Posts tagged Versus
Understanding Your Analytics Versus Campaign Management Tools
Apr 27th
More and more, I have been interacting with executives using campaign management tools as their internal reporting systems. In most cases, these companies have an analytics package but prefer to use ad server data rather than analytics for internal tracking. Campaign management tools and analytics…
Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article.
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[Infographic] The Hype Versus Reality of HTML5 Deployment
Mar 21st
What do we really know about HTML5? It is a Web based standard with the potential to create cross-platform apps that can run anywhere, everywhere. The key word here is potential. HTML5 is evolving and there is little doubt that it will be a major component of the future. That does not yet mean that developers have wholly embraced it.
The native frameworks and (gasp) Flash still dominate much of what is run on Web and mobile applications. Flash is on its last legs but the fact of the matter is that it is still one of the prime standards for many of the applications we interact with on a daily basis. It is not like we flip a switch and all of a sudden everything is HTML5 based. Below we take a look at an infographic that examines some of the facts around HTML5 hype versus the current real world landscape.
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For faithful ReadWriteMobile readers that are used to checking in here to see the latest developments on what is happening with the HTML5 ecosystem, this infographic is going to make you a little angry. Even though I, as am objective reporter, am relatively platform and standards agnostic, it even angered me a little bit.
Anybody that knows my opinion on infographics, I diligently fact check them to make sure they are not misleading or blatantly lying. While some of the information on this particular infographic is a little dated, the general theme is spot on: yes, HTML5 is still in adoption phase and is outpaced by the native frameworks.
While this is true, the signs of change are in the air. Even Adobe admitted that mobile Flash is a dead fish and the last instance of it to be released will be run on Android Ice Cream Sandwich devices. Adobe itself is moving to create HTML5 and other Web-based tools for desktop and mobile applications.
The source of the infographic is a Washington-state based Zipline Games, makers of the Moai Cloud service for games. Moai Cloud 1.0 will be released March 23rd. The CEO of Zipline is Todd Hooper who has been fairly outspoken that HTML5 will not be the future for Web or mobile games.
“HTML5 was not created with games in mind and the working group …had no members from game companies.” Bingo.
— Todd Hooper (@toddhooper) November 2, 2011
Hooper does have a point. When it comes to performance of applications, games set the benchmark. At this point, HTML5 is just not ready for games. Does that mean it is not the future? That is difficult to ascertain. Say what you want about standards bodies and their actual usefulness, but HTML5 is certainly not ready for the official stamp of approval. Layered sound is a major issue and frame rates tend to lag behind other standards. While Sencha and appMobi among others attempt to improve HTML5 performance, game developers struggle to make do with what the standard allows.
Check out the infographic below and let us know what you think about the future of HTML5 in games in the comments. Also stay tuned for a Q&A with Hooper coming early next week.
View full post on ReadWriteWeb
It’s PingFederate 6.6 Versus “Identity as a Service”
Feb 14th
It’s a demonstrated fact that as cloud application users find themselves logging on more and more often, they tend to oversimplify their passwords in an effort to avoid writing them all down someplace. It doesn’t help that many IT shops’ first course of action is to standardize identity around social networks such as Facebook, making these public repositories into the lynchpins of private networks’ security strategies.
This morning’s rollout by Ping Identity of a new point release for its PingFederate identity management system is an effort to reorient businesses that have already begun using public identity providers, around a centralized identity scheme that resides back inside the firewall. There, administrators can create policies that govern how users access privileged network resources, based on such factors as where they are, and whether they can also log onto – and authenticate themselves from – someplace else that’s actually stronger.
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This latter concept is called authentication chaining, and it’s one of three elements that Ping is touting in its new marketing push around “Adaptive Federation.” Certainly being able to leverage authentication resources from Facebook or LinkedIn expedites the registration process for e-commerce sites. But the strength of that authentication is not enough during checkout, when a logged-in customer may have access to stored credit card data.
So what Ping suggests is a form of chaining that also incorporates a stronger, multi-factor authentication system such as PhoneFactor. An admin may then establish authentication rules that evaluate specified criteria (“Is this a remote user?”) and, if the case is true, chain the process over to that stronger provider. If that provider is unavailable, or if something goes wrong, a separate rule may establish a failover identity provider – someone to trust in the absence of clarity.
