“Recent research conducted by Harris Interactive* indicates that consumers are suffering from "Web Search fatigue." The study revealed that while the vast majority of the population uses a search engine to find information on the Internet, only 15 percent of people find what they’re looking for with their first search. Typically, people need to conduct three to four searches to find the right result.

While search engines can and will continue to improve, we think making queries smarter is also part of the solution. While there are a handful of seasoned users and professional searchers out there who employ Boolean operators, site restrict and other advanced techniques, no one (ourselves included) wants to have to think hard about which search terms to use. Our vision was to build a system that helps users confidently construct more sophisticated and targeted queries without slowing them down.

In this first release, we’ve broken the problem into two parts. Part One provides assistance as you type. This has massively reduced the number of misspelled queries being submitted and saves typing time for slower typists. It can also link you deeper into the results space, saving you a step on those quick in-and-out sessions.

Part Two helps you move your searches forward, backward or sideways so you get the results you actually want more quickly. So if you started with a query for ‘Thom Yorke,’ you might get a forward (refining) suggestion for ‘Eraser,’ his most recent album, or a backward (expanding) suggestion for ‘Radiohead,’ the band he’s a

member of. You could also get a sideways (or related) suggestion such as ‘solo albums‘ which, when clicking on the term in the left-hand column of Search Assist, will lead you to other lead singers with solo albums like Gwen Stefani or Eddie Vedder.”

More info on Yahoo! Search blog.

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This all began back in January when I asked Did Gmail’s Spam Filtering Freak Out This Week? and followed that up with Gmail Spam Filtering Update after exchanging a bit of mail with a Googler who worked on Gmail. But ever since then it’s still been a little twitchy, and I’d just decided to accept that and move on.

But at some point in the last couple weeks it finally turned the corner. I can’t recall a single false positive I’ve seen this week and the false negative rate has been remarkably low as well.

See Also:

• Gmail Spam Filtering: Smart but could be Smarter
• Comparing Spam Filters: Gmail, Yahoo! Mail, and SpamCop
• Using Gmail as My Spam Filter

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To the back of the lab!” How was I to know what collaboration meant then? But true to form, I got the hang of its meaning and put the musician’s mantra of “Practise, Practise, Practise” to its limit but getting the smartest kid in the class to ‘collaborate’ with me during all my math tests.

Today, collaboration seems to be the hottest act since Baywatch hit our television screens, for what seems like eons ago. But unlike Baywatch, collaboration produces results. It has become the epitome for almost all things Web 2.0.

But it shouldn’t come as any surprise. After all, collaboration software (sometimes referred to as groupware – though this is more commonly associated with business processes using shared databases) developers are tapping into something that is already innate within the human species; the uncontrollable desire to share, give and sacrifice. We are a communal and altruistic species. Believe it or not, we want to make the world a better place; donating ourselves in one form or another. Collaboration thus comes naturally to us.

Linus Torvalds understood collaboration only too well. And this led to the open-source operating system Linux, being born. Ray Ozzie’s understanding of human collaboration led to the release of Lotus Notes back in ’89. Jimmy Wales’s understanding of collaboration led to the creation of the world’s largest and most up-to-date encyclopedia online (Larry Sanger may have a bone to pick with that, though).

But collaboration software was probably catapulted into the mainstream with the invention of e-mail. It’s an excellent communication tool (don’t let spam tell you otherwise), but as a collaboration tool, it isn’t very productive. Passing attachments back and forth doesn’t really cut it when a team is working simultaneously on a task. Today’s files and documents are getting way to big to even attempt stuffing them in team members’ inboxes (remember the ‘sneakernet’ days of carrying floppy-disks from one person to another?).

There are no hard and fast rules where collaboration is concerned. You can do it on a personal level, within or across organizations with established processes, from the bottom-up in an ad hoc way, or just communicating with clients and customers. It’s also more than likely you’ll never always be working in a same team more than thrice in a row. Your business will tend to form and dissolve teams as quickly as sugar in hot tea. Bear this in mind when choosing collaborative software. You may own the latest and most up-to-date gizmo on the planet, but another organization you’re corresponding with may not.

The Make-Up Of A Collaboration Software

There are three very basic functions a collaboration software embodies: Communication, Collaboration /Sharing and Management

The communication tools:

instant messaging

e-mail

voice mail

fax

web publishing

blogging

skyping

The collaborative tools:

wikis

video conferences

webcasting

teleconferences

data conferencing

Discussion forums

chat rooms

The management tools:

Office suites

Workflow systems

Group calendars

Project management systems

The new wave of collaboration tools populating the market today, spawned by the popularity of the Internet has an eclectic mix of features; applications catering to large enterprises right down to consumers. Some ASPs (Application Service Providers) offer a fully-integrated package, combining communication, sharing and management tools while other ASPs offer specialized services zeroing in on one specific segment of collaboration. With the nomadic lifestyles of most entrepreneurs today, mobility becomes a determinant factor in how collaboration software developers are building their products.

