects. That and other changes to the photo-sharing site are joined by a new beta version of the accompanying Picasa 3.0 photo-editing software.

The “name tag” feature presents users with collections of photos with what it judges to be the same person, then lets them click a button to affix a name. Once photographic subjects are named, users can browse an album of that individual on the fly.

Sooner or later people will recognize the imact on privacy this had.

Hopefully Microsoft sees this as the threat to XP that it is:

http://www.google.com/chrome

I haven’t played with it too much yet, but is this a replacement for FireFox?  Yettas claims it’s extremely fast, which is the biggest complaint I hear about FF.

Aug. 21, 2008 at 9:00pm Eastern by Barry Schwartz

Google AdWords Now With Real Time Quality Score, First Page Bid & More

The Google AdWords blog announced three major changes happening to the AdWords marketplace. First, Google will now calculate the quality score of your keywords at the time of the search query. Second, Google has removed the “minimum bid” metric and replaced it with “first page bid.” Finally, Google will no longer mark search ads as “inactive for search.”

Google said they will be rolling out these changes to a “very small segment of advertisers within the next day or two.” Google will be watching how this impacts those advertisers and will then decide when to launch this on a broader scale. Let me explain what these changes means in greater detail.

(1) Google will no longer assign a keyword a “static” quality score, instead, Google wil calculate the quality score at the time the search is done. The quality score will take into account the searchers location, query phrase and other factors. If Google sees that for a specific advertiser, a searcher in one location, who searches for a longer tail version of the advertiser’s keyword is more relevant, then that ad will receive a higher quality score at the time of the search.

(2) Google is doing away with the popular “minimum bid,” replacing it with “first page bid.” Why? Well, Google is no longer marking ads as “inactive for search,” and thus there is no minimum bid for a search ad to be displayed. Google does explain that a past ad that had a high minimum bid or that was placed as “inactive for search,” would likely not perform well with the new quality score because of the nature of the ad. So by changing it from “minimum bid” to “first page bid,” Google is able to give advertiser’s “better guidance on how to achieve your advertising goals.”

(3) Inaction for search is no longer going to be used, meaning, search ads will never be inactive. All your ads have the ability and chance to show up for keywords, expect for the ads you have paused or deleted. Google adds that keywords previously marked as inactive, will likely not perform well, “because their combined per-query Quality Score and bid probably isn’t high enough to gain competitive placement.”

I passed on the Google Dance this year but was curious to see pictures in near-real time (from less than an hour ago).  Google and the other search engines can’t pull the data in that quickly but Twitter is able to using search.Twitter.com (aka Summize).  A quick search for “Google Dance” yielded numerous pages of Twitter comments, and TA-DA: I was able to see some near instant photos as SEM’ers Twitted them live.

I’ve been bearish on Twitter but this experience has certainly warmed me to it.  The power of this tool is simply amazing, the question remains: how will Twitter capitalize on it (and when will Google buy Twitter)?

I’m sorry, MSN… but I think you should sacrifice Live.com to Twitter.

I’ve received a few emails from friends about how to best adjust Facebook’s privacy levels. I’m not sure if this is the best way, but I certainly think it’s a step in the right direction and can greatly increase the value and usability of Facebook to you as you won’t have to censor your use of it. Facebook has finally given users the flexibility to restrict friend access.

This took a while to setup but I think it’s worth it since I can use Facebook a bit more casually now. Like most things, you get out of it what you put into it. Here are the quick steps:

Click on the Friends tab at the top.  On the Friends screen, in the top right, you’ll see a button for “Make a New List”.  Make a couple.  Mine are, literally, “A”, “B”, “C”, “D”, “TripAdvisor” and “Limited Profile”.

Next, put your profile on total lock down (under “Privacy” in the top right).  If someone isn’t in a group the see nothing but the basics - maybe one email address and your profile picture.

Next, start granting the friend lists privileges.  This is the bulk of the time invested. List “A” gets everything, down to “D” which sees very little, to “Limited” which is nothing but my email address.

I also have the networks broken out - TripAdvisor can see the TA apps, email, etc.  Babson network can only see my Babson email, etc.

