Comments on: Amazon's Online Interest Tracking

By: DianeV

DianeV — Sat, 25 Nov 2006 18:17:28 +0000

Thanks, Bill. I hope you had a happy Thanksgiving, too.

LOL re the specials on the Dalai Lama. It seems SEs can't tell when what is being searched for is a person.

Yahoo Mindset sounds interesting; I wouldn't mind the capability of changing search results based on some type of criteria *that I could opt for*. However, at one point, I did a one-time search (at Yahoo) for something local, and thereafter could get nothing but local results until I dumped cookies. I think that's a huge assumption — that if you search for something, then that type of thing is all you're ever going to want.

Given that most people would not understand why this was happening, I also think it wouldn't be such a good business move to limit search results based on a prior search(es) without making it abundantly clear that that's what is happening *and* how to revert to normal search.

Anyway, just my thoughts. Good to see you.

By: Bill

Bill — Sat, 25 Nov 2006 18:05:10 +0000

Yep. I remember searching for the Dalai Lama on the old Altavista, and being told on the sidebar that a number of stores had specials on the Dalai Lama this time of year.

I've been looking at Yahoo Mindset for the last couple of days, and it has a slider that allows you to rerank organic results based upon whether you are researching a topic or have a commercial intent in mind. It's not a bad idea.

Hope you had a happy thanksgiving.

By: DianeV

DianeV — Wed, 22 Nov 2006 05:16:54 +0000

Ah, so marketing and monetization may replace search relevance. I can see the need to monetize. On the other hand, I'd hate to lose the capability for pure (more or less) search results.

Perhaps a "people who searched for also looked at/bought/coveted " would do. :) That is, I wouldn't so much mind a third level of search result (after organic and PPC) so long as organic was allowed to remain.

From my lips to Mountain View/Sunnyvale's ears. LOL

By: Bill

Bill — Wed, 22 Nov 2006 05:06:43 +0000

My expectation is that search engines will follow along a similar path, and become more recommendations systems than finders of relevant information. Some of the statements that I've been seeing come out of Mountain View and Sunnyvale seem to echo that, where "user experience" seems to have replaced relevance in many vocabularies.

Zatoichi – I've seen a number of the Zatoichi television episodes, and one or two of the movies. I know there are at least 26 of the movies. Fun stuff.

By: DianeV

DianeV — Tue, 21 Nov 2006 19:43:03 +0000

That's what I thought, too, Bill. Or someone watching what words you looked up in a dictionary and forming marketing offers based on those — or forming opinions about what you think.

Zatoichi — those are mostly George's purchases. Love the idea of the blind samurai; my favorite was the one where he's carrying a baby on a long trek and has to change diapers as he goes. The (very beautiful) diaper cloth came from, among other things, a scarecrow. He discards them by tossing them away, so they land anywhere. Like in a stream that people probably drink from. LOL

By: Bill

Bill — Tue, 21 Nov 2006 19:31:05 +0000

It really is a delicate balance between helpfulness and creepiness when it comes to interest tracking on the web.

Imagine if you were in a library, and the librarian noticed that you often went immediately to the science fiction section to look for books, and suggested a new science fiction arrival. Now imagine the librarian standing over your shoulder, watching every book that you picked up and glanced through, and then giving you a recommendation. The second approach sounds pretty invasive – and much like your experience with Amazon.

By the way, been meaning to pick up some of those Zatoichi movies. Great stuff, there. :)

Cheers.