“If you have users in multiple directories, and you want to be able to authenticate those users across those directories,” explains Ping Identity technical marketing manager David Gorton in an instructional video published today (above), “you can actually chain those directories together.” This way, after the user provides credentials, the newly enhanced PingFederate system will check them against each directory, until one is capable of validating those credentials. “If he doesn’t get authenticated in any of those directories, he gets rejected,” Gorton continues.
With the third added component, attribute aggregation, elements of a SAML assertion may be combined from multiple sources. This way, for example, when an enterprise stores its employee data in a database rather than Active Directory, PingFederate can collect elements from both sources and piece them together.
“This functionality makes virtual directory products unnecessary for attribute aggregation,” reads a Ping Identity product guide released today. That may not be the best news for so-called identity service providers like Radiant Logic, whose RadiantOne Virtual Directory Server, released last July, manages multiple logons through a centralized console. Radiant and Ping had been partners since 2007 on virtual directory support.
Indeed, back in 2005, Ping CEO Andre Durand went so far as to call virtual directories and identity federation tools “natural product partners.” But that was before providers started moving those virtual directories to the cloud, as services outside corporate firewalls. As the chart above from 2012 suggests, PingFederate remains firmly planted as a public-facing service inside the corporate firewall. While this move isn’t enough to split the partnership, it does place the two companies on different rotational axes, if you will, with respect to where the federation takes place.
Ping Identity is holding a webinar on the new topic of authentication rules and chaining, this Thursday, February 16, at 11:00 am ET. Register here to take part.
View full post on ReadWriteWeb
Bakermewting SEO Challenge Announced – Students Versus Pro – PR.com (press release)
Aug 7th
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Bakermewting SEO Challenge Announced – Students Versus Pro
PR.com (press release) Barrie, Canada, August 07, 2011 –(PR.com)– Bakermewting.org is happy to announce that it is participating in the Bakermewting SEO Challenge taking place at Georgian College in Barrie, Ontario. Drew Dekker, VP & COO of NetGain SEO, teaches a web … |
View full post on SEO – Google News
PPC Campaigns versus Ad Text Ranking vs CTR
May 11th
In July 2010 Sembox agency executed the research on the ad text efficiency in PPC campaigns.
The research was based on analyzing the performance of ad texts used in PPC campaigns of Sembox clients. The correlation between ad text ranking and CTR was the subject of a detailed analysis, while the other campaign settings remained unchanged.
What the research managed to establish is that:
- There is a significant correlation between CTR and text tanking of the particular ad text – the average CTR at 11th spot is ca.1% and increases to achieve the CTR of 8% at the top place.
- The performance of the ad text at spots 7-9 is very similar (1,5 – 2,2%). It is probably due to the relatively low exposure of the ad among other ad texts being presented at the same time.
- The performance of the ad text at spots 1-6 depends strongly on ad text ranking and there can be seen a significant improvement between the following spots of the ad text (from 0,5% up to 2,5%).
Pic.1. The correlation between average CTR and ad text ranking.
A more detailed research was executed for a sample of the ad texts meeting the qualitative criteria and the results were as follows:
- The ad text shift from 11th1 to 10th spot (bar no. 10 at the chart below) brings the relative drop of CTR by 6,5% - it is probably connected with moving the ad text from the last (utmost) spot to a middle one which is simply less exposed.
- The ad text shift at 8th and 9th spot (ie. from 9th to 8th and from 10th to 9th) brings insignificant changes in CTR – because of reasons provided at the previous page.
- The ad text shift in spot range of 3-7 (ie. from 4th to 3rd, from 5th to 4th, etc.) brings a substantial difference in CTR – on average by 33-39% which means that it may be reasonable to obtain the highest possible ad text ranking in this range that will result in a larger volume of clicks (visits) at the campaign landing page.
- The ad text shift from 3rd to 2nd spot and from 2nd to 1st spot (bars no. 2 & 1 at the chart below) results in insignificant change in CTR – 17,3% and 8,2% accordingly which proves a comparable exposure of ad texts at top spots.
Pic.2. The relative % change of CTR between adjoining spots of the same ad text.
Reversing the conclusions presented at the previous page we can say that:
- A sample ad text that has a CTR of 1% at 11th spot will be 7 times more effective when distributed at the top spot – the average growth of CTR for all analyzed ad texts was equal to 707,6%.
- The increase in ad text performance can be more significant and depends on base efficiency of ads – the sample of ad texts that were significantly more efficient than 1% at 11th spot proved to achieve even 9 times higher CTR at the top spot.
