Wolfram|Alpha (W|A) is launching a new fee-based service named Wolfram|Alpha Pro. In today's highly competitive environment, you may wonder why a W|A would ask people to pay for what many think should be free. Read on: you may decide to willingly open your wallet when you see what's available. Since Wolfram|Alpha launched in 2009, I’ve often wondered if the company would allow users to use their extremely powerful computing infrastructure to analyze their own data along with data sets available on the open web. Well, they have and that's what Wolfram|Alpha Pro is all about. As I wrote [...]

Related Topics: Features: Analysis | Search Engines: Wolfram Alpha | Search Features: General | Top News

Yelp is now established and mainstream enough to be included in BMW's Online/in-car content. Yelp reviews and related content will shortly be available to BMW owners "who subscribe to the optional BMW Assist Convenience Plan and have a navigation-equipped vehicle capable of receiving the BMW Online service." This means select BMW vehicles (see below for list) and is available in the US only for now. However Yelp's international coverage makes it probable that the partnership will roll out more broadly if it proves successful in the US. Yelp offered some screens of the BMW in-car search o [...]

Related Topics: Search Engines: Maps & Local Search Engines | Search Features: Cars | Yelp

The new iPhone 4s comes with a feature that is bound to impact how search marketers try to reach iPhone users. Siri, the voice recognition app that comes standard with the new iPhone, can be used to control text messaging and reminders inside the device. But it can also be used as a search tool, to call up specific information from the outside world. With the mobile search space already in flux, Siri adds a game-changing angle, particularly for marketers that want to reach the lucrative (presumably affluent) iPhone audience. Here are some factors for businesses to consider as Siri gro [...]

Related Topics: Apple: Siri | Mobile Search | Search Features: Search By Voice | Search Marketing: Mobile | SEO: Mobile Search

This continues the analysis presented in the MicroData Not Ready For Primetime article previously published. Here, I break down the MicroData hierarchy into three levels so marketing professionals can review each category to see what value it can bring to future marketing, content and SEO initiatives. When you look at the type schema you see close to 300 metadata elements that can describe various entities (called Things here). There is lot of specificity in a few categories such as Local Businesses, Civic Structures and Events. Two of these categories have real implications for local a [...]

Related Topics: Search & Retail | Search Features: Enhanced Listings

It appears that Google is testing showing a red squiggly line in the Google search box as you type, if they feel the spelling of your query is wrong. You know, the red line you see when you have a spelling mistake when using Microsoft Word or other word processors. At first, I thought it was a built-in spell checking feature of the browser, but after seeing additional reports and then seeing it myself last night, it seems to me to be a new feature Google is testing. Here is a screen shot of it in action: I've had several other people confirm Google was showing them this red squigg [...]

Related Topics: Google: Suggest | Google: User Interface | Google: Web Search | Search Features: Spelling Correction