I just spent a lovely two weeks in the northern wilds with my family. No Internet and, aghast, no cell phone. We did spend a bit of time in the airport however, which led me to some thinking about the direction of the Internet and the importance of the current incarnation of search. But first a story:
My wife and I were sitting the middle of an AirTran flight and I was looking up at first class (yes, they do have 1st class in AirTran flights - news to me). I saw a distinguished looking older gentleman whom I recognized, but didn’t know where from. As soon as we got off the flight in Burlington, VT the gentleman was talking to a news crew. Still, I recognized him, but had no idea from where. My first thought was that when I got home I would Google him. But alas, there is no way to Google “older guy I recognized on flight to Burlington” and have it be remotely meaningful. Since I appear to have outsourced my ability to remember things to the Internet, I never got my answer.
This is because, as we all know, Google, and most search for that matter, looks for words. We’ve found work-arounds with tag clouds and other forms of meta-data, but no real answer to the root problem.
Why should we care now? Well total time spent watching Internet video us up more than 30% over 6 months according to VideoCensus, versus, basically flat overall Internet time. The image based (non-text) Internet is growing. Given that we are still lacking (good/real/useful) meta-data standards for video we have a problem.
We can’t search it.
I think this might be a problem.
Tags: internet, search, video
I found an interesting Malayan proverb on the label of the Honest Tea I drank for lunch today: “Don’t think there are no crocodiles because the water is calm.”
The proverb appeals to me because it gets to the core of what we do at Nielsen Online. Determining if crocodiles are lurking, regardless of how placid the water looks, is similar to how marketers and media researchers seek to understand their online customers, stay steps ahead of their competition, and anticipate the next big thing that could turn their business models upside down. Everyone sees the same market, but not everyone is a market winner.
This has everything to do with why we are launching the Nielsen Online blog: “Connecting the Dots.” We have a bright team of analysts and researchers at Nielsen Online collectively working with our clients to connect the many dots of data we have to answer their specific strategic questions. But each and every one of these analysts is also developing a unique perspective on how the online market is unfolding. Many of these perspectives are shared with the industry via press releases, events and presentations and webinars, but we’d like to give this team an opportunity to more regularly, and seamlessly, share their insights and perspectives with you. Here are the kinds of topics we expect to be addressing in the days, weeks and months ahead:
- Is the “long tail” going to continue to be the tail?
- How is the meteoric rise in consumer-generated media transforming the search market – and vice versa?
- What relatively unknown sites are creating best-of-breed experiences that are confounding the experts?
- How is the blogosphere transforming the ability to track satisfaction and brand loyalty?
- Why will online advertising continue to grow at healthy double-digit rates for at least the next 5 years?
Welcome to “Connecting the Dots,” where we hope to share online market perspectives that give you an appreciation for what may not be apparent from the water’s surface.
Tags: analytics, internet, online research, web