Pic.3. A simulation of CTR of the ad text that has a base CTR of 1% at 11th spot.
The relation between ad text ranking and CTR
Almost everyone who is involved in PPC campaign management is aware that ad text ranking influences campaign effectiveness. The click-through ratio (CTR) is higher if the ad text is more exposed (ie. closer to the top of the page) to user’s eyes. We tried to calculate the strength of this relation in our research. In order to do this we analyzed the average daily rankings of ad texts used in campaigns over several months (the detailed methodology of the research is described in the last part of this document).
The following groups of ad text were analyzed:
- all texts that had any number of views/clicks (marked as “0/0″ segment),
- ad texts that had at least 200 views and 10 clicks (“200/10″ segment),
- ad texts that had at least 1000 views and 20 clicks (“1000/20″ segment),
- ad texts that had at least 1000 views and 100 clicks (“1000/100″ segment).
We would expect to observe significant differences in effectiveness of ad texts belonging to the most general segment (“0 / 0″) because of the fact that a lot of texts had statistically insignificant results (to few impressions or clicks) and the best performing ad texts from “1000 / 100″ segment which should have been the most valuable from the statistical point of view.
As a result, we observed the following performance:
| Segment / Rank | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 |
| 0 / 0 | 7,73 | 5,54 | 4,51 | 3,49 | 2,81 | 2,30 | 1,69 | 1,49 | 1,69 | 1,19 | 0,45 |
| 200 / 10 | 7,83 | 5,58 | 4,53 | 3,53 | 2,85 | 2,34 | 1,75 | 1,62 | 1,97 | 1,47 | 0,69 |
| 1000 / 20 | 7,93 | 5,59 | 4,54 | 3,54 | 2,86 | 2,36 | 1,76 | 1,63 | 2,00 | 1,53 | 0,77 |
| 1000 / 100 | 8,14 | 5,66 | 4,62 | 3,64 | 2,95 | 2,42 | 1,88 | 1,92 | 2,16 | 1,75 | 1,12 |
Tab.1. Relation between CTR and ad text ranking in various segments.
The difference in performance of ad texts belonging to specific segments is insignificant at the same positions (e.g. 7,73% – 8,14% for the 1st spot). What is more important, the CTR change trend across all rankings is very similar in all segments. This is presented at the chart below which visualizes figures shown in Table 1:
Pic.4. Relation between CTR and ad text ranking in various segments.
The detailed analysis of particular segments enabled us to identify exceptions which made the whole summary slightly inaccurate – some segments contained ad texts which had achieved different performance results (varying from 2% to 11%). We believe this was particularly a result of:
- specifications of campaign subject,
- competitiveness– number of ads exposed to the user at the same time,
- quality of ad texts of competitors and relative attractiveness of ads being the subject of this research.
These are the main reasons why the average (absolute) value may not accurately express the differences of effectiveness of ad texts. That is also why we decided to conduct a more detailed analysis which is also described in the later part of this research.
Should you want to find out the results of some further research done by the Sembox agency, please see the link below:
http://www.sembox.pl/pdfs/PPC_Campaigns_Ad_Text_Ranking_vs_CTR-Sembox_Research.pdf
Check out the SEO Tools guide at Search Engine Journal.
PPC Campaigns versus Ad Text Ranking vs CTR
View full post on Search Engine Journal
FlipBoard versus Zite: Two FREE iPad Apps to Read Social Updates the Magazine-Style
Mar 28th
One of the best ways to take advantage of my husband’s iPad has been using it to keep track of social media updates. I don’t always have time for that while I am working, so reading what my friends share using iPad while on the go has been a great way-out for me.
The two interesting applications I’ve been successfully using are FlipBoard and Zipe. They both create the magazine out of your social updates and offer you a neat way to go through them.
FlipBoard is a popular free application that can create a beautiful magazine out of one’s social media updates (Twitter, Facebook and Google Reader). It aggregates the linked page summary, grabs its images and other media and compiles a magazine-like overview of your friends’ social updates. It captures both tweeted links and raw “unlinked” updates.
It doesn’t offer any update ranking or grouping options – all it does is pulling your updates and outlaying them in an easier-to-digest way.
The fact that it supports Google Reader means that you can actually aggregate anything that has RSS feed (Twitter search, Google news search, blog search, etc) and use it for multiple purposes (besides the major obvious one), for example:
- Reputation management;
- Competitor tracking;
- Content inspiration, etc
You can use your Twitter and Facebook account right from the app by retweeting, liking and commenting on updates:
There used to be numerous complaints about the app performance but it’s always been working smoothly with me.
