Grantastic Designs’ Blog

Here’s a quote from Matt Bailey, President of Site Logic Marketing and speaker at the Search Engine Strategies San Jose conference on the panel, “Usability and SEO – Two Wins for the Price of One:”

“Search and usability are so intertwined… In my opinion, I believe that search engine optimization is really a child of usability and information architecture, because [SEO] is really doing the things that people in those [usability] industries have been saying for years.”

“Search really took off on it’s own, because people started figuring out that if you put keywords in the right places, you’ll start ranking. So Search got a lot of attention really fast. But its things that information architecture people and usability people had already been saying and doing for years.”

Last week, much of the technology media covered Google’s announcement of its anti-piracy filter for its YouTube site, a means of removing unauthorized copyrighted video clips. This proactive technology implementation appeared to have been spurred by the media giant Viacom suing Google for not previously taking proactive steps with the wide proliferation of its copyrighted video content appearing on YouTube.

Previously, YouTube already had manual copyright infringement notification guide for users to fill and and submit. Now, YouTube has also included a content verification program for reporting copyright infringement of multiple videos, or those expecting to have an ongoing need to remove potentially infringing content from YouTube).

My question to YouTube: how could this potentially affect video publishers using 3rd party content for “fair use” purposes? Could the filter make a distinction, or was video content to be automatically removed without first verifying the context of its use?

To that, I received the following statement from YouTube’s Director of Engineering, Jeremy Doig:

“We appreciate ideas from the various media companies on effective content identification technologies. We’re glad that they recognize the need to cooperate on these issues, and we’ll keep working with them to refine our industry-leading tools.”

OK, not exactly a direct response to my question. So I then did a follow up phone call with a YouTube spokesperson, who was very helpful with his explanation. How it works is like this: If you were to upload, as a 3rd party, some potentially infringing video content, you would receive a notification that your video content matched the original copyright owner’s in their database. You would then have the option of giving a counter-notification if you felt your content fell under fair use (or some other legitimate means, such as being an authorized provider). So just because the YouTube anti piracy filter might “ping” your content would not cause an automatic removal of said content.

YouTube’s spokesperson added that the anti-piracy actually isn’t in place just yet, and that their press release was just meant as an open-invitation for others to start signing up for the program. Right now, its simply a beta launch for YouTube to get their video catalogs and libraries up to date, and for them to recruit more companies than what they have for now.

In addition, YouTube’s spokesperon also mentioned that lot of media publishers are actually looking to use the technology just as a means of tracking their content online for advertising purposes (i.e., matching the video content with AdSense, overlay ads, or other ad opportunities ). According to YouTube’s spokesperson, many media publishers have said that they’re alright with leaving the content up there, since content owner has the option not just to block the content, but to leave it up there and monetize it through advertising.)

So if the anti-piracy filter work for YouTube as planned, 3rd party video content “posters” in YouTube that apply fair use practices to original copyright owner’s video should not have to be concerned with removal of such content.

So with that information, I guess my own video of Viacom’s Daily Show footage should stay up there after all. (I’m glad the thousand-plus viewers can appreciate it.)

A “news story” that has been repeatedly featured on Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show” including an updated piece last night, has host John Stewart reporting that U.S. Vice President Richard Cheney had Google remove his private residence (at the Naval Observatory on Massachusetts Avenue of the D.C. capital) from their Google Earth maps.

At the recent SMX Local Mobile Conference this month, I had already asked Michael Jones, Chief Technologist for Google Earth, Google Maps, and Google Local, about the story that’s been circulating on the internet that Comedy Central picked up as “fact.” Any truth to it?

“There’s absolutely no truth to the Cheney thing. Its surreal.” Says Michael.

So the fake news gets its own fake news wrong. Then again, should we really have any expectations for fake news? Or is that the easy excuse to fall back on when the satire loses it teeth? What I think will be especially ironic is if Comedy Central’s parent company, Viacom, has my YouTube video clip removed on grounds of copyright infringement. (Here’s my advance response in case that does happen: “So what, Lie-a-com, somehow its alright for you to have the Daily Show steal clips from everyone else and call it satire, but its not alright for me or others to exercise the same fair use of your clips to report REAL news?”)

At the end of the Search Marketing Expo Local Mobile keynote on October 1, Google Chief Technologist of Google Local, Google Maps, and Google Earth – Michael Jones demonstrated a bunch of 3-dimensional and panoramic models of how Google maps has worked with the masses of user generated content to create new “worlds” from a hyper-local scale to global scale. Michael expanded further by showing slides of how content could be mapped on a galactic scale:

“Everywhere its black there in the stars, you’ll have the hubble telescope focus in on that area, and you can actually see 50,000 galaxies in that area.” Mike said. “These galaxies have billions of stars in them. Maybe one of them has people that do search engine optimization.” That provoked some laughter from the crowd.

