The Meta-Web and the Race for Hyper-Relevance Online
It struck me yesterday that Bloglines is my internet portal, more or less. I access the web through the feeds of my favorite observers, analysts and thinkers. It's through these feeds that I find the information that's most relevant to me, and my 71 feeds there constitute my meta-web.

My Meta-Web Defined:
I hold that the meta-web exists wherever folks have highly-customized, hyper-targeted slices of information (my email inbox fits this definition to some extent - I'm still working on tightening my definitions ;).

My social network in MySpace is another occurrence of my meta-web. There I have relevant-to-me content created by my friends, my girl friend, myriad extended-acquaintances and my sisters. For many folks in the 18-28 range (who we could call Generation MINE ;) their social network is a portal of sorts for them, the place where they find highly-relevant information.

Based on my meta-web model, what Steven Mansfield of PreFound is trying to do is to create a slice of hyper-relevance on every possible search term. I'm not sure that his model will scale, as I said in my SEJ write up: Hyper-Relevance through the Extension of Social Search Tools into Social Networks. I think it would work brilliantly, however, on vertical sites.

Google just announced a step in this direction too: "holders of Google Accounts can contribute their knowledge and expertise to improve Google’s search results and vertical search properties via personalized subscriptions."

Google-too will have major problems of scale to truly tap into hyper-relevance. Watch for a STRONG tie in from Co-op to Gmail, or possibly a stronger tie-in to blogger, or even an Orkut revitalization to better organize the commentary that people leave for each other on Google SERPs.

Yahoo Leading the Meta-Web Tool Race (but not winning):
My meta-web gives me information that's far more relevant to me than anything I can find anywhere else, and it will be the companies that drive the formation of this meta-web who will be the next portals. I think that Yahoo's at the forefront right now: Yahoo! Pounding Google and MSN; Y!'s Social Networking Riff.

The Meta-Web is still too fragmented though for Yahoo to actually be winning. They're just pulling the pieces together well (as noted by Adam Schultz).

MySpace is another strong possible contender, as they've created a meta-web network (by OFFERING TOOLS). Read Bambi Francisco's Myspace-engine for insight into social network search. (Also the topic of the social search roundtable I moderated last week.)

Searching for Hyper-Relevance
Google's algorithm surely leads in mainstream relevance, but when it comes to hyper-relevance (and HIGHLY time-sensitive information) I go to Bloglines. Every single morning. Google is NOT my portal, and, increasingly, I'm looking for ways to search for hyper-relevance. Typically with [Site:] searches on Google.

Even though the feeds of half of the blogs I read end up in Google News, I still choose a feed aggregator to enter into my meta-web. And... why can't I publish from Bloglines? (Google should have merged Google Reader with the Blogger interface... watch for something MAJOR in terms of an uber publisher, where we can IM, email, post blogs, or post tagged links all from one place... Jessica Vascellaro thinks this may be coming from MSN first.)

A big part of the Web 2.0 movement lies in enabling the formation of the hyper-relevant meta-web.

Blogging and feed aggregators, to this industry participant and analyst, are my most-used Web 2.0 tools (next to my brain ;). These tools enable me to aggregate data and then publish my thoughts, which are essentially re-assemblies of data in a way I hope my readers find meaningful and useful.

Hyper-Relevance as Data Arrangement
These re-assemblies of information is a CORE feature of the Web 2.0 movement because of our access to nearly-infinite data. One of my biggest beefs about YouTube is that I don't have any hyper-relevant access to the videos. It's a big tangled mess of video to me, but I can't navigate it meaningfully.

Google seeks to solve navigating and organizing disorganized data (all the world's information) algorithmically. Upon reading Descartes (in Wikipedia ;), it's clear that organizing information and thought has ALWAYS been a major issue for us humans: "Descartes is often regarded as the first modern thinker to provide a philosophical framework for the natural sciences as these began to develop."

This philosophical framework grew (leap with me here ;) into the dewey decimal system, by which librarians sought to enable researchers and academics to think more clearly about their chosen topics.