Zite
Zite is a newcomer. It is also sometimes criticized for bad performance but it’s a normal thing with newly emerged tools and apps.
The most interesting part about the app (and also what it is being distinguished from a more established competitor) is that Zite is advertised to “personalize” your news. It will be tracking the news you are reading and liking and offer you more “of the kind”: the sources you prefer, whether you like longer articles or shorter ones, or whether you prefer news or opinion content. You can help the app by thumbing article up or down inside the app (as well as share them on Twitter, Facebook or sharing via email).
Zite works with Twitter and Google Reader (which also gives you some flexibility) to deliver you the updates you will like. It also has its own sources broken by categories. You can choose several categories to get more relevant content.
Zite does look very appealing. It pulls image thumbnails for you to easier understand what each story is about.
To Sum up…
| Zite | ||
| Sources | Twitter, Facebook, Google Reader, Flickr, Instagram | Twitter and Google Reader |
| Story ranking | None | Ranks updates based on your preferences and browsing behavior |
In closing, both the apps do look and feel appealing. They both give your social media updates the “second life” and let you get better involved into your social media friends’ activities. However the two apps are hardly competitors.
Zite and Flipboard can not be actually compared. They can only be used for different purposes. Zite is best for discovery whereas Flipboard is best for keeping up with your social media contacts’ news. I am currently using both and don’t see myself switching to one!
Check out the SEO Tools guide at Search Engine Journal.
FlipBoard versus Zite: Two FREE iPad Apps to Read Social Updates the Magazine-Style
View full post on Search Engine Journal
FlipBoard versus Zipe: Two FREE iPad Apps to Read Social Updates the Magazine-Style
Mar 26th
One of the best ways to take advantage of my husband’s iPad has been using it to keep track of social media updates. I don’t always have time for that while I am working, so reading what my friends share using iPad while on the go has been a great way-out for me.
The two interesting applications I’ve been successfully using are FlipBoard and Zipe. They both create the magazine out of your social updates and offer you a neat way to go through them.
FlipBoard is a popular free application that can create a beautiful magazine out of one’s social media updates (Twitter, Facebook and Google Reader). It aggregates the linked page summary, grabs its images and other media and compiles a magazine-like overview of your friends’ social updates. It captures both tweeted links and raw “unlinked” updates.
It doesn’t offer any update ranking or grouping options – all it does is pulling your updates and outlaying them in an easier-to-digest way.
The fact that it supports Google Reader means that you can actually aggregate anything that has RSS feed (Twitter search, Google news search, blog search, etc) and use it for multiple purposes (besides the major obvious one), for example:
- Reputation management;
- Competitor tracking;
- Content inspiration, etc
You can use your Twitter and Facebook account right from the app by retweeting, liking and commenting on updates:
There used to be numerous complaints about the app performance but it’s always been working smoothly with me.
Zite
Zite is a newcomer. It is also sometimes criticized for bad performance but it’s a normal thing with newly emerged tools and apps.
The most interesting part about the app (and also what it is being distinguished from a more established competitor) is that Zite is advertised to “personalize” your news. It will be tracking the news you are reading and liking and offer you more “of the kind”: the sources you prefer, whether you like longer articles or shorter ones, or whether you prefer news or opinion content. You can help the app by thumbing article up or down inside the app (as well as share them on Twitter, Facebook or sharing via email).
Zite works with Twitter and Google Reader (which also gives you some flexibility) to deliver you the updates you will like. It also has its own sources broken by categories. You can choose several categories to get more relevant content.
Zite does look very appealing. It pulls image thumbnails for you to easier understand what each story is about.
To Sum up…
| Zite | ||
| Sources | Twitter, Facebook, Google Reader, Flickr, Instagram | Twitter and Google Reader |
| Story ranking | None | Ranks updates based on your preferences and browsing behavior |
In closing, both the apps do look and feel appealing. They both give your social media updates the “second life” and let you get better involved into your social media friends’ activities. However the two apps are hardly competitors.
Zite and Flipboard can not be actually compared. They can only be used for different purposes. Zite is best for discovery whereas Flipboard is best for keeping up with your social media contacts’ news. I am currently using both and don’t see myself switching to one!
