When Search is not Enough Case Study: The Advertising Research
Foundation
When Search is not Enough Case Study: The Advertising Research
Foundation
Gilbane BostonNovember 27, 2007
Gilbane BostonNovember 27, 2007
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Why search matters?Why search matters?
Explosive growth of unstructured/structured data Business critical application Intranet often overlooked
as source of knowledge capital Search has become too hard Search is the content enabler Storage without search is useless
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Exalead’s answerExalead’s answer
Global search-centric company Enterprise software vendor Web search engine (exalead.com)
Search as you think, by serendipity Next-generation products
Simplicity of consumer products Features of enterprise products
Complete product range Full-featured, fully scalable and real-time
products Both packaged and fully customizable products
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Information Access: simple or complex problem?Information Access: simple or complex problem?
ComplexProblem
ComplexSolution
COSUMERIZATION
Complex problemComplex solution
Simple problemComplex solution
Simple problemSimple solution
Complex problemSimple solution
American Greetings us.118.comtayait.com
ARF
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About The ARFAbout The ARF
Founded in 1936, the premiere advertising industry association.
Leads key industry learning initiatives that increase the contribution of research to better marketing, more effective advertising and profitable organic growth.
Mission is to improve the practice of advertising, marketing and media research in pursuit of more effective marketing and advertising communications.
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ARF Members: Global Brands
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Values Guide: Knowledge SolutionsValues Guide: Knowledge Solutions
Relevance Quality Access Absorption Collaboration Application to Business Decisions
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Knowledge Solutions InitiativesKnowledge Solutions Initiatives
1. Help Working Groups manage communications to external audiences and improve their project management
2. Promote interaction among members and increase their value to one another through a social network
3. Extend the reach and impact of conferences, Thinkshops and councils
4. Make ARF Knowledge Easier to Find and Access For Members and Staff Provide a tool for knowing:
– Locate– Explore– Discover
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Why “Knowing” Is ImportantWhy “Knowing” Is Important People scan, they don’t read They want direction and answers Results need to tell a bigger story than “here’s a list of
documents.” Staff and members need to:
See results in a context Quickly spot relevant items Filter results to narrow – or expand – interest Preview results Easily work with a result set Be guided to related concepts
They want emotional satisfaction
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Project Scope and SourcesProject Scope and Sources
Scope Support mission: advertising, marketing and media
research that improves the effectiveness of advertising and marketing communications
Sources Shared Drive “Best of ARF” collection: Selected Conferences, white
papers, standards and guidelines, and reports ARF Publications: J. Advertising Research (housed in a
third-party database) ARF Websites: General Web site and focused secondary
sites Industry Sources
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Selection and VettingSelection and Vetting
Selection Criteria Goal: To develop a focused collection of
authoritative, high quality documents– a “treasure trove” not a “warehouse”
Determine the most relevant documents for members and staff
Vetting Knowledge Solutions domain expertise guided
selection and quality judgments of file system and web-based sources
Ambiguous selections or those with lower confidence were reviewed with Chief Research Officer
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Software SelectionSoftware Selection
Criteria: Unified search of file system, web, database Easily handle multiple file formats Leverage ARF “folksonomy” and adapt to changes Preview documents Extract entities from document properties – and
within the document - and use to filter results Accommodate custom synonyms and furnish tools
for creating custom entity extraction rules Limit/Restrict Sources based on user profile and
security Launch document in appropriate application Integrate with third-party solutions Affordable
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ARF ConstraintsARF Constraints
Taxonomy ARF would not build a taxonomy
– Resource issues, time, maintenance
Entity Extraction Key entities needed to be available out of the
box New entity extraction rules should not require
a lot of effort Document Preparation
Need to work with existing documents “as is,” only minor clerical tasks can be performed
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Knowledgebase SetupKnowledgebase Setup
Sources Configuration File System
– Built upon an existing folder structure (folksonomy) that reflected the “big buckets” of ARF knowledge
– Segregated documents that were strictly internal from those that were suitable for members
Web Sources Document Preparation
External audience - reviewed and modified the Properties fields, especially Title and Author, to improve indexing and results pages –
Internal-only documents - left alone because the numbers are so great
Source Relationships Respect third-party security
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End-User ExperienceEnd-User Experience
Basic search and query for all users
idea engagement
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Search By SerendipitySearch By Serendipity
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Leverage Beyond User SearchLeverage Beyond User Search
Integrate with third-party applications as a service QnA system
– Exalead will parse Questions and Answer, then– Query the knowledgebase, and– Present top three results as part of the response
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Questions?