What made Michael’s keynote particularly enjoyable was his last slide, which showed a clip from the televsions cartoon series “The Simpsons.” The clip showed Marge Simpson on their home computer, doing a search for her house on Google Earth, and turning up an amusing result – Marge zooms in to her house and finds her husband Homer in the back yard, sunbathing nude.

Now the example wasn’t meant to be realistic, as what it was really simulating was live video via satellite. (I guess in the animated world of the Simpsons they have more advanced technology than ours, as well as less privacy.) It was also a bummer to find out that the video no longer exists online, since it was removed from YouTube after a copyright infringement claim was filed by 20th Century Fox Films. (I wonder if Google could have demanded that Fox Films remove the clip of Google Maps from the Simpsons episode in retaliation?)

I guess Fox Films doesn’t have a legal team versed in Spanish, or at least Google sites other than YouTube, because you can still catch the video here as well as other Spanish-language websites (Ha ha, take that, evil corporate behmoth!)

I actually remembered the original Simpson cartoon clip, and right then it made me think: Couldn’t Google also include in their online map inventory, the many “virtual worlds” that have large fan bases and user bases, both of past and present creations of literature, gaming, and community, along with internet-based worlds? Here are just a couple of examples that spring to my mind:

• Second Life. Its an active, ever-growing internet-based virtual world in 3-D, but with real-time residents.
• The Simpsons town of Springfield. The official Simpsons Movie website disappoints with a “tour Springfield” slideshow of town landmarks. Why not make this a panoramic map with real context and landmarks for every point, including the Simpsons’ own house?

The ideal Google Map – Matching the virtual world with the real world

Interestingly enough, the ideal virtual mapping scenario doesn’t come from Google Maps, but from video game platforms. Take the Microsoft Xbox 360 game, Test Drive Unlimited. Ttransforms the open roads of Hawaii into a gaming lobby, where you can pass by potential opponents on the road. You can virtually “drive” through every road on Oahu as it exists. Imagine if Google could work with 3-D modelers in every town in every city in every state, and do a virtual 3-D animation interconnecting them all – sort of a 21st century version of the 19th century railroad?

At the SMX Local Mobile Keynote on October 1, Michael Jones, Chief Technologist for Google Maps, Earth, and Local Search, talked about the comparisons and contrasts between online local search and the concierge business.

Concierges have been a professional society since 1929 in Europe, and since the late 1970s in the U.S.

“There are some parallels between what a concierge might do and what computers could do.” Michael said, describing the qualities of a good concierge and how local search attempts to parallel that criteria (shown in the slide below in parenthesis).

Advantages of a professional concierge over Google’s Local search

While more seasoned travelers and users overall are flocking to local search for tips, Michael admits that Google is not nearly as good as the service a hotel’s professional concierge could provide.

“As an industry, both from the provider side, from the user-satisfaction side, and from the optimization side, we’re weak in a lot of these areas.” said Michael. By comparison to professional concierges, Michael characterizes the current state of local search along personalization and customization as “pretty poor.”

Human concierges get a feel for what you mean, over what a computer interface can only do minimally with spelling.

Some of those advantage of good concierges I would add of my own:

• They have good connections. A good concierge can make quality reservations on short notice.
• They have special tips and deals with other businesses – that can include unique restaurants, shops, attractions and events.
• They can create memorable total-trip experiences (not just individual components thrown together) that can instill brand loyalty, making guests want to return to the hotel or recommend it to others.Good concierges have connections
• They can fill areas that have a lack of user-generated content online.
• They can provide honest expertise over the noise of the online crowd. There have been many cases online of competitors giving false “bad reviews” to each other. (This is especially prevalent among the top Chicago restaurants, so I’ve found.) A concierge can provide much better reliability when the noise of user-generated content reviews gets to be too much, especially when its overidden with bad spam reviews.

This would make the arguement that local search isn’t always a proper substitute over a concieges’ own expertise and long-term industry experience, and “human empathy.” (Human empathy would be extremely difficult for a computer even with artificial intelligence to properly duplicate.) Concierges are trained at hospitality management schools, and know how to handle guests needs on an emotional level. The concierge can get something contextual and semantical with the request – and that goes well beyond what the digital keyboard can provide.

“As an industry, both from the provider side, from the user-satisfaction side, and from the optimization side, we’re weak in a lot of these areas.” concedes Michael.

The state of the concierge industry

Concidentally, the day after Michael’s keynote presentation, USA Today ran a front-page story on the concierge industry. Interviews with hospitality service experts suggested that the need for concierges is decreasing with the growth of local search.

Except at upscale hotels, the concierge “is going the way of the elevator operator,” says Chekitan Dev, a Cornell University hotel school professor. “Owners and operators of midmarket and down-market hotels can no longer justify offering the service of a concierge,” he says, because plenty of information is available on the Internet, and “good concierges are hard to find, hard to keep and expensive.”