You’ll only have to do this once, and it’s very easy to maintain as you accept new friends and decide to modify privileges slowly. I highly recommend setting up a similar system. Some people use more descriptive group titles, too. If you have any suggestions on what I’m missing I’d love to hear them.

We’re actively looking to hire – particularly in SEM. Check out our profile on GlassDoor.com and you’ll notice we have a higher employee satisfaction than the ever-praised Google.

Ignoring financial perks, other perks include TA branded iPods for new employees, daily doses of Rock Band on Xbox or Tennis on the Wii, seriously competitive foos, big screen plasma’s for gaming, weekly happy hours, and free lunches 3x/week.

The job site can be found at www.TripAdvisor.com/Jobs

As always, feel free to contact me with questions or to send your resume to me direct.

Cheers,

Matt

This is my third SES conference and to be honest, Search Engine Strategies 2008 San Jose just isn’t cutting it. I was pretty impressed with last year, but this year…. Meh.

To begin with, there is certainly a larger amount of sponsored sessions. The focus has shifted towards agencies, rather than in house SEM’ers. There are less Google speakers, which is why we’re here. And arguably worst of all, there is no formal “Meet The Engineers” at the Google Dance.

The commercialization and watered-down approach has probably made this my last SES event. I’m hoping to attend Danny Sullivan’s SMX event in New York in October. I’m hoping that SMX will pick up where SES left off.

I’ll try to write a follow up post on some of the learning’s.

Some interesting graphs illustrating Facebook and Twitter demographics by state:

http://andrewchen.typepad.com/andrew_chens_blog/2008/08/early-adopters-vs-the-mainstream-google-insights-points-out-websites-only-used-by-silicon-valley-nerds.html

Based on some urging from the Kuhn brothers, here are some of my preliminary thoughts on the [16GB] 3G iPhone. Since it’s too easy to find fan-boy sites hailing the iPhone, I’m going to err on the critical side. Also, considering I use non-Apple applications the majority of the time, I think the apps really have the opportunity to make or break the usability of the phone. With that said, I’m going to avoid picking on individual apps for now and stick to the phone itself.

The Good:

1) As I’ve already mentioned, the Apps Store is a huge A+. The ability to download over 1,000 applications, directly to and from the phone, really improves the usability of the phone. Some of the apps I like that I think have created value for the iPhone are; Apps like Yelp, Pandora, Facebook, weather, SmugShot, “My Lists”, and Shazam, to name a few.

2) The default browser (Safari) really makes an extremely nice web browsing experience. Combined with the speed it really does make the iPhone a remote web browser.

3) 3G is fast. Wifi is faster. This certainly isn’t unique to this Apple product, but it’s great to have. Accessing email from any WiFi connection is very fast and the UI for selecting which WiFi network to use is very simple, too.

4) It’s awesome for photo, music, and video management. Absolutely amazing.

The Bad:

1) I’m luke warm about labeling this as bad, since I really haven’t had any trouble with it, but… the keyboard. I converted from the Blackberry Pearl, so in all fairness I haven’t given a full-size QWERTY keyboard it’s due trial. Compared to the Pearl, I can type much faster on the iPhone. However, it does take a bit more visual commitment since there are no buttons to feel around. Most of the speed is made up by iPhones great ability to understand typing and convert the keyboard as necessary.

2) Syncing takes a long time, and the phone isn’t usable while it is syncing. 30 minutes to sync is too long, especially as I’ll often sync when I get home from work (and need to use the phone) or before I go to bed (and want to sleep). I’ve had to adjust my routine accordingly. Not a bid problem, but it caught my attention.

3) It’s more difficult to hook up Google products than it should be – specifically Gmail and Google Calendar. I’ve found instructions for both but haven’t tried the latter and the former (Gmail) still isn’t apparently working fully (I’d like it to archive emails when I delete them from the iPhone).  Update: Getting Gmail hooked up was easier than I expected.  Google Calendar still proves difficult and requires use of iCal and a public calendar.

4) The power cord the phone came with is extremely short (3-4′) so it’s difficult to use it when it’s plugged into most outlets (i.e. outlets under desk at work, far side of bed side table in bedroom, etc. etc.)