You may have heard then of Office 2.0. Office 2.0 is collaboration and production tasks managed fully online. That’s the simplest way I can describe it. With the surge of broadband access, this is a very viable future for the mass market to take to easily. Though still very much in its infancy, the potential for managing most or all your business processes online is very real. Synching various business tools and keeping track of all your business transactions could just be a matter of five mouse clicks and a task is completed.

I’m sure you’re already itching to know what the future of collaboration software holds for you, so let’s start with some desktop clients:

Microsoft’s very own Groove

Colligo

Socialtext

Web-based software:

Microsoft’s Sharepoint

IBM’s Lotus Notes

Joyent

Zimbra

Zoho

Google Docs & Spreadsheets

thinkfree

Atlassian

Goowy

GroveSite

37 Signals

near-time

itensil

For a more extensive list of Office 2.0 applications, I recommend you’ve a look at this database, http://itredux.com/office-20/database/. Visit those sites and see what’s on offer.

So What Does This All Mean?

As an entrepreneur, saving a buck here and there, adds up to a considerable amount of savings for your business over a year. So if you can find avenues to do so, why shouldn’t you?

Forget paying for proprietary software if there is a viable open-source alternative available or, consider using an ASP for your business. It will probably cost less than what it takes to run and manage a small IT department. Just ask yourself, how much of the productivity tools like Microsoft’s Office do you actually use? 50%? 70%? 10%? Think about it.

Does it make sense to purchase Microsoft’s Office Suite only for you to use Word or Excel? Would a more cost-effective option like the free Google Docs & Spreadsheets or Zoho be intrinsically more viable?

The dawn of Office 2.0 applications puts you in charge of the choice of tools you really need at a fraction of the cost of shrink-wrapped software. Sometimes offered to you for the unbeatable price of free. While true that many of the current applications are not yet primed for enterprise usage, SOHOs or SMBs, will stand to gain first. So why not take advantage of this cost-cutting measure?

We’re moving in a direction where the Web itself will become an operating system of sorts where every aspect of business, social and personal activities will be done online. And that includes storage. Prepare yourself for it. Prepare your business for it. Exciting times truly lie ahead.

So really, who needs cubicles?

Copyright 2006 Kevin Singarayar. All rights reserved.

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Andy Beal is an internet marketing consultant and considered one of the world’s most respected and interactive search engine marketing experts. Andy has worked with many Fortune 1000 companies such as Motorola, CitiFinancial, Lowes, Alaska Air, DeWALT, NBC and Experian.

You can read his internet marketing blog at Marketing Pilgrim and reach him at andy.beal@gmail.com.

Wow, the spams are getting more and more real looking! I predict that the next innovation in comment spam will involve actual humans commenting on blogs with insightful, relevant, on-topic information. And I would be proud to approve them.

By the way, have you tried out coComment? It lets you, via a bookmarklet, track and share your comments on everybody else’s blogs. Its invite only, but if you enter your email on the webpage, you might get an invite code within hours (I did). If you really want to know what I’m saying on other blogs, you can subscribe to my coComment feed.

UPDATE: TDavid has the seven sure signs you’re looking at a comment spam.

Nathan Weinberg writes the popular InsideGoogle blog, offering the latest news and insights about Google and search engines.

Visit the InsideGoogle blog.

2006 will the year in which the once great Slashdot dies.

There’s little question that Digg is one of the most likely candidates to take the lead from Slashdot. The numbers seem to bear that out. But what’s more interesting to me is why Slashdot is on its way out.

Community Participation and Judgment

There’s always been a sense of frustration among those who submit news to Slashdot. Sometimes your story is picked and sometimes it isn’t. After a while, you start to wonder why Slashdot’s small group of dictators (err, I mean “editors”) are qualified to decide what’s interesting news.

Haven’t we figured out that the crowd is generally smarter than any one individual in the crowd?

Sites like Digg and Reddit understand that. Even the popular page on del.icio.us provides a more useful insight into the collective mind of a small but active piece of the web. The only difference is that del.icio.us doesn’t facilitate discussion. Both Digg and Reddit allow users to comment on any URL that’s been posted.

