WebProNews

Tag: SXSW 2011

  • How Qwiki Brings Interactivity to Information Consumption

    Qwiki, the startup backed by Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin and YouTube co-founder Jawed Karim is, not surprisingly, gaining a lot of attention. The company can add winning TechCrunch Disrupt to its resume as well. So, what is this startup doing to gain all this attention?

    According to CeCe Cheng, Qwiki’s Communications Director, users like the experience that the service offers. While Qwiki has gained a lot media attention, she believes that it is largely a result of the favorable response from users.

    “People use Qwiki, and they really like it… we believe that part of the reason is because that this is the way that people want to get their information,” she said.

    In summary, Qwiki is an information resource that gives users interactive wiki knowledge through audio/visual presentations. As Cheng explained, Qwiki’s algorithms crawl the Web to assemble the most relevant information on any given topic.

    Although some have labeled Qwiki as a search engine, the company says it is not one. Cheng said that while Qwiki does possess some of the same qualities as a search engine, it plans on rolling out more products that will clearly distinguish the two.

    For example, the company is expected to release an iPad app in the coming weeks. Cheng hinted that it would be releasing more new features soon as well.

    As consumers, do you prefer receiving information through an interactive experience like Qwiki provides, or not?

  • What Bing Is Doing to Stay Strong in Search

    Recent search data from Experian Hitwise, comScore, and, most recently, Compete, all indicate that Bing is gaining market share. Interestingly, the data also shows that Google’s market share has dropped slightly. According to Stefan Weitz, a director with Bing, the search engine has grown every month since its launch.

    “It means that people are giving us a try, they’re finding a good experience, and they keep wanting to use it,” he said told us.

    The increasing market share is likely a result of Bing’s continuous innovations. For instance, realizing the power of location and “deals,” Bing partnered with DealMap in an effort to bring the very best deals to users. Bing deals give users insight into what the best deals are and what deals are trending, all from one location.

    Another initiative that Bing is working on is a new approach to personalization. In the past, personalization relied on collaborative filtering, which made determinations based on user preferences. For example, if person A and person B liked the same item, Bing could assume that person A would like other items that person B liked.

    While this model has worked in some areas, it lacks efficiency in areas such as breaking news. As a result, Bing is working on Project Emporia, which is powered by its Matchbox technology. This new approach focuses on viewing the Web in the context of a collection of objects called “features,” instead of viewing it as a Web of pages.

    “It’s a fundamentally, new approach to how we think about personalizing search and personalizing results,” said Weitz.

    Bing is also working to improve social search. Search engines, previously, found it difficult to identify who users were and what their network of friends was. Now, however, social media behavior has helped them to understand these elements and tie them into search.

    “Now, we’re able to actually bring that behavior that you do everyday in your normal life into search,” Weitz pointed out.

    Although Bing is excited about its recent innovations and its growing market share, it doesn’t consider the other search engines to be losing the battle. Weitz believes that the developments in social search, mobile search, and personalization, actually “expand the pie” for everyone in the search game.

    What are your thoughts on Bing’s progress and innovations in the search market? Does Bing have the potential to dominate search market share in the future?

  • Why Foursquare Is the Leader in Location

    Popular location-based service Foursquare was full of announcements at SXSW this year. According to Eric Friedman, the Director of Business Development for the startup, all of the announcements fit into the following categories: Discovery, Engagement, and Loyalty.

    As he explained to WebProNews, the company announced Foursquare 3.0. This new version includes a feature called “Explore,” which allows users to know where their friends are, what’s going on around them, and what to do next. It is, essentially, a recommendation engine that is based on the data culminated from 2 years of check-ins.

    “We’re finally able to take all that information, take the social graph, take all your friends’ information, and say, these are things that are specific to you… which is a really important paradigm of how and why the data is being used,” said Friedman.

    Foursquare also launched a merchant platform called “Foursquare Specials” that applies to businesses of all sizes. It gives businesses opportunities to communicate with their customers. In addition, Foursquare allows merchants to now become verified. Once this process is complete, these businesses gain access to a dashboard that includes customer analytics, the ability to run specials, and a means for seeing how their campaigns are performing.

    Another program that Foursquare is recently advocating is its Ambassador Program. Although the program launched last year, the company has recently opened it to a wider audience. The program allows users to become evangelists, or ambassadors, that help their favorite businesses get signed up on Foursquare.  The ambassadors get a customized url that Foursquare uses to track the number of merchants they sign up. As a result, the ambassadors get more specials from their favorite locations.

    Although more and more location-based services have emerged, Foursquare has become the leader in the space. In order to maintain this position, the company plans on further developing products such as “Explore” to provide value back to the user.

    “We’ve grown leaps and bounds from last year, but we’re still very focused on the product and very focused on the best user experience and user engagement,” Friedman pointed out.