5) Lack of cut and paste. This doesn’t bother me too much since, quite frankly, I never used it on the BB Pearl. However, it would certainly be nice to use with the iPhone’s much easier UI and touch screen. (Why can’t you just double-tap to begin highlighting a selection?)  Update: Highlighting would be nice, too - I’d like to be able to highlight and delete an entire section of text.

The Ugly:

1) Unable to make customized ringers. So let me get this straight… I buy a song off iTunes for ¢99, then Apple wants another ¢99 to convert it into a ringer? That’s ridiculous. If I buy an MP3 I should be able to use it on any media device I own.

2) Text Messages – It costs a lot for the unlimted text messaging plan. There are minor ways to cut back on your text messages (AOL) but for essentially the same price I went from unlimited text messages to 200/month. With the simplicity of text messaging it would be very easy to blow past this if you’re not careful. I’m also uncertain if the quota applies to incoming messages as well as outgoing. Additionally, there should be an easier way to add people to text messages when I want to send a bulk-message. Why can’t I just go through my entire address book and check off all those I want to include? Adding them one at a time is too slow.  Update: First, I caved and had to increase to the 1,500 text messages/month plan for an additional $8 or so.  The lack of images with SMS is increasingly annoying - especially since AT&T doesn’t help the issue.  Why can’t they allow you to put an email address on file and automatically redirect the images to your email, thereby sending them to your phone?

3) Finally, and you’ve certainly heard it before, is the battery life. This is my only real complaint. The iPhone is amazing, so I use it more often than I did by BB Pearl. However, so far I have had to charge the phone every night and on one occasion (the first weekend day I got it) I had to charge it more than once. Granted, I was almost constantly downloading something or playing with the GPS. Still, I’d love to be able to go away for the weekend without my charger. A full charge on Friday morning should last until Sunday evening with moderate use.  Update: this isn’t proving as annoying as I expected - it basically requires a charge every night and only more frequently under extremely heavy use.  The image to SMS issue is proving much more annoying.

Overall, I love the iPhone. For $200 or $300 it’s a phone, GPS unit, PDA, and MP3 player all in one. I had my concerns about the first generation iPhone, but they’ve essentially all been answered to this point. Any concern I have about the 3G is fixable with a firmware update or a new battery, the latter which, despite what some may say, isn’t very difficult. I’m considering buying a second iPhone for my wife.

Once you make the leap, you’ll look back at your BlackBerry like it was an old black and white TV.

Update, Aug 19th:

It’s been almost another three weeks since the initial review.  I’ve crossed out some comments, above.  Additional apps I’ve been playing with: Twitterific, Holdem ($5 Texas Poker).  Overall, the more I use the phone, the more I love it.  I feel pretty confident that any existing issue can be solved with a relatively simply battery replacement or firmware update.  The latter could turn this phone into a very near-perfect too.  I’ve been experiencing some dropped and errored calls, primarily to my wife who is still on Verizon (any correlation?).

Anyone hating Apple for their innovation release pace (Pete) or fearing that this product hasn’t reached maturity (Pete) should reconsider - I think you’d be extremely happy once you absorb the $300 sunk cost.  The only foreseeable update that remains, im my opinion, would be an expanded hard drive (rumored 32gb version coming).  This isn’t too important for me since my 16gb isn’t close to full and I don’t have too much desire to watch full movies on the relatively small screen.

Twitter has purchased Summize for a rumored $15M.  Here’s Twitter’s blog on the subject.  I’m still luke warm on Twitter, but I certainly think this is a good purchase for them.

Summize is a popular service for searching Twitter and keeping up with emerging trends in real-time. Like Twitter, Summize offers an API so other products and services can filter the constant queue of updates in a variety of ways. The Summize service and API will be merged with our own and integrated under the Twitter brand.

There is an undeniable need to search, filter, and otherwise interact with the volumes of news and information being transmitted to Twitter every second. We will be adding search and its related features to the core offering of Twitter in the very near future. In the meantime, everyone is welcome to access search.twitter.com—there’s no need for a Twitter account

Real time data?  How long until Google acquires both?