Check out the SEO Tools guide at Search Engine Journal.
FlipBoard versus Zipe: Two FREE iPad Apps to Read Social Updates the Magazine-Style
View full post on Search Engine Journal
FlipBoard versus Zipe: Two FREE iPad Apps to Read Social Updates the Magazine-Style
Mar 25th
One of the best ways to take advantage of my husband’s iPad has been using it to keep track of social media updates. I don’t always have time for that while I am working, so reading what my friends share using iPad while on the go has been a great way-out for me.
The two interesting applications I’ve been successfully using are FlipBoard and Zipe. They both create the magazine out of your social updates and offer you a neat way to go through them.
FlipBoard is a popular free application that can create a beautiful magazine out of one’s social media updates (Twitter, Facebook and Google Reader). It aggregates the linked page summary, grabs its images and other media and compiles a magazine-like overview of your friends’ social updates. It captures both tweeted links and raw “unlinked” updates.
It doesn’t offer any update ranking or grouping options – all it does is pulling your updates and outlaying them in an easier-to-digest way.
The fact that it supports Google Reader means that you can actually aggregate anything that has RSS feed (Twitter search, Google news search, blog search, etc) and use it for multiple purposes (besides the major obvious one), for example:
- Reputation management;
- Competitor tracking;
- Content inspiration, etc
You can use your Twitter and Facebook account right from the app by retweeting, liking and commenting on updates:
There used to be numerous complaints about the app performance but it’s always been working smoothly with me.
Zite
Zite is a newcomer. It is also sometimes criticized for bad performance but it’s a normal thing with newly emerged tools and apps.
The most interesting part about the app (and also what it is being distinguished from a more established competitor) is that Zite is advertised to “personalize” your news. It will be tracking the news you are reading and liking and offer you more “of the kind”: the sources you prefer, whether you like longer articles or shorter ones, or whether you prefer news or opinion content. You can help the app by thumbing article up or down inside the app (as well as share them on Twitter, Facebook or sharing via email).
Zite works with Twitter and Google Reader (which also gives you some flexibility) to deliver you the updates you will like. It also has its own sources broken by categories. You can choose several categories to get more relevant content.
Zite does look very appealing. It pulls image thumbnails for you to easier understand what each story is about.
To Sum up…
| Zite | ||
| Sources | Twitter, Facebook, Google Reader, Flickr, Instagram | Twitter and Google Reader |
| Story ranking | None | Ranks updates based on your preferences and browsing behavior |
In closing, both the apps do look and feel appealing. They both give your social media updates the “second life” and let you get better involved into your social media friends’ activities. However the two apps are hardly competitors.
Zite and Flipboard can not be actually compared. They can only be used for different purposes. Zite is best for discovery whereas Flipboard is best for keeping up with your social media contacts’ news. I am currently using both and don’t see myself switching to one!
Check out the SEO Tools guide at Search Engine Journal.
FlipBoard versus Zipe: Two FREE iPad Apps to Read Social Updates the Magazine-Style
View full post on Search Engine Journal
Sabre Travel Network versus Travelport: Who Knows What About Being Social?
Mar 17th
A Cautionary Tale
I’m about to offer you two bits of information. One is probably something you learned a long time ago. The second bit is news, a comparative of two major companies, in a way. Sabre Travel Network and Travelport are two huge online travel players, and dogged competitors mind you. What occurred yesterday, I think you will find interesting, if not downright funny – even ridiculous.
Origins of News, Fluffy PR Goofs, and Arrogance?
ITB in Berlin is the world’s biggest travel trade show. Stories that arise out of that conference, usually things worth covering, things people at both ends of the B2B and B2C market should know about, and then there are “fluff” stories. You know, products or services some corporate genius decided to hype a bit, which should have been refined some more before the horns went off.
Well Sabre Travel Network released a German version of hosted social platform AgentStream just for ITB Berlin. Laid on top of Sabre’s proprietary Cubeless product, AgentStream is designed for the “brick and mortar” travel agent primarily. Sabre has some 200,000 in their network worldwide (remember that number), who probably should start migrating thought to digital, but that’s another story. I ran the story about this, off of a Tnooz report.
AgentStream’s landing page. Note the fields where agents are separated from us “outside influencers” – woe be it for Sabre Group if a Michael Arrington, Richard MacManus, or Pete Cashmore ventured in this port.
