The Praized Blog

Just found out that someone has uploaded the video of the presentation I gave at the European Association of Directory Publishers (EADP) conference last May in Barcelona. Topic was: “Blended Search: Local Media Content Discovery”.

Watch it in three parts here:

Watch Part 1

Watch Part 2

Watch Part 3

You can follow with the slides on Slideshare.

Version 3.5 of the Firefox browser was made available for download this morning. As I write this 1.9 million people had downloaded the new version of the popular Mozilla-based browser. As most people interested in local search and local media know, it now includes a geolocation feature which will play a big role in transforming the web into a more locally-relevant environment. Here’s how it works:

As soon you navigate to a site that’s optimized for the geolocation functionality of FF 3.5 (or you trigger the functionality in a Web page), a bar appears at the top of the page. It tells you that “website name wants to know your location”. You also have two buttons giving you the option to “Share location”, “Don’t share” and a red “x” to close the bar altogether. You can also check a box to “Remember” the site. Finally, the bar suggests you can “learn more” by visiting this page.

Above: the Firefox test page with the geo-location request bar

Below: a close-up on the share/don’t share buttons

For example, clicking on the “Where am I?” button in the demo site triggers the apparition of the “share location” bar. If you accept to share your location with the site (through the browser), results are very accurate. In my case (see below), I was geo-located in the correct section of downtown Montreal in the Praized Media offices. Nice!

If you want to revoke the permission that you have given to a Web site, you need to navigate back to that Web site and then access the following section in your browser’s functions: Tools - Page Info - Permissions and then change the original permission.

What it means: this is a great implementation of a browser-based geolocation functionality. Easy enough to use, it should catch on. Make sure your web site is using this new functionality and serving info that’s geographically relevant to your users.

Bloomberg just published a short interview with Tim Kendall, Facebook’s director of product marketing for monetization. In it, we learn that small businesses seem to be embracing Facebook ads.

Facebook Inc. said the number of customers using its automated online-advertising system more than tripled in the past year, a sign more small- and medium- sized businesses are turning to the social-networking site.

The ads, which include text and photos, target users that might want to go to a local hair salon, hire a wedding photographer, or are close to buying other products, said Tim Kendall, Facebook’s director of product marketing for monetization. The service lets companies target users based on the information they put on their profiles, he said.

“You basically just have a greater diversity of people using our ad system — lots of businesses, lots of local businesses finding success,” Kendall, 32, said in an interview. “It’s really been a steady, successful growth pattern.” He declined to provide specific revenue data.

What it means: not surprised that early adopters in the small business community are creating ads on Facebook.  You can do great local targeting because many users have disclosed their location or city network. For example, in Canada, you can target over 1.3M people living in the Toronto area.  Additional targeting on age, sex, specific profile keywords, education, workplace, relationship status, and language allows for precise reach. For example, did you know 1,182,540 people have the keyword “travel” in their profile in the US? And you see your potential total “reach” in real-time in the targeting tool.

Because Facebook advertising is performance-based, you only pay for clicks to your web site or Facebook page.  I suspect though the click-through rate must be low today and that it’s currently  a number’s game, i.e. get the ad in front of as many targeted people as you can.

In my humble opinion, Facebook’s current ad product is not optimal. It still does not leverage the social connections (what are my friends buying or suggesting) or the social intentions (what were your recent status updates about? Are you signaling an unmet need?). When the Facebook product team pushes forward with improvements like those, expect ads to become very interesting from a ROI point of view.

To provide an actual example to my readers, I found this Facebook ad from a Montreal-area flower shop called Camille Fleuriste Boutique Inc.

They describe themselves on Facebook as “a full service floral shop with over 40 years of experience”. They created an ad that points to their Facebook page.  I wonder what their experience with Facebook ads has been.

Friday’s New York Times analyzes a quote from one of the VCs that has invested in Twitter. We learn that shopping and e-commerce might play an important in monetizing the social network’s product recommendation traffic:

Someday, when you ask your Twitter followers to recommend the most comfortable running shoe or the best digital camera, you might be able to go one step further and buy the product on the Twitter site.

E-commerce, including links to products and turnkey payment mechanisms, is a likely revenue stream for Twitter, said Todd Chaffee, a Twitter board observer and general partner at Institutional Venture Partners, which has invested in Twitter. (…)

Many companies are already on Twitter, monitoring what customers say about them and offering discounts and promotions to their followers. And many people use Twitter to ask for recommendations, like which type of gadget to buy or which movie to see. Since Twitter is already becoming one of the best shopping resources, Mr. Chaffee said, why not enable people to make purchases from the site as well?

