semantic ecommerce

Our experts’ insight into the very near future continues from here….

Where Search is Heading, Where Data is Going

Starting with 2010, I think the most significant event was Google’s acquisition of Freebase.

The number one search player voted for the importance of the Semantic Web with dollars and this is a significant win for the space and a sign that it has matured.

In terms of expectations, we can, in the near term, expect more relevant search results and possibly ranking of related topics coming directly from Google. Other uses of Freebase are possible as well, in terms of doing complex queries that aren’t easy to do using statistical algorithms like Page Rank.

Beyond that, we should see progress along two dimensions — one is on-the-fly transformation of non-structured data into structured and second one is intelligent programs that actually take advantage of structured information. Regarding the first one, we are still in the world where Freebase is mostly static, while Google search is dynamic. Bridging the gap where structured information is created on an ongoing basis, and perhaps on-the-fly, is important.

And then I think we are going to see more agent based systems re-appear. As information gets more and more structured it is only a matter of time before agent-based software comes to the spotlight. This time, the key will be simple/clean UX/UI and crystal-clear focus on a vertical problem to make sure it  has a chance for mass market adoption. – Alex Iskold, founder and CEO, AdaptiveBlue

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The New Year’s almost here, and of course that brings with it a time to reflect on what’s been and muse on what’s ahead. To that end, the Semantic Web Blog asked some industry names to share their perspectives – and concerns about some of the direction, as well. Start reading about them today, and join us again tomorrow for their insights, Part 2.

Ka-Ching: There’s Money To Be Made

One thing clearly on the practical side is that the number of new datasets that appear is just coming and coming and coming. It’s very difficult to give exact estimates on how many new data sets on the semantic web appear per week or month but it’s really high…..That data is important, data on the web is important, and handling and working with data on the web is important as a trend. There are zillions of small technical details on how this should be done, what format and do you do it with HTML or not, but the overall trend is very clear and I don’t think it can be stopped. [So] I hope we will get really serious and see new types of real applications, not only in terms of experimentation but real apps that make money in some way or other using the Linked Data that’s out there. We saw some appearing in 2010 and I hope – and have good hopes – that in 2011 we will see that.  – Ivan Herman, Semantic Web Activity Lead, W3c

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Martin Hepp, of Hepp Research, GmbH, announced today that Google now recommends using the GoodRelations vocabulary for product and price information in Web pages.  This is significant news for broader adoption of the Semantic Web and Linked Data.

Why is this significant?  Read more

Twitter has announced how they plan to make money. It does not look like one silver bullet. There is nothing like Adwords that propelled Google to IPO. Twitter has a number of initiatives. That feels a bit weak, hedging bets, not quite sure what will work. But time will tell and Twitter has been marvelous at making doubters eat their words.

Our theory is that online advertising and ecommerce are converging (for reasons explored in this post).

Facebook is clearly moving down the ecommerce track. They are using Like to hoover up recommendations from across the web, understanding that recommendations are the key to ecommerce.

While Facebook clearly has its ecommerce act together, Twitter still seems to be figuring it out. @EarlyBird seems to be the key to their ecommerce strategy. We wrote earlier that:

“Real Time changes the rules. With real time you allow for both “freshness premium” (buy now, the fish has just been caught/the dress is just off the runway/the band has just releases the song) as well as “staleness discounts” (the fish is still edible but a bit old, the clothes are functional but no longer fashionable).”

But real time ecommerce will need a semantic engine. That means Twitter Annotations. How will Twitter connect these two dots – EarlyBird and Annotations?

Image courtesy Flickr and Kooby.

Twitter has announced how they plan to make money. It does not look like one silver bullet. There is nothing like Adwords that propelled Google to IPO. Twitter has a number of initiatives. That feels a bit weak, hedging bets, not quite sure what will work. But time will tell and Twitter has been marvelous at making doubters eat their words.

Our theory is that online advertising and ecommerce are converging (for reasons explored in this post).

Facebook is clearly moving down the ecommerce track. They are using Like to hoover up recommendations from across the web, understanding that recommendations are the key to ecommerce.

While Facebook clearly has its ecommerce act together, Twitter still seems to be figuring it out. @EarlyBird seems to be the key to their ecommerce strategy. We wrote earlier that:

“Real Time changes the rules. With real time you allow for both “freshness premium” (buy now, the fish has just been caught/the dress is just off the runway/the band has just releases the song) as well as “staleness discounts” (the fish is still edible but a bit old, the clothes are functional but no longer fashionable).”

But real time ecommerce will need a semantic engine. That means Twitter Annotations. How will Twitter connect these two dots – EarlyBird and Annotations?

Image courtesy Flickr and Kooby.

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On Friday I will be attending the Read Write Web Real Time Summit in New York City. My focus for the day will be Twitter Annotations, specifically the application to ecommerce.

Ecommerce is booming. And Ecommerce is about matching buyers and sellers around a price. Markets are intrinsically real time, so the real time web and Twitter will have a major role. But the matching process requires structure/semantics. That is where Annotations can be a game-changer.

So, tell me what you think about Twitter Annotations for Ecommerce before the event.

For more background, read on…

Photo courtesy Flickr and Wonderlane.

On Friday I will be attending the Read Write Web Real Time Summit in New York City. My focus for the day will be Twitter Annotations, specifically the application to ecommerce.

Ecommerce is booming. And Ecommerce is about matching buyers and sellers around a price. Markets are intrinsically real time, so the real time web and Twitter will have a major role. But the matching process requires structure/semantics. That is where Annotations can be a game-changer.

So, tell me what you think about Twitter Annotations for Ecommerce before the event.

For more background, read on…

Photo courtesy Flickr and Wonderlane.

Read more