Google, Panupol Sujjayakorn & Search

Why was Alexander the great, so great? Ermm...because he had the best possible teacher & advisor in Aristotle. Replace "Alexander" in your query with "Akbar" and a certain Birbal pops up. Repeat with "Chandragupta Maurya" and Chanakya pops up.

So the common denominator, behind the successes of these great rulers, were trusted advisors. These advisors managed, processed & contextualized fractured pieces of information and knowledge together  - sometimes giving these rulers the information & advice they were actively seeking. Or sometimes providing information proactively when they felt the context was relevant.

Today, the closest most of us have to these trusted advisors are search engines.

At last count, Google has indexed more than 120 Billion URLs & has PageRank. Competing search engines have their own levels of index and secret sauce to generate results. Whilst one can pretty much find information on anything through a few refinements to a search query,  or sometimes by just recognising a phrase, search experiences are still constrained by a couple of hairy challenges:

1. Limitations of Boolean 
2. Limitations of Context

As a result, one may get THE right answer to a search query, but the search engine has little clue on what the human behind the query is looking for.


The closest analogy to this experience is the amazing story of the former World Scrabble Champion - Panupol Sujjayakorn. Here was a guy with very little knowledge of English, who memorised words acceptable in Scrabble without knowing their meaning, and went on to win the World Scrabble Championship!

The good news is all of this is changing - through the introduction of Structured Experiences, Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence & Context into Search.

An understanding humans need answers, not links when they search, has given birth to structured search experiences - the likes of Siri for starters. If sales are proof such experiences are valued, look at what Siri did to the sales of iPhone 4S.

Another evolution underway is the introduction of Neural Networks & Artificial Intelligence. Google, is experimenting with videos featuring cats and is learning how it can teach networks to adapt themselves & learn what is important, rather than look at the previous visitor paths & clicks to serve presumed results to similar types of searches.

Talking of context, a billion+ smart phones are in use today and they just about provide the missing clues for search engines to improve relevance in real time. Google Now , for example, is an indication of experiences to come - whereby search engine evolve from the role of trusted advisors, to becoming more like a personal assistant.

Whilst these advances in Technology, Intelligence & Relevance are great for improvements in online search experiences, on another frontier, the race to digitally annotate and help discovery of the physical world has begun. Google again currently leads this field via offerings such as Field Trip & Project Glass.

Both Field trip & Project Glass are interesting projects, the adoption of which shall provide answers to some key questions in days to come:

1. Are we humans ready for our physical worlds to also be digitally annotated? 
2. Will we demand it? If so, will it give rise to a new wave of SEO like services?
3. Should such services just show us more of what we like, what our connections like or introduce us to new stuff?

Salvation Army adds Mobile to Handbells & Red Kettles.

For over a hundred years, around the world, the sight of a dapper volunteer, a ringing bell and bucket means one thing - the start of the Salvation Army christmas collection drive.

Over this weekend, in Seoul, I was pleasantly surprised to see the addition of a Mobile option to the Kettle. Yes, it's in high-tech Korea, and the technology for money transfer via mobile is ready. But to see Salvation Army deploy this option is refreshing.

But beyond refreshing, it's smart for a few reasons, including:

1. That channel choices, drive brand choices is a known adage. The addition of a mobile option gives the Salvation Army an edge over  competing choices
2. Mobile can also help bring in new donators.
3. As one does not see an immediate pinch, when donating via credit cards, the possibility of the donation amounts being higher than typical loose change increase.

I hear the Salvation Army is targeting to collect 5 Million Won this Christmas. I'd be curious to know how much of this comes in via the mobile.

Checklist to Asses your Social Media Monitoring Priorities & Needs.

Below is a useful checklist to prioritize your social listening priorities (courtesy Altimeter Group)

It's more than a year old, but still relevant. The full report by the Altimeter Group on Social Analytics can be downloaded from here.

Promoted Personal Posts & Narcissism.

"Every day, news feed delivers the stories you post to your friends and subscribers. Promote important posts to help people notice them. Promoted posts appear higher in news feed, so there's a better chance your audience will see them". So goes the pitch for Facebook's Promoted Posts.

