I was inspired this morning by Danny Sullivan’s recent piece about Yahoo and Microsoft allegedly gaming search share reports. Essentially, they take non-search actions — clicking on pictures in a slideshow, for example — and interpret them instead as search intents, serving up results and counting the entire interaction as a query, which boosts their share. Sullivan is rightly upset with this shady behavior, and calls for reform in how search share is calculated.
This got me thinking, which led to this piece I just posted on Tropophilia. I talk about the rise of intentless search, or what I decided to call collateral search. I also point out some of the implications of this trend as we move closer to the Internet of Things. Hope you’ll give it a read, and let me know your thoughts.
Just posted a long reactive post on Tropophilia, my first in a while. This time ’round, I take on a suggestion made by Nick Carr in his new book: that bloggers, in order to remove distractions, remove links from their context and instead throw them at the bottom of posts. In short, I think it’s a bad idea. Read on at Tropophilia to find out why.
In the summer of 2006, Taylor and I were research assistants for Davidson political science professor Dr. Patrick Sellers (also our academic advisor). We were essentially reading transcripts and press releases from different congressional political figures and “coding” them based on how they framed a certain topic.
Pat has finally had his book, Cycles of Spin, published by Cambridge University Press. He was kind enough to give us a shout out in the acknowledgements section (see below, end of second paragraph). What’s more, the bibliography includes citations to two of Taylor’s writings: one of his papers (co-authored with Pat)… and one of his posts from Tropophilia!
As mentioned below, Taylor and I discussed Rework in a 10 minute video dialog. This was our first time trying the fabulous free tool provided by Wetoku. There was a slight reverse delay (it sounds like I’m interrupting Taylor at times), but otherwise it worked extremely well.
I’m embedding the video here. Expect more of these from us in the near future.
Taylor and I are back on track to bring some fresh content to Tropophilia. Here are some recent posts you should check out.
Book Review: Rework - Taylor recommended Rework to me, and less than 24 hours later I had finished it. It’s an abrupt, straight talking, unforgiving take on business philosophy, with an emphasis on staying small and lean. Taylor wrote up an excellent review of some of his favorite sections from the book, and we recorded a 10 minute “diavlog” last night discussing our general reactions. Check it out, and read the book – whether you’re interested in starting a business or not, the philosophy can also be applied to your current work and life.
Fitbit: Bringing the Prius Effect to Personal Fitness – I review one of my recent favorite gadgets, the FitBit – a tricked out pedometer that lets you take a deep dive into your physical activity and charts it against your calorie intake and sleep habits. As I conclude in the post, it’s one of the best pairings of “bits and atoms” that I’ve seen in a long time.
“It’s Always Been My Dream To Own A Joyless Moneypit”- Taylor reacts to and expands upon a post by Ezra Klein about the attraction many feel to opening a certain business (here, a coffee shop) simply because they like frequenting that type of establishment themselves. But, as Admiral Ackbar might say, “It’s a trap!”
Keeping It All In Perspective – Belatedly ringing Tropophilia into 2010, I take a moment to highlight one of my favorite Twitter feeds: the journal of a now-dead woman from her 1930s childhood.
Taylor and I are both energized about getting back into the habit of posting on Tropophilia, so go ahead and subscribe here (or by email here) to get the latest updates.
Note: All opinions expressed here, on Twitter, or elsewhere are entirely personal. They do not necessarily represent the opinions of any organizations with which I am or have been affiliated.
My parents surprised me with an iPad for my birthday, and since the device arrived last week I’ve been spending a lot of time putting it through its paces. I’ve posted my thoughts on the tablet itself, as well as some free and paid apps, on my personal site. Similar Posts:Kindled Real-Time Change Who Are […]
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