As you can tell by the title, “Sabre Launches AgentStream Germany With Resounding Thump” my analysis of the product was not complimentary. The gist of the scathing report was, “A company with Sabre’s resources should never have a far more refined product after three years.” However, just a few dead links and a mediocre landing, is only the tip of the iceberg. What’s was inside, and the B2B interactive to come, is the real story. Bear with me, it is circuitous.
Not 49 minutes after my article went live, Sabre’s Social & Community Product Marketing Manager, Sarah Kennedy Ellis (a lady who speaks before PhoCusWright conferences) , was making in depth comments – even adding me on Twitter (and tweeting my exclusion below – I felt unworthy). How’s that for wired? The track taken, the insinuation, and ultimately the quality of the engagement B2B and B2C wise, went way South. What should have been an opportunity for AgentStream to gain feedback and make progress, turned into a ham handed segue into more corporate dogma and hype?
The image below is self explanatory. However, Sabre did not take into account an old beta tester would stay logged in. Opps.
Ellis tossed out the numbers, the defense posture, the techno mumbo jumbo, of product manager blathering – the warning siren “BS is headed your way.” A barrage of pseudo intellectual jibber jabber ensued, in comments and on Twitter, and just my “mention” of competitor Travelport’s Opinion platform? Fuel for another rant of directed angst toward our readers (you guys). Here is an excerpt.
“I’m actually quite glad you brought up many of the points you refer to in your post so they can be addressed. Regarding AgentStream being the “largest travel agent community in the world” – simply put, based on the facts, it is.
The term that seems to continue to be “fudged” in reality is what defines a “travel professional” related to these private communities where travel agents are told they can securely exchange information between other agents.
In the case of the other community you mention, it is not exclusive to travel agents, while it may imply that it is in its marketing materials.
That community’s membership numbers include nearly 1,000 employees of Travelport, as well as apparently any other warm body who happens to wander onto the site to register. How do I know? I’m one of them…”
The interchange became a rather lengthy discourse I will not burden you. As you can see, Sabre’s representative (who happens to be the community manager inside AgentStream too) is, let’s say “proud” at best.
Reality Smacks
AgentStream, nor Travelport’s Opinion, can lay claim to being the world’s largest travel agent community. The former asserts they have 4,000 + agents using the platform (define use), and the other actually proved me proof the have 7,100 signed up. Well, it took me one Google search to discover at least one, Travel Agent Central, that gets that many visits in a day. Okay, Ellis will argue TAC is not a true “Facebook” like community, blah blah. I looked for 5 seconds to find one such arguable site.
And furthermore, AgentStream is supposed to be a “walled garden” where travel agents in the Sabre network can ask important questions and prosper via community. Profiles, Q&A, mini-blogs, you know, all the bells and whistles of Facebook – aimed at being a resource. But an agent of the company, bragging about user exclusivity and privacy, the “pickiness” Ellis referred to from Sabre – should have prevented me from gaining access in the first place.
Below, the already successful Vinivi travel startup – probably the best in France.
Sabre evidently was not as meticulous as they needed to be, a product tester of some refute just waltzed in and took the screens you see. Conversely, Travelport’s representative sends an email – in a nice, and genuinely professional way.
Katherine Boyns, Project Coordinator for Vinivi (above), the travel innovators who Travelport wisely decided to use to create Travelport’s Opinion platform, invited us to give their competitive variant a spin. Not only was the result dramatic (as some of the labeled screens suggest), ultimately Boyns connected me with CEO of Vinivi, Gilles Granger straight from ITB Berlin.
Now we’re set for the “night and day” exemplification of perfect social media engagement (Brian Solis may use this as a case study for Engage II). Who knows why, maybe it was Boyns’ time as Manager of Marketing at Ernst & Young, the characters in this dialogue between me, Sabre, and essentially Travelport, could not have been more divergent.
Clearing Smoke
Here’s a break down comparative of Sabre’s AgentStream versus Travelport’s Opinion, into the simplest terms. Both platforms have value. Neither platform is taking the world of travel agents by storm. Opinion, from what I have seen, has 10 times the user value. Most importantly for potential users of these systems of engagement – Travelport, nor Vivivi claimed anything bogus or in the least bit inflated about their product. In fact, Gilles Granger asked my feedback and collaboration where agent conversion is concerned.