David Cranage, a professor at Penn State’s hospitality management school, suggests that hotels’ new moves to deliver information without a concierge staff may be akin to banks, a quarter-century ago, adding ATMs and, in some cases, discouraging the use of tellers by charging fees.

However, the story’s author said that “Whether sophisticated information technology could ultimately lead to the demise of the traditional concierge position is a matter of some disagreement in the hospitality industry. Neither the government nor the industry tracks employment numbers.”

What does seem clear is that even if concierges are being better trained to utilize online local search, a quality concierge, or just any concierge, appears to be reserved more for your high-end brand of hotels (in the 4-star and 5-star range). Other hotels rely on guest services, which often has no ample experience with local search. (When I contacted my local Holiday Inn on a Sunday, they mentioned that their sales department handles guest’s local travel tips, which was only available on weekdays!)

My recommendation for all hotels: mandatory local search training

In this where more travelers are using local search as part of their trip plans, every hotel, no matter what the size or rate, should make local search accessible to their guests – either with a concierge or staff member who has at least basic training in local search, along with easy access for guest themselves to online local search. This can be done by the following means:

• Including online local search in hospitality training.
• Provide assistance for travelers on how to enter local information into their cell phones via SMS, including placing the hotel address.
• Include a virtual concierge system – online services that give guests 24-hour access to information normally provided by a concierge. This can appear right when people access the wifi of the hotel, and right on the desktop computers available to guests.
• Feature staff picks based on employees’ knowledge of the area. As the USA Today article reports, this is already being done by 20% of the Radisson hotels in their American chain.
• Poll guests on their experiences, and have their own “hyper local” reviews by their guests, right on their hotel website. (These reviews could also be accessible  when people at the hotel login everytime to wifi.)

There have been times when I’ve actually found myself assisting concierges on how to find certain locations, and the information they have to offer.

While I don’t forsee the demise of concierges anytime soon, whether a hotel or building has a concierge or guest services staff of any kind, they all need be better trained on local search.  Local search may not necessarily “kill” the concierge business, but the concierge business needs to have better familiarity with online local search if they are to maintain their own relevance.

Special report from The Search Marketing Expo Keynote at the Denver Tech Center held October 1st, 2007.

Michael Jones, Chief Technologist for Google Maps, Earth, and Local Search, opened his keynote by explaining that his job is to make sure that we have the “right products in the future” – how they anticipate what those will be, and putting the technology and context together to achieve them. Rather than talking about the “how” of local search, Michael’s focus was on the direction of local seach – the “what” and the “why.” I.e., is local search dealing with the right problem to solve, and is Google going about the right way to solve it?

The weaknesses of today’s local search

“As an industry, both from the provider side, from the user-satisfaction side, and from the optimization side, we’re weak in a lot of these areas.” said Michael. “The ‘local’ search businesses of many companies aren’t really web-based, and a lot of them aren’t really web-savvy, either. A lot of them couldn’t even use a web map.”

Defining “local data” for local search

Michael said what’s changing is the idea of what is local data. “Local searching is clearly searching through local data. But what is local data?” Historically, what was local data wasn’t what was on a web page.

Michel defined local data as everything with a location. “Its not really about maps. Its about all the information we can organize, but in a context to truly understand it.” he said. “When you draw a map, its not about the map itself, but the map as context, to make information more useful. Its our view that all the information that’s on a web page could be better understood when placed on a map.”

Putting local data “in context”

Local search and data also needs a sense of place. This is where the contextual side comes in. And the experts bringing in this kind of local data are becoming the mass of uses, the “crowd.” One example Michael gave on this was the social networking site Yelp!, which has a very high group of people interested in sharing their experiences. “it’s like flirting through shared information.” says Michael.

Another good example of specialized local data in context is Google’s Local Transit map. Not only does it show bus routes, but it follows a mapping context more in tune with the needs of the users. Rather than mapping out the shortest distance from point A to point B, it shows the shortest time it will take to get there. “People care very much for having a context to support their information.” says Michael. “”When you put all of the pictures together in context, it becomes more understandable.”

“Some local information is all about place. Some are all about a factoid. Most of the world’s information can actually go on either one. The reason why the web is so valuable and played such a transformative role is because its not isolated information.”

“The combination of global and local, the broad and the contextual, with the granulation of personal elements, “is one of the magic things about web searching, local searching, and mapping.”

The future of Google Maps, Google Earth, and Local Search

Michael explained that the next challenge for local search to solve is connecting global things to the actual query, which he referred to as “Mapping the last mile.” Through the Google Earth program of allowing for popular content feeds and community generated content, along panoramic 3-d models, Michael said we can expect to see more of the following:

• More photographic maps in web browsers. “You could be able to see the photo in the front of a store restaurant advertising what the special of the day is.”
• More transactional features. (Where you can click on a placemark and make a transaction.)
• Real-time traffic.
• Geo-blogging by users – of all the places you’ve traveled to, and who you’ve met.
• Humanitarian causes. Several active examples are the US. Holocaust Memorial Museum, both with Jewish Holocaust of WWII, and today with “Learning about Darfur,” creating what is being called a “community of conscience.”

