O’Reilly and Battelle on Hadoop

One Response to “O’Reilly and Battelle on Hadoop”

1. Ramsay Mameesh on August 6th, 2007 1:45 pm

   Bradley:

   I read the San Francisco Chronicle which outlined your efforts in finding a solution to Yahoo’s declining market share and fortunes. The article detailed how you are leading the effort at discovering a new product or idea that will counter Googles ever increasing domination. From reading past articles about Yahoo, it appears that CEO Jerry Wang, is also in pursuit of new “killer apps.” to take back the lead from Google. You are both looking in the wrong direction.

   The salvation of Yahoo lies not in looking forward - but in looking backwards. This is a time for “backwards thinking”. Yahoo already has the solution to it’s problems. In fact it has everything it needs, to not only successfully battle Google, but to once again dominate. A killer App. won’t save you - you need to beat Google at it’s own game - and Yahoo and only Yahoo can. The solution lies in Yahoo’s boring, neglected, and nearly abandoned, directory.

   Let me explain:

   Google makes it’s money from ppc. It’s ppc is dependent on it’s search engine. At one time, it’s search engine was the best on the internet, people flocked to Google for search. And advertisers followed, making Google very rich, Yahoo missed an opportunity. Today, Google’s search results are crap, and Yahoo has another opportunity. In fact, there is only one company that can - Yahoo. And that is due to your directory.

   Google and Yahoo = Alta Vista and DMOZ

   Looking back - At one time, Google was nothing more than an improved Alta Vista, and Yahoo was a paid DMOZ. What Google did to become so dominant was simply combine Alta Vista with DMOZ. In fact, early on, Google relied heavily on DMOZ to produce it’s search engine results. Google has gotten away from DMOZ and relies more on linking. This was useful at one time but is now it’s Achilles heel - and Yahoo’s opportunity.

   Linking, as a measurement of web page value, is fine for articles. But horrible for business. It is an extreme waste of time, money, and energy. And it has become so corrupted as to render search results meaningless. Linking has given rise to bogus directories and only benefits the big players. People using search engines are not getting what they’re looking for.

   Take San Francisco Hotels for example. If I am planning a trip to San Francisco, and I am looking for a hotel, I type San Francisco hotels into the search engine. What do I expect to see? A list of Hotels in San Francisco with a short description. What do I get? A couple of big name hotels but mostly directories and travel companies. On the right hand side of the page, in the ppc section, are the hotels - and usually only the big names. Again, not what I am looking for. Bye the way, who does the best job of producing meaningful results, Google or Yahoo? Yahoo - but not by much. Google’s failure does not automatically mean Yahoo benefits. If you don’t seize the opportunity and revamp and re-energize your directory - you will still lose.

   Here’s How:

   * Clean-up your directory - kick out the bogus directories from search results.
   * Dramatically lower your directory submission fees - make it cheap and easy for everyone to be listed in the directory.
   * Modify your algorithm - place the greatest weight on your directory.
   * Marketing - “Do you Yahoo?” Get people back to using Yahoo for search.

   Google’s money, strength and power, does not come from AJAX or Satellite Images. It is derived from their search engine.

   This is your second, and possibly last chance, don’t blow it. In the words of the Beatles “Get back to where you once belonged - JoJo”

   Sincerely,

   Ramsay Mameesh

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