WebProNews » Philipp Lenssen

Insight Into Google Via Press Release Analysis

Doug Caverly — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 19:30:28 +0000

Would it surprise you to know that Google has dedicated less and less attention to “search” over the years? Conversely, the company’s talking more about “revenue.” These, anyway, are the conclusions that one might draw using Philipp Lenssen’s Google Press Release Analyzer.

Lenssen, the resident guru at Google Blogoscoped, constructed a tool that looks over eight years’ worth of releases for the word of your choice; the Analyzer then puts together a graph showing how often the word has been used.

Yet an analogy might be appropriate at this point. When I talk about Guinness, it’s because I like it. When I talk about Coors Light, it’s because I don’t. So the fact that a word is mentioned – or even the number of times the word comes up – isn’t necessarily an indicator of how Google feels about it, but the use of Lenssen’s tool can still lead to some interesting observations.

A graph corresponding to the word “censor,” for example, only deviates from zero percent one time between 1999 and 2007. “Does this mean Google doesn’t censor?” asks Lenssen. “No, it mostly means Google in their press releases never really talked about the subject of censorship (or rather, the word ‘censorship’), nor explicitly mentioned anti-censorship tools.”

Google also hasn’t talked much about evil, its own Googleplex, or Yahoo (in recent years, at least). You’ll have to interpret them for yourself, but the Google Press Release Analyzer does a great job of bringing in some facts.

Cloaking Concerns Over WebmasterWorld

WebProNews Staff — Mon, 05 Mar 2007 13:36:15 +0000

The issue of website cloaking bubbled to the surface of the search engine optimization world again, as a handful of noteworthy names debated the tactic and WebmasterWorld’s alleged use of it over time.

Cloaking Concerns Over WebmasterWorld

Cloaking was much simpler to understand in years past. Dracula wore one. The Shadow practically embodied the concept. Romulans and Klingons made use of cloaking throughout Star Trek’s history.

On the Internet, cloaking holds a more serious place than it does in the fantasy of horror, mystery, or science fiction. It’s very much a fact that some sites can and will disguise their content to present themselves as one thing to search engines, and something different to human visitors.

WebmasterWorld received scrutiny and discussion recently. Famed Googler Matt Cutts blogged about the latest episode in the cloaking saga, evidently after discussing it privately with Philipp Lenssen.

Matt recounted a short history involving Philipp and WebmasterWorld; he has concerns about what people going from Google to WebmasterWorld may see:

When I get a chance to tackle Philipp

Lenssen Predicts The Evolution Of Search

Doug Caverly — Mon, 05 Feb 2007 14:52:35 +0000

Philipp Lenssen, the resident guru at Google Blogoscoped and a frequent WebProNews contributor, has looked far, far into the future, and he’s sharing his predictions with the rest of us. They cover the next two technological “levels” of search, and even delve into the intriguing years “beyond.”

Lenssen also shares his humorous take on the Rocky movies (look for Rocky Jr. with a computer-generated Stallone), but that’s a topic for another day.

According to Lenssen’s ranking system, we’re currently sitting at Level 2. Level 3, he believes, will pack more (relevant) information onto the search results page, and will also offer more opportunities for personalization. It sounds entirely plausible, although the question of where that “relevant information” should come from – and even what relevant information is – could become a sticky one.

On to Level 4, which Lenssen describes as a “big and important step for the search AI.” We’re not talking true artificial intelligence, but it’s getting there. “The search AI will be able to reach logical conclusions, but it will have a harder time differentiating between what a human would think of as interesting conclusions vs boring ones,” according to Lenssen.

Lastly, he considers how search might develop in the years “beyond,” and in this section, which is liberally sprinkled with the word “may,” things get really interesting. At the core of the predictions: a self-aware, intelligent and inquisitive search engine that we might access through a brain implant or a humanoid avatar.

Some of Lenssen’s predictions sound great; some make me happy that we’re only at Level 2. They’re all interesting, though, and you can read them here.

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Doug is a staff writer for WebProNews. Visit WebProNews for the latest eBusiness news.