“Commerce-based search businesses monetize extremely well, and if someone says, ‘What treadmill should I buy?’ you as the treadmill company want to be there,” Mr. Chaffee said. “As people use Twitter to get trusted recommendations from friends and followers on what to buy, e-commerce navigation and payments will certainly play a role in Twitter monetization.”

(seen in Mashable)

What it means: for Twitter, everything points in the direction of word-of-mouth monetization through shopping. E-commerce is a low hanging fruit given the strong existing affiliate program eco-system on the Web but the natural extension for Twitter will be local merchants (including services). And what is the equivalent of e-commerce affiliate programs for local? Possibly request-for-proposals and pay-per-call.

Update (June 22, 2009): Evan Williams, Twitter’s CEO, replied to the New York Times article and, according to ReadWriteWeb said “To be clear: Todd is a Twitter investor and a very smart and helpful guy. However, he is not actually on Twitter’s board and, in this article, he’s brainstorming on his own. These are not in the least bit concrete plans of the company.” I’m still convinced they will go in that direction. It’s a completely natural evolution, whether they want it or not…

If interested, follow me on Twitter at @sebprovencher

According to this Forbes.com article, AT&T is preparing to launch a social Yellow Pages site to compete against Yelp and likes.

Later this year, AT&T plans to roll out an alternative brand for local search, geared primarily at younger users. The site will feature the same core data–listings and advertiser information–as Yellowpages.com, but differ in how it presents information and how it uses user-submitted information. While Yellowpages.com returns data based on advertisers’ profiles, similar to a directory, the new site will prioritize results based on a user’s social connections and recommendations, says Yoo.

On this new site, a search for a sushi restaurant could pull suggestions from a broad group of friends. A more targeted query, such as one for a pediatric dentist, would be handled differently. Rather than search a user’s entire social network, the site would only provide recommendations from friends and relatives who currently have kids.

What it means: As David Yoo,chief product officer for AT&T Interactive, says in the article, they’ve realized that the Yellow Pages brand appeals to older consumers (Yoo calls them “professionals in their late 30s or older”) but that they need another brand to maintain their relevancy with a younger crowd. They also need a “play” to compete against Yelp who has managed to capture a good share of mind and usage in some of AT&T’s major markets (like San Francisco). It’s not always obvious to launch a new brand but I think it’s becoming more and more evident that it’s needed.

From the Facebook corporate blog, Look Who’s Talking Now announces that Facebook is testing a better, more powerful Facebook search engine. That engine will allow users to find information from a variety of activity displayed in your friends’ activity stream.

Those of you in the test group will see new layouts for search results that will continue to include people’s profiles, Facebook Pages, groups and applications, and some entirely new Search features. With the test, you will be able to search your News Feed for the most recent status updates, photos, links, videos and notes being shared by your friends and the Facebook Pages of which you’re a fan. You will also be able to search for status updates, posted links and notes in Search from people who have chosen to make their profile and content available to everyone. (…)

The people around us are a powerful source for finding information about new and interesting information — from the latest on last night’s episode of “The Office” and suggestions on what to do for your next vacation to current events.

What it means: a very important move from Facebook. Surfacing activity content via keyword search is a fundamental element of discovery. Twitter had better technology that allowed users to easily find information in the activity timeline and Facebook is playing catch-up. I suspect we will amazed by the quality of information we can find when we’ll have access to all of our Facebook friends’ content via a search tool. Hopefully, Facebook will release an API for this search that other sites will be able to use to integrate.

A recent speech by Chris Anderson, Wired Magazine’s Editor-in-Chief, discussed the free vs. paid content debate:

When he addressed how this is affecting media and whether or not traditional media organizations should charge for their content online, he draws a number of conclusions from what the Wall Street Journal is doing. The tension is not so much free versus paid, but free versus freemium. In one slide, Anderson comes up with the following rules for media companies trying to figure out how to make money online:

1. The best model is a mix of free and paid

2. You can’t charge for an exclusive that will be repeated elsewhere,

3. Don’t charge for the most popular content on your site,

4. Content behind a pay wall should appeal to niches, the narrower the niche the better

via Chris Anderson’s Counterintuitive Rules For Charging For Media Online.

What it means: interesting thoughts on what content media companies should charge for. Knowing what I know about online value creation, I believe it makes sense.

According to French newspaper Le Monde, transit users in Paris will be able to access the subway, bus and region train systems with their cell phones at the end of 2010. Tickets/passes will downloaded on mobile devices via short-range wireless communications (NFC). The article mentions that tickets will be transferable between phones.

via Le “téléphone-ticket de transport” dès fin 2010 en Ile-de-France - Société - Le Monde.fr.