My hyper-relevant meta-web (in bloglines) is an extension of my professional framework, and gives me data about what our industry is doing, based on observations and thoughts of my esteemed colleagues.

YouTube still lacks this hyper-relevant framework of access, though it's emerging in their playlists. But how do my friends share their playlists with me? How do my friends find out about the playlist function? And more importantly, how can playlist crafters become video channel managers, essentially developing programming for emerging demographics (and monetize the time it takes to craft hyper-relevance)?

Meta-Web as Google Disruptor?
Does Google's Co-op tool indicate that Google sees value in adding hyper-relevant meta-web aspects to its search results? Absolutely (and Kudos to Steve Mansfield for being ahead of the curve again).

However, Google's still too scattered with its offerings to be a serious threat to anyone in the burgeoning meta-web space (which is ALL ABOUT enabling people to create their own hyper-relevant media). Google missed the boat when it came to integrating Blogger, Google Reader, Gmail, GTalk and Google Analytics (I just think of what I could do if bloglines had decent search capability, strong data analytics potential and publishing capacity... Hey Jim Lanzone, how about a Six Apart partnership?).

For me, I will continue using search to supplement the hyper-relevant meta-web I set up in bloglines, MySpace and Gmail. That is, until I have stronger search tools in bloglines, and can configure separate search boxes for different kinds of searches based on the relevance I'm seeking.

Marketing to the Meta-Web
The Meta-Web will never replace the mainstream web, just as cable has not/will not replace broadcast. For big brand marketers I think the strongest direction is in creating meta-web tools that enable their target market to gather and organize data in a way that drives brand loyalty. Coke should have bought deli.cio.us.

A forum is one example of this sort of a meta-web tool, though a true meta-web tool for a forum would be a console that enabled forum users to tag and organize forum information in ways that are useful to them. I often recommend to colleagues who are forum participants that they write blog posts that highlight their participation, and comment on their comments in threads to better illustrate their industry involvement. This is an example of a meta-editorial tool that could make forums - and sites like YouTube and any given blog in any industry - more navigable and more relevant.

Because the Meta-Web is a place of participation, sharing, data analysis and reaction, I think that the strongest direction for influencing the influencers in the Meta-Web lies in uncovering the conversations that are most relevant to your marketing goals and joining them in a meaningful way.

I wrote these articles before I'd rearranged my thinking in the Meta-Web format, but they speak towards the kind of participation that's will drive your brand in the age of the Meta-Web:

Changes in SERPs Display and Relevance Measures Will Fuse Organic SEM and PR
Reach Your Online Public Relations Goals through Optimized Press Releases, Blogger Relations and Social Networks
Harnessing Employee Generated Content To Target B2B Decision Influencers

And reaching even farther back there's my article marketing blog, concepts from which we built into our article writing offering here at MarketSmart Interactive. How will we be working the Meta-Web concept into our marketing efforts? Keep reading SEL and I'll show you ;)

Recent SEL stories on Hyper-Relevance:
Washington Post's ReadExpress: Map-Based Hyper-Local Online Community News
Mission Movers and the Hyper-Local SMS Index Project
Yokel: Local Shopping Search (Social Coming Soon!)

And big thanks to Mark Sherwin, Jon Revill, Adam Schultz, Kevin Collins, Steve Mansfield, Bambi Francisco, Jessica Vascellaro, Ben Trott and Mena Trott for conversation and questions that helped me to begin formulating my model of understanding what's happening online.

What do you think of this model? What is it missing? Is it a needless alternative to an existing model of conceptualizing what's happening online? Is it merely a regurgitation of something stated more eloquently and effectively elsewhere?

link for Tyler Durden update: List of Web 2.0 Lists. First Rule of SEL - talk about Web 2.0 or Tyler Durden will quit reading.

Just kidding Tyler (he chastized here and left kind words here after I teased him about it). Curious about how you know about my incredible dancing - I can't figure out who you are.
Garrett French - MarketSmart Interactive | permalink | +marktd |