For whatever reason, some people still think that Slashdot is a blog. I think of it as a message board in which only a small group of the members have the privileges required to create new posts.

It’s interesting to note that Kuro5hin opened the editorial queue to their users for voting and comments but it never quite took off in the same way. I drifted away from the site a couple years ago, but suspect that it’s a matter of focus. K5 has always placed more of an emphasis on writing, personal stories, and politics rather than what’s hot now, spreading links or memes, and Google worship.

The Generation Gap

Let’s face it. The Slashdot guys are getting old (just as I am!). But the core audience that fuels Slashdot has always been a fairly young crowd. Reading the comments now and then provides a window into who the regular contributors are:

I know that’s quite a generalization, but it’s hard to deny that Slashdot would be anything without the core group of young geeks with more time than money. Every year that goes by is another year in the age gap between that group and the Slashdot editors.

Chad and I were discussing generation gaps in the Internet technologies world recently and decided that generations are roughly 7 years. We both agreed that it’s going to be increasingly hard for Slashdot to stay relevant in the face of younger, more open services like Digg and Reddit.

Sure, they can find and promote some young new editors to introduce “new blood” into the process. But that’s not the same. It’s still Slashdot. The site has a voice, the community has a reputation, and the entire code base was written to support them. That stuff is hard to change.

Jeremy Zawodny is the author of the popular Jeremy Zawodny’s blog. Jeremy is part of the Yahoo search team and frequently posts in the Yahoo! Search blog as well.

Visit Jeremy’s blog: Jeremy Zawodny’s blog.

Relax. Quit complaining. Ford Explorer ads on your extremist political blog are a good thing. Google explained on its AdSense blog that site targeting had come into play, giving you a much more valuable ad than the normal context-targeted ads you’re used to seeing.

Google posted a refresher on how site targeting works, in an effort to clear up the misconceptions about those Explorer ads:

For users who would prefer not to see those ads appear on their sites again, Google mentioned that the ad’s URL can be added to the competitive filter list. Goodbye ad, yes, but goodbye CPM profits too.

—
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David Utter is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business.

We’ve seen local search touted as having the most potential for growth for the search engine industry. Yahoo, Google, MSN, and even A9 have been directing efforts on maps and images into refining those local search results. A better local presence gives the engines greater opportunity to capture advertising from small to medium businesses.

Many of those efforts include Yellow Pages content. But one Internet Yellow Pages, backed by Dow component SBC Communications, wants its SmartPages.com site to get a bigger piece of that market.

San Antonio-based SBC, which recently observed in a report that $4 billion was “not much money” to spend on an IPTV initiative, has invested in redesigning the search capabilities of the SmartPages web site. Users can search for businesses by category, refine those results by subcategories or community, or search within those results.

Businesses who advertise with SBC can add to the features available from a SmartPages search. A result for that business could incorporate a click-to-call feature, a graphic, a link to online specials or coupons, or other useful functions.

According to a press release, SmartPages advertisers will have their ad distributed to YellowPages.com, Switchboard.com, and soon AOL Yellow Pages. Other value-adds would be priority-ranked ads and sponsored links.

David Utter is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business. Email him here.

The computer and consumer electronics shopping search engine company disclosed it will establish a Chinese version of its Smarter.com site. Two executives, noted as Jessica Chen and Eric Zhang in the press release, have been hired to oversee operations.

Smarter’s shopping engine provides user-contributed product reviews, and pricing information collected from online retailers. Searches can be performed by product category or name, and further tailored with a price range selected by the user.

China has been widely targeted by big-time search engine names like Google, Yahoo, and MSN Search, due to its growing number of Internet users. “China currently is the second largest country in the world in terms of Internet usage, with an expected 133 million users by the end of 2005,” said Harry Tsao, Co-Founder of Smarter.com, in the release. “While online shopping in China is still nascent, 15% of Chinese users use the Internet for shopping information, and we believe that Chinese consumers will rapidly adopt shopping search.”

Mr. Tsao, along with MeziMedia co-founder Talmadge O’Neill, has some familiarity with the search engine market. They founded Overture, which Yahoo purchased in 2003. Overture now forms the heart of Yahoo’s online advertising operations.

David Utter is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business. Email him here.

This form of equipment financing contributed greatly to the growth of US start-ups. Yearly, specialty leasing companies pour hundreds of millions of dollars into start-ups, permitting savvy entrepreneurs to achieve the biggest ‘bang for their buck’ in financing growth. What is venture leasing and how do sophisticated entrepreneurs maximize enterprise value with this type of financing? Why is venture leasing a cheaper and smarter way to finance needed equipment when compared to venture capital? For answers, one must look closely at this relatively new and expanding form of equipment financing specifically designed for rapidly growing venture capital-backed start-ups.

