42244 0 3 econsultancy_xml <p> <strong>WTF is the 'Technorati Percolator'?<br /></strong>The site was <a href="/blog/1237-technorati-gets-a-facelift">redesigned as recently as May</a>, with a focus on video and music content. This was followed by a <a href="/blog/1726-technorati-redesigns-homepage-again">new homepage</a> three months ago, but both these designs have been ditched in favour of the <em>'Technorati Percolator'</em>. </p> <p>This is a Techmeme-style news aggregator, which ranks articles according to a number of factors - the 'authority' of the source and of the blogs that refer to it, the age of the post, as well as the density of links. </p> <p>The <a href="http://technorati.com/">homepage</a> is also displaying articles from mainstream media sources for the first time alongside blog posts. Potentially a good move.</p> <p> <strong>The splog issue</strong> <br />We have previously pointed out some of Technorati's major issues with spam blogs, or splogs (automated blogs that simply lift extracts from an RSS feed, and re-publish with a link). It's great to see signs of improvement in this area.</p> <p>We recently conducted a Technorati search for <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/%22e-consultancy%22?authority=n&amp;language=en&amp;page=1">posts that reference E-consultancy</a>, and found that <em>at least a third </em>were splogs. This time around, just <em>two</em> out of the first 50 results were spam blogs, so this is a huge improvement. </p> <p>By comparison, the <a href="http://blogsearch.google.com/blogsearch?hl=en&amp;client=news&amp;ie=ISO-8859-1&amp;q=%22e-consultancy%22&amp;sa=N&amp;start=0">same query</a> on Google Blog Search produced more spammy sites (roughly seven out of the first 50) but returned many more <em>recent </em>results.</p> <p> <strong>User numbers</strong> <br />Having achieved impressive growth in visitor numbers earlier this year, from 3.5m users in January to 9m in March, the site's audience has fallen slightly, though it has still doubled year-on-year, according to comScore's numbers. </p> <p>The measurement firm reckons that Technorati pulls in some 5.3m monthly visitors, up from 2.1m last year. Compete, meanwhile, suggests that it is experiencing minimal growth... </p> <p> <img alt="Compete Technorati stats" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2226/2088879846_3e25f855be_o.png" /> </p> <p>Technorati has also added two new features - <a href="http://technorati.com/blogging/">Blogger Central</a> (posts <em>about </em>blogging) and <a href="http://technorati.com/photos/">Today in Photos</a> (which allows users to browse through news sources by the images included in the posts).  </p> <p>The revamped site is certainly an improvement on the previous version, and the company is wise to concentrate more on its core business model of blog search.</p> <p>Whether people will use it regularly as a news aggregator is uncertain though, as the posts displayed in the Technology section seem quite random when compared with Techmeme. It also faces established / unshakeable competition in the form of Yahoo! News and Google News. Clawing market share from those sites won't be easy. </p> <p>Still, new CEO Richard Jalichandra is bullish, describing the new launch as "momentous" and "multi-faceted". If the firm has retained a chunk of the $20m+ in VC money that it has bagged over the past couple of years then it still stands a chance of making it. </p> <p> <strong>Related stories:</strong> <br /> <a href="/blog/1030-blogosphere-still-growing-technorati">Blogosphere still growing - Technorati</a> <br /> <a href="/blog/1177-technorati-adds-authority-rankings-receives-funding">Technorati adds authority rankings, receives funding</a> </p> <FormattedContent xmlns="http://www.e-consultancy.com/schema/formattedContent/"> <Paragraph> <Emphasis>WTF is the 'Technorati Percolator'?<LineBreak /></Emphasis>The site was <Link URL="/blog/1237-technorati-gets-a-facelift" Window="Self">redesigned as recently as May</Link>, with a focus on video and music content. This was followed by a <Link URL="/blog/1726-technorati-redesigns-homepage-again" Window="Self">new homepage</Link> three months ago, but both these designs have been ditched in favour of the <Quote>'Technorati Percolator'</Quote>. </Paragraph> <Paragraph>This is a Techmeme-style news aggregator, which ranks articles according to a number of factors - the 'authority' of the source and of the blogs that refer to it, the age of the post, as well as the density of links. </Paragraph> <Paragraph>The <Link URL="http://technorati.com/" Window="Self">homepage</Link> is also displaying articles from mainstream media sources for the first time alongside blog posts. Potentially a good move.