OK, let’s look again at blog search engines. It’s been just about an hour since Seagate’s news went up. So, let’s compare blog search engines and see how they are doing.
Google Blog Search for Seagate (note, this is different than the “main” Google engine — also, you have to click “sorted by date” to get the latest stuff).
IceRocket for Seagate.
Sphere for Seagate.
Technorati for Seagate.
Ask for Seagate.
Sorry guys. Google is just trouncing you here. Not only did it have my article first, but it had Jon Fortt’s article on DAVE first too.
Google’s blog search also has less noise. My second favorite? It’s Ask. It had both my article and Gizmodo’s mention of it last night.
Technorati? Dave Sifry, what’s going on? Your engine is looking worse and worse as time goes along. I find that I’m using Technorati less and less as time goes along too. Nothing about DAVE is up on Technorati yet. In fact, I wonder if Technorati is even indexing my blog anymore?
Not a good performance at all for Technorati. If a big company (two, actually) are already beating a startup on speed and quality (they are) then the startup is toast.
Why are blog search engines important? Because it’s how everyone from political campaigns to corporate officers inside places like Seagate listen to what the bloggers are saying about them.
If a blog search engine isn’t up to the minute then the people who use that engine are at a disadvantage to people who are using another engine. It’s why I can link out to interesting stuff about Seagate before other bloggers wake up.
Oh, and it’s also a way I can keep track of who’s linking or not. 
One thing I don’t like about Google’s blog search is that it defaults to “sort by relevance.” I far prefer the “Sorted by date” option (you have to click that on the top right side of the page to get it to show you the newest stuff it found).
How long does it take your blog about Seagate to get into the blog search engines?
UPDATE: It’s now 6:12 a.m. — more than two hours since announcement — and Technorati still doesn’t have a single mention of DAVE. It doesn’t even have Gizmodo’s mention of Seagate that was posted last night. If Technorati isn’t getting Gizmodo into its index, what hope does any other blogger have of getting into Technorati. Google actually has improved over the past two hours, while Technorati has gotten worse. And people wonder why I’m a Google fan…
Robert, first off who is running and hiding? You can make this about me, but it’s not, it’s about you and your credibility.
I don’t work for Technorati or anyone else that you think is against you. Maybe it is time to come out of the bunker. I actually have been a longtime reader of yours Robert, but as everyone can see by your real quality responses to me, that seemed to be of very little value to you.
If you actually want to know more about me Robert, you have my email address, feel free to email. If you are just doing this to make yourself look better in this comment thread, I think that is a lost cause.
Robert, first off who is running and hiding? You can make this about me, but it’s not, it’s about you and your credibility.
I don’t work for Technorati or anyone else that you think is against you. Maybe it is time to come out of the bunker. I actually have been a longtime reader of yours Robert, but as everyone can see by your real quality responses to me, that seemed to be of very little value to you.
If you actually want to know more about me Robert, you have my email address, feel free to email. If you are just doing this to make yourself look better in this comment thread, I think that is a lost cause.
“Sorry guys. Google is just trouncing you here. Not only did it have my article first, but it had Jon Fortt’s article on DAVE first too.
Google’s blog search also has less noise. My second favorite? It’s Ask. It had both my article and Gizmodo’s mention of it last night.”
I think your point would be better made by just comparing specific events, and not individual articles. It seems your criteria for a ‘good’ search is weather or not *your* article is linked. I don’t think that is the best barometer of a search engine.
And since we’re into full disclosure now, I work for a university, and my support comes from US government research grants. I’m not affiliated with any search company
“Sorry guys. Google is just trouncing you here. Not only did it have my article first, but it had Jon Fortt’s article on DAVE first too.
Google’s blog search also has less noise. My second favorite? It’s Ask. It had both my article and Gizmodo’s mention of it last night.”
I think your point would be better made by just comparing specific events, and not individual articles. It seems your criteria for a ‘good’ search is weather or not *your* article is linked. I don’t think that is the best barometer of a search engine.