The term venture leasing describes the leasing of equipment to pre-profit, start-ups funded by venture capital investors. These companies usually have negative cash flow and rely on additional equity rounds to fulfill their business plans. Venture leasing originated to allow growing start-ups to acquire needed operating equipment while conserving expensive venture development capital. Equipment financed by venture leases usually includes essentials such as computers, laboratory equipment, test equipment, furniture, manufacturing and production equipment, and other equipment to automate the office.

Using Venture Leasing Is Smart

Venture leasing enjoys many advantages over traditional venture capital and bank financing. Financing new ventures can be a high risk business. Venture capitalists generally demand sizeable equity stakes in the companies they finance to compensate for this risk. They typically seek investment returns of at least 35% – 50% on their unsecured, non-amortizing equity investments. An IPO or other sale of their equity position within three to six years of investing offers them the best avenue to capture this return. Many venture capitalists require board representation, specific exit time frames and/or investor rights to force a ‘liquidity’ event. In comparison, venture leasing – having none of these drawbacks – specifically helps young companies acquire equipment for growth. Venture lessors typically seek an annual return in the 14% – 20% range. These transactions usually amortize monthly in two to four years and are secured by the underlying assets. Although the risk to the venture lessor is also high, this risk is mitigated by requiring collateral and an amortizing transaction. By using venture leasing along with venture capital, the savvy entrepreneur lowers the venture’s overall capital cost, builds enterprise value faster and preserves ownership.

Venture leasing is also very flexible. By structuring a fair market value purchase or renewal option at the end of the lease, the start-up can slash monthly payments. Lower payments result in higher earnings and cash flow. Since a fair market value option is not an obligation, the lessee has a high degree of flexibility and control. The resulting reduction in payments and shift of lease expense beyond the expiry of the transaction can deliver a higher enterprise value to the savvy entrepreneur during the initial term of the lease. The higher enterprise value results from the start-up’s ability to achieve higher earnings, upon which most valuations are based.

Customers benefit more from venture leasing as compared to traditional bank financing in two ways. First, venture leases are usually only secured by the underlying equipment. Additionally, there are usually no restrictive financial covenants. Most banks, if they lend to early stage companies, require blanket liens on all of the companies’ assets. In some cases, they also require guarantees of the start-ups’ principals. More and more, sophisticated entrepreneurs recognize the stifling effects of these limitations and their impact on growth. When start-ups need additional financing and a sole lender has encumbered all assets or required guarantees, these young companies become less attractive to other financing sources. Correcting this situation can sap the entrepreneurs’ time and energy.

How Venture Leasing Works

Generally, a major round of equity capital raised from credible investors or venture capitalists makes venture leasing viable for the early stage company. Lessors structure most transactions as master lease lines, permitting the lessee to draw down on the line as needed throughout the year. Lease lines usually range in size from as little as $ 200,000 to well over $ 5,000,000, depending on the lessee’s need and credit strength. Terms are typically between twenty four to forty eight months, payable monthly in advance. The lessee’s credit strength, the quality and useful life of the underlying equipment, and the lessor’s anticipated ability to re-market the equipment during the lease often dictate the initial lease term. Although no lessor enters a leasing arrangement expecting to re-market the equipment prior to lease expiry, should the lessee’s business fail, the lessor must pursue this avenue of recovery to salvage the transaction. Most venture leases give lessees flexible end-of-lease options. These options generally include the ability to buy the equipment, to renew the lease at fair market value or to return the equipment to the lessor. Many lessors cap the fair market value, which also benefits the lessee. Most leases require the lessee to shoulder the important equipment obligations such as maintenance, insurance and paying required equipment taxes.

Venture lessors target lessee prospects that have good promise and that are likely to fulfill their leases. Since most start-ups rely on future equity rounds to execute their business plans, lessors devote significant attention to credit review and due diligence – evaluating the caliber of the investor group, the efficacy of the business plan and management’s background. A superior management team has usually demonstrated prior successes in the field in which the new venture is active. Additionally, management’s expertise in the key business functions — sales, marketing, R&D, production, engineering, finance — is essential. Although there are many professional venture capitalists financing new ventures, there can be a significant difference in their abilities, staying power and resources. The better venture capitalists achieve excellent results and have direct experience with the type of companies being financed. The best VCs have developed industry specialization and many have in-house specialists with direct operating experience within the industries covered. Also important to the venture lessor are the amount of capital VCs provide the start-up and the amount allocated for future funding rounds.

