Article printed from SEO-News: http://www.seo-news.com
  HTML version available at: http://www.seo-news.com/archives.html

Eurekster Discusses Combining Social Networking and Search Engine Technology
by Andy Beal ©Copyright 2004

If you keep tabs on the latest "search engine news" 
(http://www.searchenginelowdown.com/), you'll no doubt 
realize that we are getting closer to a merging of search 
engine technology and social networking. While Google may have 
created the sizzle with its recent launch of Orkut 
(http://www.orkut.com/) along with rumors that it may one day 
roll it into its search engine, there is a company already 
making headway with social searching.

Although Eurekster (http://www.eurekster.com/) may technically 
still be in Beta testing (launched in January of this year), 
there is no doubt that the offspring of SLI Systems and 
RealContacts is making major advancements in combining social 
networking with search engine technology.

Eurekster makes use of its own SearchMemory™ technology which 
remembers the sites a user finds useful and presents them higher 
in the results the next time they search. Then, Eurekster lets a 
user and their friends share their searches and sites, so when 
they do a "hotel" search, for example, they'll see the hotel 
sites their friends also found useful, moved up in the results 
and marked with an icon.

I had an opportunity to discuss with Eurekster CEO, Grant Ryan 
the future of social searching and find out what Eurekster is 
doing to get a step ahead of Google, Yahoo and MSN.

[Andy Beal] Tell me about the search engine technology being 
developed by Eurekster?

[Grant Ryan] The Internet is a huge place - how do we know what 
is interesting out there? Word of mouth is the most common way 
for new ideas to spread and the "What's Hot" function of 
Eurekster allows users to see what is going on with their 
contacts without seeing exactly who does what. This has already 
worked in interesting ways. There was an earthquake in my home 
town and someone immediately did a search for that to find out 
how big it was. Two people I know who were overseas at the time 
saw this in the "Recent Searches" area of Eurekster and rang 
home to check that everything was ok. It is a great way to share 
information with your contacts.  

We've also shown how search engines can now also remember that 
you or your friends liked one particular search result over the 
thousands of others, and deliver it on top of the results for 
all future searches performed by your network of contacts.

[AB] What new developments in search do you see happening in 
the couple of years?

[GR] We think that personalization will be the main area of 
improvement. Search technology has evolved from computers 
deciding what is relevant (e.g. Infoseek, AltaVista), to paid 
editors deciding what is relevant (e.g. Yahoo, LookSmart), to 
webmasters deciding what is relevant through link analysis 
(e.g. Google, Teoma). 

The next logical step is that users decide what is relevant 
based on their knowledge and experiences. Search engines that 
learn and adapt results based on your behavior, giving 
personalized results is the next big opportunity and challenge. 

Another big opportunity is local search - this is a form of 
personalization - delivering search results based on one's 
location. This is, to some extent, like merging the yellow pages 
with search. This has a lot of potential commercially, especially 
since there still are greater numbers of yellow page advertisers 
out there than search engine advertisers.
 
[AB] What impact do you see social networking having on the 
future of search engine technology?

[GR] Word of mouth or social networking is the most commonly 
used method for filtering information in everyday life. We use 
it every day to get recommendations for doctors, lawyers, places 
to stay on holiday, and so on. As the quantity of information 
explodes, word of mouth information filtering will become even 
more important. It is inevitable that this natural social process 
will be used to filter information on the Internet,and search 
engines are the logical place to start.

The reason that social networks are important for information 
filtering is that there are billions of people in the world with 
different views about what is important and interesting. One of 
the ways we choose people with whom to associate is based on the 
fact that we either enjoy something about their perspectives of 
the world or share similar views. In either case, this is a 
useful way to help work out what is likely to be more relevant 
to you.

[AB]  Do you foresee a time when commercial search results 
(product/services) will be separated from informational search 
results (white papers/educational sites)?

[GR] Yes it may head that way. I can naturally see that there 
will be more tabs on search engines to allow users to focus only 
on products or just on educational information, etc. Most users 
simply want to type in a search query and have results appear 
-- so I suspect they will continue to be mixed by default.

[AB] How do you see search engine technology impacting our use 
of portable technology such as PDAs and Cell phones?

[GR] I would be surprised if PDAs and Cell phones will ever be 
used as a primary source for searching given the requirement for 
small screen size. Mobile search engines of the future are likely 
to take into account your precise location when serving results 
as you are more likely to be looking for directions, local news, 
sports, etc. 

[AB]  If search engine users gave up a little of their privacy 
and allowed their search habits to be monitored, would this 
allow the search engines to provide better, customized results?

[GR] Yes - if users want truly customized services then the 
provider has to know something about their preferences. The 
level of service you can get from a travel agent or investment 
advisor would be severely limited if you had to start from 
scratch every time you needed something. Most search engines 
assume that everyone typing in a term is looking for the same 
thing and give them exactly the same results! 

[AB] Grant, tell us what Eurekster is doing to personalize the 
search experience?

[GR] At Eurekster we have developed a way to learn from your 
past search history and that of your contacts in a way to provide 
personalized and more relevant search results. There are strong 
incentives for search engines to keep their promises on privacy 
given there is more value in keeping a long term quality 
relationship, compared to the negative publicity and loss of 
customer trust.

[AB] How can Eurekster compete with Google or Yahoo?

[GR] I have been involved in the search business for over 6 
years now and every year have read articles about how the search 
wars have been won (different companies over time e.g. 
AltaVista/Infoseek, Yahoo, Inktomi, Google). It is inevitable 
that companies will continue to come up with new technologies 
that offer consumers greater choice and new improvements. That 
is what we are doing at Eurekster, so have a play and tell us 
what you think -- and what features you want us to add next.

[AB] Many thanks for your time and I look forward to seeing the 
continued success of Eurekster in the future.

================================================================
Andy Beal is vice president of search marketing for WebSourced's 
KeywordRanking.com (http://www.keywordranking.com/)division and 
editor of Search Engine Lowdown (http://www.searchenginelowdown.com/).
================================================================

Copyright © 2004 Jayde Online, Inc.  All Rights Reserved.

SEO-News is a registered service mark of Jayde Online, Inc.