And since we’re into full disclosure now, I work for a university, and my support comes from US government research grants. I’m not affiliated with any search company
Brian: no. All the search above is for simply the word “Seagate.” I also wanted to see who else wrote about Seagate, and how they found the information.
OK, replace “Seagate” with anything else. Do my points about blog search engines still hold?
Brian: no. All the search above is for simply the word “Seagate.” I also wanted to see who else wrote about Seagate, and how they found the information.
OK, replace “Seagate” with anything else. Do my points about blog search engines still hold?
Man alive. Brian – Scoble’s comparing the effectiveness of spidering/indexing – which can be gauged by how quickly a post from a blog that’s known to be widely crawled can get into the end-user searchable index.
Frank – yes, Robert can sound a little off center now and then (as can we all), but it sounds like you’ve got a chip on your shoulder.
Man alive. Brian – Scoble’s comparing the effectiveness of spidering/indexing – which can be gauged by how quickly a post from a blog that’s known to be widely crawled can get into the end-user searchable index.
Frank – yes, Robert can sound a little off center now and then (as can we all), but it sounds like you’ve got a chip on your shoulder.
>>You can make this about me, but it’s not, it’s about you and your credibility.
I get that already. This whole blog post, though, is about blog search and how well it is working. I am tracking a specific event and how well the search engines pick stuff up.
It’s interesting how you took it off track and the fact that we don’t know anything about you (and I’m not going to email you, if you don’t have the ability to say it in public that speaks to your credibility) shows that you are willing to shoot arrows, but aren’t willing to put yourself through that scrutiny.
Hence: I have more credibility than you, even after blowing a wad of it in the past four days. I blew it pretty darn transparently and out in public, too.
>>You can make this about me, but it’s not, it’s about you and your credibility.
I get that already. This whole blog post, though, is about blog search and how well it is working. I am tracking a specific event and how well the search engines pick stuff up.
It’s interesting how you took it off track and the fact that we don’t know anything about you (and I’m not going to email you, if you don’t have the ability to say it in public that speaks to your credibility) shows that you are willing to shoot arrows, but aren’t willing to put yourself through that scrutiny.
Hence: I have more credibility than you, even after blowing a wad of it in the past four days. I blew it pretty darn transparently and out in public, too.
Robert,
To give you an answer to your last question, I posted at 08:37 am CST and I am still not listed by Google blog search, however to be fair, I am a triple lower case letter z-lister.
Guy
Robert,
To give you an answer to your last question, I posted at 08:37 am CST and I am still not listed by Google blog search, however to be fair, I am a triple lower case letter z-lister.
Guy
Oh and my pages views increased by 4, for a total of 13. man I’m flying now!!
Guy
Oh and my pages views increased by 4, for a total of 13. man I’m flying now!!
Guy
@21
“One score and 14 years ago, a great American — Al Gore – in whose symbolic shadow we surf today, invented the Internet. This momentous invention came as a great beacon light of hope to millions anonymous men and women commenters who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their anonymity.
But 34 year later, the anonymous commenter still is not free. 34 years later, the life of the anonymous commenter is still sadly crippled by the manacles of ridicule and the chains of judgementalism. 34 years later, the anonymous commenter lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of blogs. 34 years later, the anonymous commenter is still languishing in the corners of the internet and finds himself an exile the blogosphere….
It would be fatal for the blogosphere to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the anonymous commenter’s legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality… Those who hope that the anonymous commenter needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the blogoshpere returns to business as usual….
“I have a dream that one day in the blogosphere of the internet the anonymous commenter and the A-list bloggers will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.
I have a dream that one day even the Scobleizer, a blog rife with conflict, sweltering with the heat of oppression of anonymous commenters, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
I have a dream that all anonymous commenters will one day live in blogosphere where they will not be judged by the anonymity of their personas but by the content of their comments.
I have a dream”
@21
“One score and 14 years ago, a great American — Al Gore – in whose symbolic shadow we surf today, invented the Internet. This momentous invention came as a great beacon light of hope to millions anonymous men and women commenters who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their anonymity.