After determining that the management team and venture capital investors are qualified, venture lessors evaluate the start-up’s business model and the market potential of the venture. Since most venture lessors are not technology specialists – able to assess products, technology, patents, business processes and the like – they rely greatly on the thorough due diligence of experienced venture capitalists. But the experienced venture lessor does undertake an independent evaluation of the business plan and conducts careful due diligence to understand its content. Here, the lessor generally attempts to understand and concur with the business model. Questions to be answered include: Is the business model sensible? How large is the market for the prospect’s services or products? Are the income projections realistic? Is pricing of the product or service sensible? How much cash is on hand and how long will it last according to the projections? When is the next equity round needed? Are the key people needed execute the business plan in place? These and similar questions help determine whether the business model is reasonable.

Satisfied that the business model is sound, the venture lessor’s greatest concern is whether the start-up has sufficient liquidity or cash on hand to support a significant portion of the lease term. If the venture fails to raise additional capital or runs out of cash, the lessor is not likely to collect further lease payments. To mitigate this risk, most experienced venture lessors pursue start-ups with at least nine months of cash or sufficient liquid assets to service a substantial portion of their leases.

Getting the Best Deal

What determines venture lease pricing and how does a prospective lessee get the best deal? First, make sure you are comfortable with the leasing company. This relationship is usually more important than transaction pricing. With the rapid rise in venture leasing over the past decade, a handful of national leasing companies now specialize in venture leases. A good venture lessor has a lot of expertise in this market, is accustom to working with start-ups, and is prepared to help in difficult cash flow situations should the start-up stray from plan. Also, the best venture lessors deliver other value-added services – such as assisting in equipment acquisitions at better prices, trading out existing equipment, finding additional venture capital sources, working capital lines, factoring, temporary CFOs, and introductions to potential strategic partners.

Once the start-up finds a capable venture lessor, negotiating a fair and competitive lease is the next order of business. A number of factors determine venture lease pricing and terms. Important factors include: 1) the perceived credit strength of the lessee, 2) equipment quality, 3) market rates, and 4) competitive factors within the venture leasing market. Since the lease can be structured with several options, many of which influence the ultimate lease cost, start-ups should compare competing lease proposals. Lessors typically structured leases to yield 14% – 20%. By developing end-of-lease options to better accommodate lessees’ needs, lessors can shift some of this pricing to the lease’s back end in the form of a fair market value or fixed purchase or renewal option. It is not uncommon to see a three year lease structured to yield 9% – 11% annually during the initial lease term. Thereafter, the lessee can choose to return the equipment, purchase the equipment for 10% – 15% of equipment cost or to renew the lease for an additional year. If the lease is renewed, the lessor recovers an additional 10% – 15% of equipment cost. If the equipment is returned to the lessor, the start-up reduces its cost and limits the amount paid under the lease. The lessor will then remarket the equipment to achieve its 14% – 20% yield target.

Another way that leasing companies can justify slashing lease payments is to incorporate warrants to purchase stock into the transaction. Warrants give the lessor the right to buy an agreed upon quantity of ownership shares at a share price predetermined by the parties. Under a venture lease with warrant pricing, the lessor typically prices that lease several percentage points below a similar lease without warrants. The number of warrants the start-up proffers is arrived at by dividing a portion of the lease line – usually 3% to 15% of the line – by the warrant strike price. The strike price is typically the share price of the most recently completed equity round. Including a warrant option often encourages venture lessors to enter transactions with companies that are very early in development or where the equipment to be leased is of questionable quality or re-marketability.

Building a young company into an industry leader is in many ways similar to building a state-of-the art airplane or bridge. You need the right people, partners, ideas, materials and tools. Venture leasing is a useful tool for the savvy entrepreneur. When used properly, this financing tool can help early stage companies accelerate growth, squeeze the most out of their venture capital and increase enterprise value between equity rounds. Why not preserve ownership for those really doing the heavy lifting?

George Parker is a Director and Executive Vice President of Leasing Technologies International, Inc. (LTI). He is responsible for overseeing the company’s marketing and financing efforts. One of the co-founders of LTI, Mr. Parker has been involved in secured lending and equipment financing for over twenty years. Mr. Parker is an industry leader, frequent panelist and author of several articles pertaining to equipment financing.

Headquartered in Wilton, CT, LTI is a leasing firm specializing nationally in direct equipment financing and vendor leasing programs for emerging growth and later-stage, venture capital backed companies. More information about LTI is available at www.ltileasing.com.

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