Makes sense for FB to tweak EdgeRank & throttle Organic Reach, using relevance as an alibi, and force Brand Pages to pay for incremental reach via Promoted Posts. This option is also being beta tested on select personal accounts (see image).

Now, people claim to share information about themselves on Facebook as one of the ways to maintain relationships. Although in reality, the tendency is to overshare or share selectively the updates that help curate identities.

So what would us humans make of people using the option of promoted posts to push their updates into your eyeballs?

Without getting into a heavy debate about "Does Facebook Turn People Into Narcissists? & Promoted Posts  even more so, I'd argue:

• People spend time, effort & money on grooming, wardrobes, accessories, toys and experiences to stand out. Some even plan a holiday with a particular status update in mind. Anyone who claims they are not looking for huge responses on posting an important update just sold you a fish story. So why not? Especially when they couldn't be arsed to game their ermm.. *EdgeRank* .
• On the other hand, if all that one's friends & connections see are update after updates labelled *Sponsored*, you know who's on the slippery slope to becoming lonely & sad.

NFC, Smart Phones & the Apple iPhone 5

Since it's recent launch, there's been debate on the exclusion of NFC technology in the new iPhone 5. More so, because competitive Smart Phones have it in their feature set.
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For some pundits, it's a decision the company will regret.

For some, it's a smart move given the slow rollout of NFC at merchants.

The NY Times blog even has a post on why it cant feature NFC with  it's current design.

If the notion that any new adoption yet to spread beyond early adopters, is still technology, NFC qualifies. Behavior change is hard. Habits and behavior regarding money even more.

So NFC technology as a substitute for cash and cards may be ready, but a majority of people are not. At least not in the next 6 months I could argue. By when the new batch of smart phones would be getting ready backstage for the catwalk, the playing field to be reset and for time to tell if Apple's choice for this season was smart.

Why I'd lose my regard for Lance Armstrong?

Across the world, brimming with confidence & the arrogance of youth, athletes start off with the belief they can be at the very top of the game. But in cycling they also contend with the extraordinary achievements of one Lance Armstrong aka the Lance Effect. An effect that flames many a young cyclist's dream when they start. And quickly burns most through the lure of doping.

Yes, professional cycling is a demanding sport. It's also the most tainted, with smart doping turning mules into thoroughbreds. And rushing fading champions onto a rapid downward spiral, whilst they vainly hold on to that ephemeral high of a podium finish.

But, time and again, sports reveals Great Champions. One such is cyclist David Millar, who's seen the highs and lows first-hand and now helping to save this tainted sport. I admire his courage to come clean, and being candid to say he didn't have the courage to give-in but choose to be caught through carefully planted evidence.

If you have 30 mts to spare, listen to this fascinating BBC interview:

For years Lance Armstrong and the USADA have been playing catch me if you can in public. On August 23rd, Lance Armstrong dropped his fight against doping charges citing the toll it's been taking on him and  his family. This to me is a sad development. The media has gone to town, but the only one who knows the truth is Lance Armstrong.

I still admire Lance for all that he's achieved under difficult circumstances, and he has my benefit of doubt. But if he's been too clever, he's done more damage to cycling and the lives of many a young cyclist than good. The day this is true, my respect for Lance will cease.

Responsibility for Fan Posts & Comments

The best know form of marketing is advocacy, when a converted recommends a brand to another - usually to someone they know personally.

Now fans apparently can't advocate brands on Australian brand pages, as it could be considered advertising. If they do, brands will be held responsible for content posted by fans. The ASB was ruling based on a complaint against a liquor brand.

Whilst the ruling clearly defeats the spirt of brands being on social, brands will find it impossible to fund the new levels of staffing for the requirements of community management. Even if they have the funds, next to impossible to find this volume of talent.

With the pre-moderation required, brands can also kiss goodbye to any sort of real time engagement. Besides the ruling also opens up the field for sneaky competitive trolls, out to derail each other.

Surely, this blanket ruling needs to be reviewed and contained soon.

Image Courtesy: Google Images