What it means: thought that mobile devices were only about communications? Think again. As Research In Motion’s CEO Mike Lazaridis said yesterday, your mobile device will become your “wireless wallet.” It’s one of the reasons why they bought Certicom earlier this year, “to embed that kind of security in our devices to make sure that things like wireless banking becomes a reality, and to make sure that we have the rights to these security models that you feel comfortable keeping medical information on them, or your license on these devices, your passport on these devices, or your credit card on these devices, or your bank access on these devices.”

As most people reading this blog know, I’m very active on Twitter (1000+ followers), Facebook (770+ “friends”) and LinkedIn (1300+ direct connections). I’m often asked how (and why) I use these three networks and wanted to share with my readers the usual answer I provide.

First, LinkedIn. According to their Web site, “LinkedIn is an interconnected network of experienced professionals from around the world, representing 170 industries and 200 countries. You can find, be introduced to, and collaborate with qualified professionals that you need to work with to accomplish your goals.” Launched in 2003, the site now has over 41 million members worldwide. LinkedIn has pretty much replaced my address book to find the most up to date contact information of my connections. It’s also how I find out when people change jobs or get promoted. It’s also extremely useful for business development opportunities. My 1300+ direct contacts give me access to more than 8.7M people in the site (that’s 22% of all LinkedIn members!). Suffice to say, I have easy access to almost everyone I need to talk to in the online media industry. I go to the site twice a day on average. I usually try to connect in LinkedIn with everyone I’ve met in person. I also accept connections from people that I’ve never met but have an interesting profile (high-profile individuals at known companies) or are connectors (headhunters, for example). If you fit those definitions, don’t hesitate to request a connection with me.

Second, Facebook. As most everyone know, Facebook is one of the leading social networking sites on the Web. According to their site, Facebook’s mission is “is to give people the power to share and make the world more open and connected.” Founded in 2004, the site now has more than 200 million active users and more than 100 million users log on to Facebook at least once each day. When I first joined the site, I started using Facebook pretty much like Linkedin, but even more openly. I started accepting invitations from almost everyone, especially if we had friends in common. Today, I’ve changed the way I use the site to make it more personal. I now connect in Facebook with friends, parents and close business contacts (usually means I’ve worked with you, I’ve met you many times at a business event and/or we’ve shared a great business meal/drink!). I use Facebook to post status updates (most of them originally posted in Twitter and mirrored in Facebook), interesting links, pictures I’ve taken (I don’t have a Flickr account) and I keep track of industry events I’m attending there. I find Facebook is a more interesting place to have “conversations” on people’s status updates because of the threaded nature of comments. It’s more personal. Facebook is one of the browser tabs I always keep open. In case, we know each other very well and you’ve slipped through the cracks and want to connect, I’m here.

Finally, Twitter. Twitter is a 140-character micro-blogging service. Started in 2006, Twitter is now used by 32M unique visitors worldwide (April 2009 ComScore data mentioned in Techcrunch). With its asynchronous connections (you don’t need to reciprocate a person following you), it serves as the perfect place for people I don’t know to connect with me. But I don’t follow everyone that follows me. I’m interested in individuals with strong opinions about almost anything and I’m not a fan of mundane things if I don’t know you well. I follow currently a little over 400 people while 1000 people follow me back. I use Twitter as a RSS reader, following my favorite bloggers, industry pundits and media sources in the Twitter feed. I also broadcast my new blog posts and interesting links related to the local/social media industries. I will also “tweet” personal stuff, often related to Montreal activities or interesting things I’ve seen (movies) or heard (music). It’s also a nice way to communicate directly with people through direct messages (in general, for my group, Twitter has replaced Facebook as the favorite way to send private messages). Twitter is another one of my open browser tabs. If you want to follow me, I’m at @sebprovencher

Firefox 3.5 is on the verge of being released and it will include geolocation. According to this post, “Firefox 3.5 includes a simple JavaScript API that allows you to quickly geo-enable your web application. It allows users to optionally share their location with websites without having to type in a postal code.” Firefox will use local WiFi networks and IP address information to try to guess the user’s location.

How will it work? According to Doug Turner, one of the geo-location feature developers, “This feature is completely opt-in! If you don’t do anything, geolocation is never used. When a web page wants ask you for your location, you get an dialog similar to the one below. If you do nothing, the feature stays off by default. Only if you press “Tell them”, will you send out your location information.”

What it means: in 35 days, Firefox 3.5 will be available for download (you can find the beta version here) and will provide access to geolocation data. I believe this is the beginning of a brave new local world online and every major site will try to provide a local view for their users. Is your site ready?