As the Web continues to evolve, there has been one key constant: the importance of text in driving search and navigation across the Internet.It’s not surprising that text remains the most efficient and effective method of communicating “meaning.”As we move toward a “Semantic” Web, text becomes no less important.But how will the Semantic Web account for the vast amount of audio and video moving onto the Web?
The promise of the Semantic Web is to take text and add structure to create an additional layer of meaning around a content object.The principle driver here is that for the immediate future, we are stuck with computers that are still relatively “dumb” in terms of being able to discern context.Text, combined with structure, gives computers the bootstrap they need and creates a superior search and navigation experience into the future.
One of the biggest challenges that content producers face today is ensuring they create a rich “wrapper” of meta data around each of the content objects, be it an article, a photograph, a podcast, or a video.Meta data, in text form, is really the “currency” of the Semantic Web.Increasingly, search engines and other navigational metaphors will rely on rich meta data for content discovery, presentation, contextualization, and ad targeting.
One of Google (Nasdaq: GOOG)’s great strategic advantages has been PageRank, which is really just an über set of meta data. In this case, PageRank interprets which site’s pages link to each other and then uses that to calculate some notion of “authority” and popularity.As Google has all of this data, and each individual content owner can only see a narrow slice of it, the search engine has developed a tremendously asymmetrical view of the Web and has exploited it in its own favor.
Behavioral targeting and collaborative filtering are also big winners in this scenario.These approaches are exposed to the classic risk of “garbage, in-garbage out.”Behavioral targeting and collaborative filtering rely on two elements in order to be successful:1) deep knowledge of the user; and 2) deep knowledge of the content.It’s a recursive problem in that deep knowledge of the user is often derived by observing the content they consume.Thus, high-quality meta data surrounding a content object ensures robust behavioral profiles, whether for ad targeting, recommendations, rankings, etc.
Further, these benefits are not just present on the Internet.Increasingly, large enterprises, especially those in the entertainment business, will need to ensure that all of their audio and video content has a consistent and complete set of meta data to unlock and exploit the types of distribution, syndication, and advertising opportunities that are rapidly emerging on the Web.
As we move toward a Web increasingly filled with multimedia, the Semantic Web becomes even more important, as these content objects don’t natively present themselves as text.Current approaches of using editors to write descriptive titles and add tags are a good start, but they typically run out of gas short of the mark because they are expensive and non-scaleable approaches.The ability to attribute these objects in a scaleable way with text in the form of tags, categories, and transcripts is critical to plug this content into the Semantic Web and “get found.”
I could not fathom your statement that we should not enslave ourselves to 'architectures" just after admonishing us to be creative. Does not the design of today's internet technology being guided by internet architecture? Don't you think that without architecture the internet is likely to beocme decreasingly effective and will often fail to meet the demands placed on it by applications?? So if we can't enslaves ourselves to architecture, don't you think we may be slowly killing the internet.
I'm sorry if i missed the point you were driving at in your last paragraph on the grouds that you use a parathensis on the word architecture.
The The Road to the Semantic Web is obviously difficult and challenging. The vision of having computers "understand " the current web content "is certainly grandiose and intriguing". As it is writing by Alex Iskold in Semantic Web: Difficulties with the Classic Approach, "the technical, scientific and business difficulties are substantial,
and to overcome them, there needs to be more community support,
standards and pushing. This is not likely to happen
unless there are more clear reasons for it." There is a future for the new web application and that future will certainly be bright if people keep on working on it.
Back in 1994, I gave a speech at Mecklermedia's Internet World Conference, trying to put the Web and Internet in the spectrum of McLuhan rankings of media. As you remember, he thought of television as cool and type as hot.
I said that although there was hypertext and graphics, the primary bent of the Internet was literary...hence, the Internet is a Medium Hot ... medium. Cold media are fuzzy, indistinct, free flow...like jazz music. Hot media are definite, solid.
As far as "killer apps" -- well, it's never really been about that 99% of the time. And semantics or text wrappers...how about the Text itself? How about really great writing?
This is what frustrates the Architects and makes the Artists happy. There is no overarching architecture. The Internet is a negatively curved space that is completely open ended. As soon as someone tries to grab his arms around it and "embrace it", 10 other people break the chain.
Let's stay free. Let's create. Let's not enslave ourselves to "architectures".
Thanks for your comments.I think the answer to the core question is simply that the internet needs a better search engine. It will be difficult or almost impossible to make videos better inorder to suit existing search engines. I also agree with you that vertical search engines may not be the ideal solution here. Now what your take on Google's universal search:
Do you think Multimedia search will be the kuller consumer application for the semantic web? The semantic web has so much promise but can we relistically see in the near future a semantic search engine that can improve user's search experience in multimedia content?
Where there's need to overcome challenges, an ounce or collective bits of vision, prevention and teamwork (e.g., perhaps involving Tom, who has served on the IAB Search Engine Committee), may be worth pounds of cure.
I think there's a core question as to whether the Internet needs a better search engine for videos, or rather if videos need to be better for search engines. I am not a believer in vertical search as a solution here, in that consumers continue to use Google, Yahoo etc to find all kinds of information, regardless of format. The ability to properly attribute multimedia and associate transcripts, tags etc with those files is essential to their discoverability and navigation online. As an example, MarketWatch's ability to organize their multimedia in a manner that is "crawlable" (http://video.marketwatch.com) is essential to users finding their high quality content.
It is true that multimedia content are becoming dominant on the web and this poses serious challenges to make such data accessible, reusable, searchable and manageable. Theortically, the semantic web seems to be the 'panacea" to all our current web difficulties/challenges. Many people have their reservation on what can be achieve practically with the semantic web. Whilst the semantic web may offer the most promising in this respect, i'm just wondeing what your take is on the current multimedia search engines available. I know a few them employ semantic analysis but others like the one mention on the following article can be really improved upon:
Given various needs (e.g., to overcome expensive and non-scalable approaches), content delivery economics could become increasingly popular, perhaps particularly relative to these words within the post.
Increasingly, large enterprises, especially those in the entertainment business, will need to ensure that all of their audio and video content has a consistent and complete set of meta data to unlock and exploit the types of distribution, syndication, and advertising opportunities that are rapidly emerging on the Web.
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At a recent Massachusetts Innovation and Technology Exchange (MITX) event regarding online video distribution and discovery, I was struck by the wide range of companies that were represented in the audience. There were technology companies, manufacturers, merchants, and nonprofits, and their interest was all aligned around using media to further their businesses.
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