Internet search works. Google and Yahoo couldn’t have painted a clearer picture.
In the enterprise sector, search is increasingly becoming a killer app for information workers. The technology’s critical role in identifying and enabling specific content across the enterprise to be indexed, searched, and displayed to authorized personnel has propelled many organisations to sit up and take notice of its business value.
From the user perspective, search enables one to be in personal control of their own world.
Hailed as one the “big four” of enterprise search, FAST Search & Transfer has been playing in the dynamic market of enterprise search for some years alongside its competitors, Autonomy, Convera and Verity.
SDA Asia sits down with Zia Zaman, Executive Vice President of global marketing and head of strategy at FAST, to discuss about the current state of enterprise search, how FAST’s recent acquisition of AgentArts syncs up with its strategy and product offerings, the recent tie-up with Singapore Press Holdings to initiate the first ever locally focused search engine for the region and what makes an ideal search engine.
Could you tell us a bit more about the recent deal Fast Search has initiated with SPH Singapore to create a locally focused search engine?
Zia Zaman (ZZ) : FAST has powered some of the leading local search programs across the world. From Sydney to Scandinavia, as local search emerges as a core service and business driver, FAST is providing the technology and innovation that makes this possible. In Singapore, the same is true.
What are the benefits that can be reaped with this new localised search engine from the user perspective and the business perspective?
ZZ: Users will be able to actually find the information they’re seeking – and advertisers will be able to localise and target their outreach to an unprecedented level. This “narrowcasting” of advertising will allow a service or vendor to target their message directly to a user at the point of purchase or decision – when they’re looking for information on an event, for example, or shopping online.
Why did Fast choose Singapore as the first country to pilot this project in the region?
ZZ: Singapore has a history of leading Southeast Asia. Singapore has been a commercial hub and service provider for generations – this continues today in the digital economy. Singapore’s infrastructure is without peer, its citizens are tech-savvy, and its digital reach and educational system are to be envied worldwide.
How does SPH Search plan to compete with present local search sites that are already serving such as webguide.sg, Google Singapore and Yahoo Singapore? And what would be its value proposition?
ZZ: Both Google Singapore and Yahoo Singapore are re-branded global sites – not sites that are specific to the local Singapore, or any other, market. Content and results on these sites are repurposed – they are not solely created for the Singaporean consumer.
SPH Search will be offered as both a web and mobile solution, how popular is mobile search today?
ZZ: Mobile search is one of the fastest growing ways to access local search. In most of the world, Internet users access the web via their handsets – not via a PC. Mobile is a very intimate way of interacting with the Internet, and handset users are typically searching locally for a restaurant, store, directions, etc.
What platforms would FAST recommend to help companies better market their content to consumers through cell phones?
ZZ: It takes a visionary partner to offer such a platform and to truly deliver mobile content – FAST partners with Rakuten in Japan to bring such a unique platform to market.
A major pet peeve about doing an online search is when users get bombarded with irrelevant data. How does a search engine technology provider address this rising concern and what has Fast Search done in this space?
ZZ: Relevance is the key. Personalization and reorganization are key. The more you know the more likely you are to hit their needs.
Fast recently acquired AgentArts to expand on its Enterprise Search offerings. What are organisations looking for on an Enterprise search level today and how is Fast responding to this?
ZZ: FAST has leveraged AgentArts to bring recommendation to search results. There is great value in this on both ends of the supply chain: the user and ecommerce site. Buyers have the opportunity to access products/information based on pervious searches or cached data; vendors have the opportunity to recommend add-on purchases or services that the customer will find of greater value. Recommendation can be added onto both web and mobile search.
Some debate that the benefits of enterprise search are not worth its cost. How would you respond to this?
ZZ: I’d point them to any number of our enterprise customers that use search to save time and money, speed products to market, access data and business intelligence at a level previously unknown or too expensive to implement, organize research data to lower the cost of product development (pharma, for example). Any enterprise of a certain size, technological advancement, global reach, or history could benefit dramatically from smartly implemented enterprise search.
Coveo Solutions recently upgraded its enterprise search to add a number of features to keep customers from the likes of Google, Autonomy and Fast. How is Fast responding to this?
ZZ: We respect all competition in the market. As the visionary leader in the marketplace, we are confident that the market can expand to support other vendors. In fact, enterprise search continues to grow dramatically as a market – one that we expect to dominate.
Does Fast have plans to do a implementation similar to that of SPH Singapore in other parts of this region? And if so, which countries are you looking at?
ZZ: FAST’s business is growing dramatically across Asia-Pacific. As the countries across the region continue their growth and technology leadership, FAST will be working with the largest companies in Asia-Pacific to serve their needs and those of their customers. We work, for example, with Sensis in Australia – Telstra’s “search engine for Australians.”
Does FAST have any unique strategies to monetize its local search facility?
ZZ: One of the best ways to monetize local search is to provide relevant local ads to end-users. In other words, at the point of decision, when a consumer is looking for a specific restaurant, an ad for just that type of restaurant reaches them. Likewise, when a consumer is looking for free shipping with an online purchase, local search delivers an ad that makes precisely that offer from a local vendor.
In each of those scenarios, everyone benefits – the consumer finds what he/she wants, the company advertising reaches consumers with a remarkable degree of relevance and targeting, and the search company serves as the medium through which buyers and sellers meet in the digital world. That is, without question, a win-win-win.
In your point of view, what would you say is the ultimate search engine of the future?
ZZ: We are entering what I call the “User Age” – we can now provide information specifically to each individual user with the content they want in the format they expect over the platform they demand. Search initially provided content in one way – and, consequently, search engine optimization on the “Google ranking” became important aspects of doing business online. What that did was enable Google to make money, SEO consultants to make money and cybersquatters to make money – everyone, it seems, but online vendors.
Now, however, the user is in charge. Consumers demand content that is relevant specifically for them. “Thong” for example, means different things to different people. In one market, its footware, in another, it’s an undergarment. Sensis in Australia – another local search FAST customer – puts its users at the center of the search and understands the context, not just the words, in which they’re searching. Search focused on the user understands those differences and responds accordingly. This increases the value for all elements of that transaction, but it requires searches that focus on the user, not forcing the user to change his or her behavior.
This User Revolution will force change in a number of technology areas. The one most visible to the average consumer is online search. As companies respond to user demands and expectations and then shift their offerings to meet and, ultimately, exceed those expectations, we’ll see the advent of the ultimate search engine. |