Google Maps –  genocide in Darfur

Michael ended his keynote by showing how Google Maps is partnering with using contributed content for extremely important humanitarian causes, that can help with worldwide education that gets people involved for social justice. The Darfur project zoom in on satellite images of the hardest hit villages and schools, but also puts the stories fo survivors in a deeply personal context.

“What the Wall Street Journal couldn’t tell you is that if you fly directly to a refugee camp, that’s where the UN Peacekeepers go into and talk to people about their history and experience” with the ongoing genocide in Darfur. “These are stories told by survivors, geo-located at the house where they or their loved ones were killed.” says Michael.

“Maps can bring a personal and emotional context, and can get people involved. It puts genocide on a level of personal engagement.” It becomes an affecting experience. Its not just a news story. This kind of connection of people at great length. People who didn’t once know where these places are, they do care now. I think the web and local information actually do have an influence on societies, now.” adds Michael.

To note, U.S. President George Bush has praised the Google Maps program and activity with the Darfur project. “No one who sees these pictures can doubt that genocide is the only word for what is happening in Darfur – and that we have a moral obligation to stop it.” (U.S. President George Bush, April 18, 2007)

At the SMX Local-Mobile keynote session on Oct 1st, I sat right in the front row, with co-hosts Greg Sterling and Chris Sherman alongside of me at the same table. Greg had turned his head my way and said, “I’m really looking forward to what you’ll have to say!”

I replied, confused, “what I have to say?”

To which Greg responded, “Oh no, I mean him.”

I looked to my immediately left, and that “him” he was referring to was Michael Jones, Chief Technologist for Google Maps, Google Earth, and Google Local, and the keynote speaker for the event. I had been talking with Michael minutes beforehand and he was oogling my super-small digital camcorder (a Sony Xacti VPC-CG65) I brought just for the purpose of testing out in the session. Kind of amusing that I wasn’t more aware of who the speaker was, but hey, he was a fill-in for the originally scheduled speaker. (According to Greg, IAC’s Peter Horan was slated to be the keynote but he had a family issue and had to withdraw.) It would be unfair to characterize Michael as a “replacement” because he was an excellent top draw, and seemed perfectly suited for the conference them. He even pulled double-daty and sat in on one of the other panels of the conference.

And I think Greg was still interested in what I had to say, anway.

Sorry to any of the blog readers here for the delay in posts. I’ve returned from the Search Engine Expo Local Mobile Expo in at the Denver Tech Center Oct 1-2nd, and gathered some exclusive coverage of the events. I’ll be posting news, interviews and commentary on the local search marketing sessions and panelists, and hopefully some podcast clips for a nice audio touch. Hopefully that can be forgiven for me not being a super-speedy blogger, as I sometimes like to take a couple days and clear my head, so I can put just a bit more thought into what I write than a bunch of scribbled notes. (Perhaps that makes me an SMX Slo-Mo blogger.)

It was a bit of an ordeal just arriving to the conference. Had my flight booked on United (you think I’d know better after having delays the past 4 flights), and had to wait nearly 3 hours past the scheduled departure time. It was evident that the collective waiting people have had to endure have put them more on edge every time they have a flight delay or cancellation with United. What I found slightly amusing was a man swearing out loud and walking off after the attendant at the gate couldn’t help him, and she announced over the microphone that “We have the right to arrest anyone who uses profanity at an employee.” To which, one ticket holder said sarcastically, “How about we just praise you loudly?!” And another ticket holder feigned, “Yeah, you’re doing a GREAT job!” This was followed by several more people clapping in mock approval.

Arriving to my first SMX conference was a treat. After being at several search marketing conference of thousands of attendants for 4-5 sessions going on at the same time, this had a more refined and seasoned group of left-and-right brain individuals both as panelists and audience members, much to my satisfaction and enjoyment. Smart move to have two “verticals” (or whatever the categorical term used that means anything about search categories these days), where there would be some overlap between sessions with the local and mobile space, but also making some clear distinctions in what track would best suit your needs. I was definite for the local track, since that has been more refined as a business model for most search marketers, and especially the common business (small-to-medium size enterprises, or SMEs).

My next post will include comments on Keynote speaker Michael Jones, Chief Technologist for Google Earth, Google Maps, and Google Local Search. The guy was sitting next to me at the keynote event and I didn’t even recognize him until he was announced by the event hosts!)

Michael T. Jones, Chief Technologist, Google Earth, Google Maps, and Google Local Search,