But 34 year later, the anonymous commenter still is not free. 34 years later, the life of the anonymous commenter is still sadly crippled by the manacles of ridicule and the chains of judgementalism. 34 years later, the anonymous commenter lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of blogs. 34 years later, the anonymous commenter is still languishing in the corners of the internet and finds himself an exile the blogosphere….
It would be fatal for the blogosphere to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the anonymous commenter’s legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality… Those who hope that the anonymous commenter needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the blogoshpere returns to business as usual….
“I have a dream that one day in the blogosphere of the internet the anonymous commenter and the A-list bloggers will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.
I have a dream that one day even the Scobleizer, a blog rife with conflict, sweltering with the heat of oppression of anonymous commenters, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
I have a dream that all anonymous commenters will one day live in blogosphere where they will not be judged by the anonymity of their personas but by the content of their comments.
I have a dream”
I agree Robert. Here is what your credibility is:
You’re a sell-out whose once valued opinions have now been corrupted by greed and ego.
I also agree that you have blown a “wad” of credibility over the last 4 days, but do you plan on learning from it at all or just continue saying, “I have more credibility than you cause I have this big blog and I am a big man”?
I agree Robert. Here is what your credibility is:
You’re a sell-out whose once valued opinions have now been corrupted by greed and ego.
I also agree that you have blown a “wad” of credibility over the last 4 days, but do you plan on learning from it at all or just continue saying, “I have more credibility than you cause I have this big blog and I am a big man”?
This is actually surprising to me–since my opinion when Google first overwhelmed me with blog results in my news alerts (without telling me first!) was that Google’s blogsearch picks up a lot more of the fake blogs and spam than did technorati. It’s clear they’re learning how important it is to improve…and remain the top search engine for everything.
This is actually surprising to me–since my opinion when Google first overwhelmed me with blog results in my news alerts (without telling me first!) was that Google’s blogsearch picks up a lot more of the fake blogs and spam than did technorati. It’s clear they’re learning how important it is to improve…and remain the top search engine for everything.
MLK @ 33,
So you feel that pesonal attacks on somebody should be done in the shadows and not out in the open. If I wanted to use the same inane tatics as some commenters use here, you would not have a problem with some obscure writer calling you and your believe not only wrong and stupid but that you are a complete imbicle for being alive.
Personaly, I want to face my accuser and let him/her know what I think about their comments.
Guy
MLK @ 33,
So you feel that pesonal attacks on somebody should be done in the shadows and not out in the open. If I wanted to use the same inane tatics as some commenters use here, you would not have a problem with some obscure writer calling you and your believe not only wrong and stupid but that you are a complete imbicle for being alive.
Personaly, I want to face my accuser and let him/her know what I think about their comments.
Guy
#36.. Actually, no I wouldn’t have a problem. I’m secure enough in my positions and opinions that I feel confident I can defend them without needing to resort to ad hominem attacks regarding the commenter. I can separate the message from the messenger and would not feel threatened by their anonymity. I’ve found that generally those that feel “attacked” by anonymous comments are insecure in their positions and feel threatened when needing to defend them.
#36.. Actually, no I wouldn’t have a problem. I’m secure enough in my positions and opinions that I feel confident I can defend them without needing to resort to ad hominem attacks regarding the commenter. I can separate the message from the messenger and would not feel threatened by their anonymity. I’ve found that generally those that feel “attacked” by anonymous comments are insecure in their positions and feel threatened when needing to defend them.
Robert,
You ask what’s up with Technorati? I don’t know. I do notice though, that the XHTML markup on this page contains a LOT of errors. It’s just possible that these errors in the XHTML are confusing the Technorati spiders when they try to parse your blog.
That’s probably not the reason, but you never know. Check out the errors in the markup here:
http://validator.w3.org/check?uri=http%3A%2F%2Fscobleizer.com%2F&charset=%28detect+automatically%29&doctype=Inline
Robert,
You ask what’s up with Technorati? I don’t know. I do notice though, that the XHTML markup on this page contains a LOT of errors. It’s just possible that these errors in the XHTML are confusing the Technorati spiders when they try to parse your blog.
