Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Google Local Voice Search: The 411
It's the 411 on ...well, the 411. Really. GOOG-411; It's just like calling information. Only way cooler because it's Google. The Google Labs Page.
Here's the deal: you dial 1-800-GOOG-411 (1-800-4664-411). You say the City and State you are looking for. You say the business name (or category). It will connect you. For free. Yay!
But how does it really work?
I love Indian food, so I thought I'd give it a little challenge looking for "The Ceramic Grill" in High Point, NC, near where I work. I dialed the number (Google is bold, I'm in italics).
And they proceeded with the correct details of the Ceramic Grill. I guess Google had it right the first time.
Saying something that doesn't have a direct match will still produce results, just like a Google search will. Saying a category will produce a top 9 so you can punch a number and get those details or connect. Shouting "Can't we have anything nice?" or "You don't know me!" produces no results.
And the bestest? Prank calls, of course. Making this phone call brings up 1-800-4664-411 on the caller ID of the recipient. Okay, so it's too cool to use for that purpose. Maybe.
Give it a try! And when you're done, if you're in the neighborhood, drop me a line and we'll hit the Ceramic Grill (soooo good).
Here's the deal: you dial 1-800-GOOG-411 (1-800-4664-411). You say the City and State you are looking for. You say the business name (or category). It will connect you. For free. Yay!
But how does it really work?
I love Indian food, so I thought I'd give it a little challenge looking for "The Ceramic Grill" in High Point, NC, near where I work. I dialed the number (Google is bold, I'm in italics).
"Calls recorded for quality. GOOG 411. Experimental. What city and state?"
"High Point, North Carolina."
"High Point, North Carolina."
"What Business or Category?"
"Ceramic Grill"
"Ceramics Grill. If this is not right, say 'go back.'"
I wasn't sure it got me, so I said "Go back."
"High Point, North Carolina."
"What Business or Category?"
"Ceramic Grill"
"No Match. Try Again. What Business or Category?"
"Ceramic Grill"
Ceramic. If-
"Go back."
"High Point, North Carolina."
"What Business or Category?"
"Ceramic Grill"
"Ceramics Grill. If this is not right, say 'go back.'"
Okay, let's see what they got.
"I'll connect you or you can say 'details' or 'go back.'"
"Details."
And they proceeded with the correct details of the Ceramic Grill. I guess Google had it right the first time.
Saying something that doesn't have a direct match will still produce results, just like a Google search will. Saying a category will produce a top 9 so you can punch a number and get those details or connect. Shouting "Can't we have anything nice?" or "You don't know me!" produces no results.
And the bestest? Prank calls, of course. Making this phone call brings up 1-800-4664-411 on the caller ID of the recipient. Okay, so it's too cool to use for that purpose. Maybe.
Give it a try! And when you're done, if you're in the neighborhood, drop me a line and we'll hit the Ceramic Grill (soooo good).
posted by Symetri at 4/17/2007 01:40:00 PM 
Monday, April 16, 2007
SES-NY: Where's MSN? Thought I'd Ask.
In the 2006 wrap up, I wrote about how Yahoo and MSN jumped onboard (yay!) to support the Google Standard of sitemap joy. They both came out, but MSN isn't quite playing yet. Still, there is no official interface (like Google and Yahoo) with which to submit your sitemaps.
And so while awaiting such an instrument, autodiscovery comes to the forefront at SES NY. Autodiscovery is what they're calling the ability to place a single line of code (e.g., Sitemap: http://www.symetri.com/sitemap.xml) in the robots.txt, and everyone can read it.
So that's why MSN's been sitting on their hands.
And who's there to show them up? Ask! No, silly, the computer can't hear you. I mean Ask.com. And not only do they support the simplicity of this wonderful idea, they even have a secondary measure: you can submit XML sitemaps directly to them using their sitemap submission link. Aww, snap.
So how does this affect us in SEM Land? It's another piece of armor to strap on; we're not replacing the chain mail with the full plate, but layering. We've got a "we support this" from the Big 4 (after this move by Ask, they deserve it), but no numbers backing how it will all sort out. Maintain the Yahoo and Google accounts, keep your feeds up to date, and add that extra line of code to the robots.txt.
But layer appropriately, fair traveller. If you reach your weight limit and the onyx sword is revealed, it's of no use if you can't even pick it up.
Category: Search Engine Marketing and Optimization
And so while awaiting such an instrument, autodiscovery comes to the forefront at SES NY. Autodiscovery is what they're calling the ability to place a single line of code (e.g., Sitemap: http://www.symetri.com/sitemap.xml) in the robots.txt, and everyone can read it.
So that's why MSN's been sitting on their hands.
And who's there to show them up? Ask! No, silly, the computer can't hear you. I mean Ask.com. And not only do they support the simplicity of this wonderful idea, they even have a secondary measure: you can submit XML sitemaps directly to them using their sitemap submission link. Aww, snap.
So how does this affect us in SEM Land? It's another piece of armor to strap on; we're not replacing the chain mail with the full plate, but layering. We've got a "we support this" from the Big 4 (after this move by Ask, they deserve it), but no numbers backing how it will all sort out. Maintain the Yahoo and Google accounts, keep your feeds up to date, and add that extra line of code to the robots.txt.
But layer appropriately, fair traveller. If you reach your weight limit and the onyx sword is revealed, it's of no use if you can't even pick it up.
Category: Search Engine Marketing and Optimization
posted by Symetri at 4/16/2007 02:00:00 PM
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