Community and users entering data into search results may change search forever: our search editor talks about the opportunities for marketers.
Ask any industry guru about the hottest topics in search this year and the buzz words "social search" will inevitably creep into the conversation-- it has been called the next big breakthrough in search. Social search has many definitions, and the origin of the term seems to be a debate in today's new-buzz-word-each-day techno language.
Google has been attempting to tap into the world of consumer information sorting habits with its release late last year of Google Base. Yahoo! is betting the future farm on expanding beyond ranking criteria from web masters by shifting more control to users with Web 2.0. Then you have independents like Eurekster observing and collecting data anonymously with its brand of social search called Swickis.
However you might be referring to it, social search, community search or behaviorally targeted search, the idea of consumers entering data into search results has far-reaching implications for advertising models and how users perceive -- and ultimately use -- their information resources.
What's wrong with the search box?
Current popular ranking methodologies use the world of website owners to evaluate the popularity and relevant value of other websites. In other words, site owners cast a vote as to which site they think is important, and you reap the benefits of their evaluations.
Sound a little sideways? It is, but it is an enormous improvement over the simple index and return technologies used in the pre 1990s dotcom days. Sites were indexed and ranked according to keywords or tags placed in their site code.
Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on your perspective), site owners and search optimizers abused the tagging principles en masse by loading irrelevant keywords for the sole purpose of getting better rankings. Those early days of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) were certainly interesting ones, but they didn't do much for users.
Search engines were so inefficient that we needed graphic advertising served alongside keyword search results to help us find what we needed -- a concept that has been all but abandoned in today's search world -- due to more complex ranking systems and better ways to advertise alongside search.
The community concept
Many years and billions of dollars later, search and online targeting have evolved. We have begun to view audiences as behavioral segments and have the ability to connect with our targets in ways previously thought unimaginable.
Search is still the simplest way to reach out to an audience in the user-driven environment. Technology is a beautiful thing, and allowing advertisers to capture an audience while seeking information is one of the most effective ways to make a brand connection.
Information -- and the subsequent assigned value of said information in the eyes of those in the search box driver's seat -- is the foundation of what we might call a social or community search concept today.
Modern search communities allow us to view or use which sites others deem important. Other technologies allow users to designate their own web content. Most are gathering data in beta, using trial and error to help build a more efficient experience. At least one has been perfecting its technology in one form or another since 1998.
Moving beyond the page rank
Search is poised to evolve beyond the page rank again, and several companies are competing to build the next best search experience. The big three (Google, Yahoo and MSN) are applying new technologies, and at least one, MSN, allows advertisers to segment target searchers.
Yahoo has a new spin on tagging with Web 2.0, allowing the community concept to expand by sharing and saving bookmarks with colleagues and friends, but it still relies on consumers to make their own tags. Yahoo has made a big step forward, but requiring action on the part of a user by sharing and identifying information creates an additional step in the process that has not been popular with audiences on a large scale.
Adding tags and sharing sites requires (albeit limited) thought and action on the part of the user. Of course, the tagging concept also opens the door to abuse, but history has taught us the more you require a user to do in completing a simple activity like conducting a search, the less likely they will be to complete the search.
In short, as marketers and content owners, the only activity we want users engaging with is the interaction with the search box. And we want them engaging with search beyond the one or two word phrases they use now. So if tagging and sharing aren't the answer, what is?
The buzz cloud: Swickis
Searching content within a destination site is a good first glimpse into what works. While major search brands are exploring data and even reaching back to the tagging concepts, Eurekster is taking a different approach. In existence in one form or another since 1998, Eurekster hopes to use search activity, passively and anonymously to help improve the search experience.
The Swicki concept is painfully simple: an easy-to-implement search application that requires no active participation on the part of site visitors. Search results change as each user moves in and makes a query. Users don't change the listings-- they help group them more efficiently.
If you happen to be searching on the Popular Science site, Friendster or one of the Community Connect sites like Asian Avenue.com you may have noticed a connected group of terms near your search results.
The Swicki Buzz Cloud is appearing on more and more sites, allowing users to view popular and effective searches from like-minded individuals.
It seems like a good idea, but how do we make money with it?
Monetizing your Swicki
Site owners begin by seeding their Swicki with keywords, and the users take it from there.
The genius in using a buzz cloud is that it requires little or no thought on the part of the searcher. Using an ASP model, Eurekster's Swicki application allows a publisher better to monetize content-related search and existing ad models.
There are no privacy concerns, since no personal data is collected. Publishers have control over the layout and brand of search activity, since there is no Eurekster logo attached to the application. It does not require a user to register. It allows a publisher to filter results that may not be relevant or perhaps might create competitive content situations.
Site owners know that providing an effective way to find useful information creates loyalty in its user base. The side benefit for publishers lies in the ability to leverage existing assets and also to let advertisers see higher click and conversion rates from satisfied users.
The next generation of search
Relying on the inherent good nature in people is a Pollyannaish approach to refining the search experience. People may have good intentions, and a precious few may exhibit altruistic actions in other areas of life, but when it comes to search, people are lazy followed closely by malicious when the opportunity arises.
According to Eurekster, several improvements are in the works for the next generation of Swicki, including better ways to incorporate geographic relevance into the search activity and improvements to leveraging audio and video assets.
Whatever the future may hold for social search or community based search technologies, one thing is certain. Any technology that can balance efficiency with encouraging users to spend more time searching and finding -- instead of tagging and ranking -- is a winner in my book.
Additional resources:
Google Base
A new entry into customized search
Kevin Ryan is search editor for iMedia Connection. Read full bio.