That’s probably not the reason, but you never know. Check out the errors in the markup here:
http://validator.w3.org/check?uri=http%3A%2F%2Fscobleizer.com%2F&charset=%28detect+automatically%29&doctype=Inline
Robert,
You can click sorted by date to get the latest stuff. You can also use the “published” links on the left side of the page. If you last hour or last 12 hours, you’ll get recent stuff, too.
Robert,
You can click sorted by date to get the latest stuff. You can also use the “published” links on the left side of the page. If you last hour or last 12 hours, you’ll get recent stuff, too.
Hey Bro … you know who Frank is. He is the a-hole we shot bottle rockets at in the 3rd grade. This is his anonymous way of getting back at you. Have fun this weekend.
Hey Bro … you know who Frank is. He is the a-hole we shot bottle rockets at in the 3rd grade. This is his anonymous way of getting back at you. Have fun this weekend.
I posted some thoughts on Technorati search last week:
http://engtech.wordpress.com/2007/01/26/does-technorati-matter-searching-for-violent-acres/
I posted some thoughts on Technorati search last week:
http://engtech.wordpress.com/2007/01/26/does-technorati-matter-searching-for-violent-acres/
Wow Scoble, I didn’t think you could come over as much of an ass as you did the past couple of days but you’ve gone even further and exceeded all expectations.
Just because his questions rumble you a little bit, you have to act like an ass and start shooting off that he should tell you who he works for and his background. Not everyone has to have a blog to make a valid point! You need to get that into your head. It’s almost as if somebody’s arguements become invalid unless they give you their background info.
Are you like this when you meet people in real life? You might be dropping your kid off at school and get speaking to another kid’s parents – all of a sudden a siren goes off in Scoble’s head and a voice inside him says “You’ve gotta find out the background of these people before any of what they said is true!! Quick get their web address”
Do you actually become friends with anyone if they don’t have a site?
Wow Scoble, I didn’t think you could come over as much of an ass as you did the past couple of days but you’ve gone even further and exceeded all expectations.
Just because his questions rumble you a little bit, you have to act like an ass and start shooting off that he should tell you who he works for and his background. Not everyone has to have a blog to make a valid point! You need to get that into your head. It’s almost as if somebody’s arguements become invalid unless they give you their background info.
Are you like this when you meet people in real life? You might be dropping your kid off at school and get speaking to another kid’s parents – all of a sudden a siren goes off in Scoble’s head and a voice inside him says “You’ve gotta find out the background of these people before any of what they said is true!! Quick get their web address”
Do you actually become friends with anyone if they don’t have a site?
I picked a few topics and ran through the various searches listed here (some combinations of scientific, numerical, ruby, molecular dynamics) and technorati was by far the worst, including several that were totally irrelevant. The others were more or less the same.
I would also say that the engine that processes things faster is not necessarily better than one that takes a little longer (and for me, a day or two is a little longer). It is one component, along with accuracy, signal to noise, and other things too. (Not that technorati does any better with those areas)
I picked a few topics and ran through the various searches listed here (some combinations of scientific, numerical, ruby, molecular dynamics) and technorati was by far the worst, including several that were totally irrelevant. The others were more or less the same.
I would also say that the engine that processes things faster is not necessarily better than one that takes a little longer (and for me, a day or two is a little longer). It is one component, along with accuracy, signal to noise, and other things too. (Not that technorati does any better with those areas)
[...] coverage this morning … Gizmodo, Dave Fortt, Robert’s announcement post, and Robert’s follow up on how the article is coming up in search engines (always interesting to me, since I won the speed battle when Calacanis announced his podcast series [...]
Robert,
Very strange. Thanks for your honest and appraisal of Technorati search, sorry we failed you. I’m looking into what’s up right now. In our regular tests, we consistently show greater consistency, completeness, and less spam, but clearly we’re missing something big here.
