A New Entry into Customized Search
February 22, 2006
By Kevin M. Ryan
iMedia's search editor examines Rollyo's search-outside-the-box methodology, and expounds on the benefits of "rolling your own."
Searching and the subsequent finding has become an essential part of our every day lives and advertising budgets. While Google is expanding its sphere of influence in going beyond the search box and Yahoo! is becoming the media master, a new search site begs the age old question; why not roll your own?
Rollyo, the brain child of Silicon Valley entrepreneur Dave Pell, is the latest entry into the search-outside-the-box fray. Rollyo enables searchers to create their own search “roll” via an online interface in which users designate sites they want to search.
Customized search is not a new concept and there have been a few changes in the world of aggregated search results providers. Google, Yahoo and MSN still account for the lion’s share of search activity but the sheer amount of content raises a few questions about the future of customized search and how we think about search engine advertising.
Personal search
The idea of creating a unique spin on search has been around for some time. Grokker introduced the concept of visual search when the company created a downloadable interface that aggregated search results into spheres of relevance. Similarly, GuruNet has evolved into answers.com adding another dimension to the search box-to-consumer dialogue.
Yahoo has had the Mindset creation in beta for some time now-- an interface that uses machine learning to help separate commerce and information searching. Feedster searches blogs and podcasts for relevant information, thereby sparing users the task of adding through blogs.
When these providers first began to appear, the idea was simple; search engines did not provide a rich experience for surfers so a third party might be needed to create a better, more efficient experience using index data from existing search providers like Google and Yahoo.
Many of these providers have moved on from consumer markets into the lucrative enterprise search solutions arena. I could go on for hours on aggregating search activity, but you get the idea. There are options up the wazoo, so why haven’t these sites really caught on?
Little… different… Rollyo
Pell’s idea for Rollyo stemmed from his launch of Learning Bridge-- a search site that ventured out and crawled sites to find information for schools that participated in the Learning Bridge program. Several years later in September, 2005 the easy-to-use Rollyo interface was created to enable searchers a customized search of blogs and content destinations.
The Rollyo approach is quite dissimilar from other search aggregators. A search “roll” doesn’t replace a search engine, nor does it provide search results from other search sites.
For example, if you travel frequently and want to save time in searching travel sites, you can enter specific sites that you frequent for information on your destinations and eliminate those you don’t like. You can stick to the sites that have proved themselves bookmark worthy and save yourself the pain of wading through irrelevant information.
No E-Z Wider jokes please
If you don’t know what an E-Z Wider is, don’t worry. Time saving is just the beginning for those who would roll their own. Since I first rolled my own search engine for online advertising and media, I have begun to explore how other people search-- an activity that might just transcend the cute and interesting and graduate into the exciting world of advertising utility.
“There is a social networking component that provides a list of sites others use,” says Pell. “It is a combination of search and site exploration via a referral or endorsement of how others roll their searches.”
Rollyo also has an enterprise search component. “We have an over-the-counter version for do-it- yourselfers and enterprise solution for publishers and content providers who rely upon advertiser revenue,” says Pell.
Advertising opportunities are on the way. Future plans for Rollyo will include sponsored listings provided by a third party and expansion of Rollyo’s existing partner programs.
Opt-in search targeting?
Targeting in search is all the rage. Until now, buying behavior was the single determining factor for how effective a search campaign is for many advertisers. Contextual search advertising components are in a state of constant refinement with user intent in mind. MSN offers the best alternative to blindly bidding on search terms without consideration for audience dynamics.
What will the next evolution of search targeting look like?
What if your search advertising spend could be adjusted according to the sites other users have deemed interesting? What if the content search habits of users world wide were rolled into one very large database of trusted domains?
A new twist on search targeting would be a welcome change from the constant jostling of terms and while search aggregators have yet to reach critical mass, each new entry into the space provides us with a glimpse of what is yet to come in this complicated, forever changing "ecoplasty" we call search.
iMedia Search Editor Kevin Ryan’s current and former client roster reads like a “who’s who” in big brands; Rolex Watch, USA, State Farm Insurance, Farmers Insurance, Minolta Corporation, Samsung Electronics America, Toyota Motor Sales, USA, Panasonic Services, and the Hilton Hotels brands, to name a few. Ryan believes in sound guidance, creative thought, accountable actions and collaborative execution as applied to search, or any form of marketing. His principled approach and staunch commitment to the industry have made him one of the most sought after personalities in online marketing. Ryan volunteers his time with the Interactive Advertising Bureau, Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization, and several regional non-profit organizations.
Ryan is managing partner at Kinetic Results