And Sabre? The end of enumerable tweets, no email, and my supposed expulsion from the super duper, top secret enclave of Texan technological thought (sorry, love Texans, but)? My request to speak with someone for the sake of fairness left me directed at normal PR channels (final screen). The tweet below came after Sabre argued to like Karnak the magnificent that tens of thousands of travel agents utilize this immensely engaging tool in their daily travel business doings. The largest travel agent community on Earth, where:
- Tnooz travel bits are broadcast across the breadth of AgentStream and their group engagement totals 61 living souls
- The AgentStream “Newbies” group tasks the Sabre servers with 58 members
- The all critical Social Media Marketing & Technology group hosts a staggering 103 members
- A massive total of no less than 12 groups have been created in almost three years
- 71 agent mini-blogs have been created
- And the fearless leader of AgentSearch, Sarah herself, has been viewed 941 times
If you are not chuckling by now, factor in that since June 2008 only 71 questions have been asked of the throngs of inquiring agents. Also, a search for questions pertinent to Paris for instance, reveals 21 travel agents in the Sabre network desirous of any tidbit about that destination. And then there is are the aesthetics, the UI, nav, the drill down – end user value. The problem being, Sabre has massive resources at their disposal, and just exaggerated and defended what can only be described as a mediocre digital tool.
The image below shows the minimalist nature of Opinon.
Onward and upward to Travelport’s Opinion (landing above), which Sabre Group’s watchdog tried to pummel into middle Earth in my comments, and in the ensuing twitter exchanges etc. Neither Katherine Boyns, nor French travel startup Vivini’s CEO Gilles Granger, has the slightest derogative for AgentStream.
The screen shot below (sorry you can’t see well) shows a bit of the depth of Travelport’s offering to agents. There is actually no comparison at all between AgentStream and Opinion. Users of the latter have the simple and the complex options available.
If you want to be met with humility and correctness, contact either of these people. As for their product, the same transparency and credibility shined through. Opinion has exactly 7614 signups (their term) as I write this. Nothing I asked of these people caused them to hold back, I have to say this. Beside the screen history I provide, the list below encapsulates Opinion versus AgentStream.
- Groups for Opinion were only added two months ago – they now total 23
- Opinion has a far deeper platform and refined features comparatively
- Search, databases, community interaction wise, Opinion dwarfs AgentStream
- Aesthetically, and bug wise, Opinion seems to exhibit far fewer even if more complex
- The only negative I could find is a bit of UI inflexibility – and admitted lack of Opera support
- Opinion’s “Find an Expert” aspect alone makes it a more valuable tool
I could go on and on about the differences here. In Sabre AgentStream’s favor I must admit the interface is far simpler and easier to navigate. But then too, there is so much less depth, so many fewer needed nav elements – the comparison I made when talking about these was; “Comparing AgentStream to Opinion is like describing a bicycle to the space shuttle.” It’s easy to have a clean user interface when it only has three buttons.
The image below, one of 35 screens I had to take to grab Opinion function, reveals an agent’s view of a Google API enhanced, Wikipedia enhanced, map element Vinvi created for Travelport. In a closed system or community, such enhancements are crucial to user value.
My problem here, should be anyone’s problem. The best a billion dollar company can come up with is a LinkedIn wanna be? Then they beat up an industry expert about it?
Just Vinivi’s agent/map aspect enables agents more than playing 20 questions within a “so called” platform. Let me get off Sabre’s case for a moment. Aren’t you sick and tired of companies who continue to try and baffle you with BS? Are you sick of arrogant corporate types who do not even have the common decency to figure out with whom they are exchanging? What does behavior say about the underlying products we consume?
Summary Judgments
In all honesty, neither of these products is the YouTube of disruptive technology innovation. Either can improve dramatically, but which one will? When I spoke with Gilles Granger, from ITB Berlin, with questions about a secondary product he created; my own sense of values was re-invigorated – there are people who work for huge companies that can act appropriately still – there’s hope for the “conversation” after all. Products, companies, are reflections of the people behind them. Once your customers or clients understand this reality – there is no going back.
Texas (Sabre Group is headquartered there) is famous for hospitality and a bit for cowboy arrogance too. The balance stuck there is admirable if you think about it. We all admire the state, it’s legacy, and the strong character of the people there. But, what if the balance shifted and arrogant cowboys were all we understood? This is Sabre’s dilemma, your dilemma too. I leave you with the final Twitter message exchange, right after a request to do a like interview to tell Sabre’s side of things. The rest I leave to you.
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Sabre Travel Network versus Travelport: Who Knows What About Being Social?
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