Thanks again for your criticism and feedback. We’ll be working harder to figure out what’s going on, and to win you back…
Dave
Robert,
Very strange. Thanks for your honest and appraisal of Technorati search, sorry we failed you. I’m looking into what’s up right now. In our regular tests, we consistently show greater consistency, completeness, and less spam, but clearly we’re missing something big here.
Thanks again for your criticism and feedback. We’ll be working harder to figure out what’s going on, and to win you back…
Dave
Robert:
Interesting, but how big of search sample is that? 1 search?! How can you make such calls after running *1* search???? Make a hundred, or a thousand, please.
Also, you didn’t mention pinging. Are you sure you (or your blog platform or hosting service) pings Technorati or Pingomatic or blo.gs or … when you publish a post?
Maybe Google is preemptively refetching your blog, while Technorati listens for pings?
Robert:
Interesting, but how big of search sample is that? 1 search?! How can you make such calls after running *1* search???? Make a hundred, or a thousand, please.
Also, you didn’t mention pinging. Are you sure you (or your blog platform or hosting service) pings Technorati or Pingomatic or blo.gs or … when you publish a post?
Maybe Google is preemptively refetching your blog, while Technorati listens for pings?
Robert:
I see a LOT of relevant and timely posts about Segate here: http://www.technorati.com/search/Seagate
Maybe just this part is the problem:
“Not only did it have my article first, but it had Jon Fortt’s article on DAVE first too.”
Is this really the right measure of quality?
Try this one, too:
http://www.technorati.com/search/Seagate+AND+DAVE
Again, looks like a lot of very relevant and fresh content.
Have you tried pinging Technorati? Maybe your ping somehow didn’t make it there. I think the URL to go to is http://www.technorati.com/ping …
Robert:
I see a LOT of relevant and timely posts about Segate here: http://www.technorati.com/search/Seagate
Maybe just this part is the problem:
“Not only did it have my article first, but it had Jon Fortt’s article on DAVE first too.”
Is this really the right measure of quality?
Try this one, too:
http://www.technorati.com/search/Seagate+AND+DAVE
Again, looks like a lot of very relevant and fresh content.
Have you tried pinging Technorati? Maybe your ping somehow didn’t make it there. I think the URL to go to is http://www.technorati.com/ping …
Wow, you are just cuckoo for coco-puffs, Scoble. Good luck on pulling your reputation out of the quagmire on this one.
Wow, you are just cuckoo for coco-puffs, Scoble. Good luck on pulling your reputation out of the quagmire on this one.
Petko: You missed the point of blog search which is speed. For the first three hours Technorati didn’t show a single “DAVE” link. Google and Ask showed a bunch.
Petko: You missed the point of blog search which is speed. For the first three hours Technorati didn’t show a single “DAVE” link. Google and Ask showed a bunch.
Petko: it’s not my blog I was tracking. I was tracking all the other blogs.
And this isn’t the first search I’ve done a comparison on. I’ve noticed that Google is better on a whole range of searches lately.
Petko: it’s not my blog I was tracking. I was tracking all the other blogs.
And this isn’t the first search I’ve done a comparison on. I’ve noticed that Google is better on a whole range of searches lately.
Robert:
How deep in the search results did you dig?
Perhaps Technorati indexed it way before Googleboys and indexed a number of posts after the one you were looking for, which would put the target post further back in the search results.
How can you be sure those other blogs pinged Technorati?
If they didn’t, it’s no wonder Technorati didn’t know they published something new. Like I said, maybe Google practively crawls blogs, like it crawls non-blogs. Technorati doesn’t do that currently.
Do blogs whose posts you didn’t find publish valid feeds? I mean, valid RSS or Atom format? Sites often mess this up, and if this was a case of an invalid format, maybe Google’s feed parser is more forgiving than Technorati’s.
There are a lot of factors here, a lot of possible problems, and they are not all on the blog search engine end, so one should be careful pointing fingers without having analyzed all the possibilities.