tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6569681.post1587852673064984125..comments2024-03-24T10:38:16.997-07:00Comments on Geeking with Greg: Cheap personalization using the referrerGreg Lindenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09216403000599463072noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6569681.post-45411189538622449432008-04-15T08:58:00.000-07:002008-04-15T08:58:00.000-07:00I just had another thought, a better way to expres...I just had another thought, a better way to express it than I did yesterday. And it relates to the better data vs. better algorithms theme that you post on, every once in a while.<BR/><BR/>See, whether a search interaction is implicit vs explicit (passive vs. active, etc) is not just a matter of HCI design. It is a fundamentally different type of data that you are collecting from the user. In one case, the data has strong intentionality behind it. In the other case, it doesn't. <BR/><BR/>And since data drives algorithms, the directions the algorithms take with one type of data are very different than with a different type of data.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6569681.post-32247480684808606872008-04-14T14:09:00.000-07:002008-04-14T14:09:00.000-07:00My own personal opinion (stress: opinion) is that ...My own personal opinion (stress: opinion) is that the sharpest conceptual dividing line is between implicit (aka unintentional, aka passive) and explicit (aka intentional, aka active) applications.<BR/><BR/>As far as I understand it, most of the personalization that you talk about resides is in the implicit (unintentional/passive) domain. Most of the tools stuff that I yammer about resides in the explicit (intentional/active) domain. <BR/><BR/>The way that I would tease out these shades of grey would be to distinguish between an algorithm, and the application of that algorithm. <BR/><BR/>The same underlying mathematics (algorithms) can be applied in different ways, to produce completely different outcomes. <BR/><BR/>Personalization, to me, is one possible application, i.e. application in the implicit/passive domain. Search as a dialogue, on the other hand, is another possible application. I tend to think of the latter as residing more in the explicit/active domain.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6569681.post-64865458125941007532008-04-14T09:45:00.000-07:002008-04-14T09:45:00.000-07:00That's a great point, Jeremy.So, yes, I do think p...That's a great point, Jeremy.<BR/><BR/>So, yes, I do think personalization is a superset of search as a dialogue.<BR/><BR/>But, you make a good point that helping with search refinement doesn't seem much like personalization, even if the query suggestions are based on other people's behavior.<BR/><BR/>I don't really have a good answer for that other than to plead shades of gray on the definition. There are aspects of personalization in these features, but the experience clearly is not fully personalized.<BR/><BR/>What do you think, Jeremy?Greg Lindenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09216403000599463072noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6569681.post-46487176651771203482008-04-14T09:34:00.000-07:002008-04-14T09:34:00.000-07:00Although this is just using the last query, it is ...<I>Although this is just using the last query, it is showing different search results to different people based on a small part of their history. So, I think it does qualify as a simple form of personalization.</I><BR/><BR/>So, wait.. it sounds like you are claiming that, basically, "personalization" is a superset of interactive search (aka search as a dialogue, aka search "sessions"). <BR/><BR/>I don't quite know if I would agree with that characterization. It feels like you are defining personalization a bit too broadly. <BR/><BR/>I mean, if that's the definition, then would you characterize (let's use my favorite example) Vivisimo as a personalization search engine? Because when I go on vivisimo and type "spain" and then click the "tourist" cluster, I get a different result that someone that typed "spain and then clicked the "government" cluster.<BR/><BR/>So you would call that "explicit" personalization, rather than "implicit" personalization? It's basically the same procedure as Google.. sequential queries, the 2nd of which is affected by the 1st.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6569681.post-6226512599962120872008-04-11T11:19:00.000-07:002008-04-11T11:19:00.000-07:00Hi, Shirish. It may depend on how you define pers...Hi, Shirish. It may depend on how you define personalization, but I consider anything that shows different content to different people based on their past behavior to be implicit personalization.<BR/><BR/>Although this is just using the last query, it is showing different search results to different people based on a small part of their history. So, I think it does qualify as a simple form of personalization.Greg Lindenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09216403000599463072noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6569681.post-83298069661540683222008-04-11T11:15:00.000-07:002008-04-11T11:15:00.000-07:00I assumed that such a thing (taking the previous q...I assumed that such a thing (taking the previous query into account) was always present Google. Surprising to see that it is coming now.<BR/><BR/>Why do you say it is personalization? It is not taking a user's profile (which indicates the user's taste and preferences).. all it considers is the previous query.Shirishhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12091474325051553432noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6569681.post-71705441695859199372008-04-11T11:10:00.000-07:002008-04-11T11:10:00.000-07:00Niall Kennedy has an interesting trick related to ...Niall Kennedy has an interesting trick related to this...<BR/><BR/>http://www.niallkennedy.com/blog/2008/02/browser-history-sniff.html<BR/><BR/>He sniffs visitors' browsing history through their browser and then personalizes the experience based on which websites the person visited recently.Joe Lazarushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06558775548774148866noreply@blogger.com