People Search Digest

Search engines are just fabulous; don’t get us wrong. However, there is something definitely intriguing about this new “discovery engine” concept that seems to be making its way to the surface of the search world. Many newer sites are offering recommendations alongside their search to help visitors discover new content they didn’t even know they wanted. The only problem with this seemingly brilliant idea is that by implementing a discovery engine yourself, you run the risk of taking time and money away from your core product.

Israeli based Taboola aims to solve that problem, well, for video sites at least.

Taboola has made the integration of their system a breeze. All you need to add is a single JavaScript tag to your player’s code, and they will start recommending videos in your sites player or ads. Their engine creates recommendations based on a complex algorithm that combines multiple methods into a single “Match Rank” collaborative filtering based on user ratings/reviews, a viewer’s history, and analyzing the video’s meta data. The basis for their idea is that each video alone faces problems, but together they can cover each other’s short comings. Their system even considers small details like the length of the video or how much of the video people actually watch.

Although it’s a hefty algorithm when you really take a look at it, the general concept is that their system sorts through your video content, and then recommends them to users based on what they and users like them have viewed in the past. It’s a great solution for websites trying to focus on their core product.

Move over You-Tube, video sharing is maturing, can you too?