</Paragraph> <Paragraph> <Emphasis>The splog issue</Emphasis> <LineBreak />We have previously pointed out some of Technorati's major issues with spam blogs, or splogs (automated blogs that simply lift extracts from an RSS feed, and re-publish with a link). It's great to see signs of improvement in this area.</Paragraph> <Paragraph>We recently conducted a Technorati search for <Link URL="http://technorati.com/tag/%22e-consultancy%22?authority=n&amp;language=en&amp;page=1" Window="Self">posts that reference E-consultancy</Link>, and found that <Quote>at least a third </Quote>were splogs. This time around, just <Quote>two</Quote> out of the first 50 results were spam blogs, so this is a huge improvement. </Paragraph> <Paragraph>By comparison, the <Link URL="http://blogsearch.google.com/blogsearch?hl=en&amp;client=news&amp;ie=ISO-8859-1&amp;q=%22e-consultancy%22&amp;sa=N&amp;start=0" Window="Self">same query</Link> on Google Blog Search produced more spammy sites (roughly seven out of the first 50) but returned many more <Quote>recent </Quote>results.</Paragraph> <Paragraph> <Emphasis>User numbers</Emphasis> <LineBreak />Having achieved impressive growth in visitor numbers earlier this year, from 3.5m users in January to 9m in March, the site's audience has fallen slightly, though it has still doubled year-on-year, according to comScore's numbers. </Paragraph> <Paragraph>The measurement firm reckons that Technorati pulls in some 5.3m monthly visitors, up from 2.1m last year. Compete, meanwhile, suggests that it is experiencing minimal growth... </Paragraph> <Paragraph> <Image AlternateText="Compete Technorati stats" Source="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2226/2088879846_3e25f855be_o.png"> </Image> </Paragraph> <Paragraph>Technorati has also added two new features - <Link URL="http://technorati.com/blogging/" Window="Self">Blogger Central</Link> (posts <Quote>about </Quote>blogging) and <Link URL="http://technorati.com/photos/" Window="Self">Today in Photos</Link> (which allows users to browse through news sources by the images included in the posts).  </Paragraph> <Paragraph>The revamped site is certainly an improvement on the previous version, and the company is wise to concentrate more on its core business model of blog search.</Paragraph> <Paragraph>Whether people will use it regularly as a news aggregator is uncertain though, as the posts displayed in the Technology section seem quite random when compared with Techmeme. It also faces established / unshakeable competition in the form of Yahoo! News and Google News. Clawing market share from those sites won't be easy. </Paragraph> <Paragraph>Still, new CEO Richard Jalichandra is bullish, describing the new launch as "momentous" and "multi-faceted". If the firm has retained a chunk of the $20m+ in VC money that it has bagged over the past couple of years then it still stands a chance of making it. </Paragraph> <Paragraph> <Emphasis>Related stories:</Emphasis> <LineBreak /> <Link URL="/blog/1030-blogosphere-still-growing-technorati" Window="Self">Blogosphere still growing - Technorati</Link> <LineBreak /> <Link URL="/blog/1177-technorati-adds-authority-rankings-receives-funding" Window="Self">Technorati adds authority rankings, receives funding</Link> </Paragraph> </FormattedContent> 2007-12-05T10:43:00+00:00 0 1 econsultancy_xml <p> <strong>Serial relauncher Technorati has revamped its website yet again, adding a blog/news aggregator to the homepage.</strong> </p> <p> <img alt="Technorati homepage" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2138/2088059021_3105264652_o.jpg" /> </p> <FormattedContent xmlns="http://www.e-consultancy.com/schema/formattedContent/"> <Paragraph> <Emphasis>Serial relauncher Technorati has revamped its website yet again, adding a blog/news aggregator to the homepage.</Emphasis> </Paragraph> <Paragraph Align="Center"> <Image AlternateText="Technorati homepage" Source="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2138/2088059021_3105264652_o.jpg"> </Image> </Paragraph> </FormattedContent> false 2005 <p>Refer also to Econsultancy's <strong><a href="http://econsultancy.com/reports/user-experience-buyers-guide">User Experience Buyer's Guide</a></strong> and <strong><a href="http://econsultancy.com/reports/effective-web-design-best-practice-guide">Effective Web Design Guide</a></strong> for more information about best practice in these areas.</p> <p>Refer also to Econsultancy's <strong><a href="http://econsultancy.com/reports/user-experience-buyers-guide">User Experience Buyer's Guide</a></strong> and <strong><a href="http://econsultancy.com/reports/effective-web-design-best-practice-guide">Effective Web Design Guide</a></strong> for more information about best practice in these areas.</p> 364713 Technorati relaunches website (again) false 2007-12-05T15:37:00+00:00 technorati-relaunches-website-again 2009-04-29T19:31:19+01:00 2009-10-13T09:26:45+01:00 409