Week 2 questions: Navigation

Part 1 - Navigation. One of the biggest challenges for businesses and customers alike is navigating the Internet. This week please -


1) Listen to the podcast on Navigation which can be found on the Digital Enterprise Page (Google - the digital enterprise). a) What are the four (4) main points Michael Rappa makes about search? Please write them on your blog page.After listening to the podcast by Michael Rappa the four main points that he made about search were that:
· When searching for information on the internet there is a lot of information out there on the internet. This is because data is being created on a daily basis (Rappa, 2005). Data/information which has been created may not have much relevance due to the storage of data is very cheap (Rappa, 2005). With data being not expensive this causes a lot of data/information on the internet not necessarily being significant. Rapper also states that oppose to 50 years ago information/data was hard to find and was expensive, but with data being not expensive this means there’s more information out there. (Rappa, 2005)

· Search engines search the key phrase or question and then display the website addresses in a list. There are generally millions of websites to choose from. But search engines display about 12 websites to a page. The first page is generally paid placements. (Rappa, 2005)

· Another point which Rappa makes is that the internet is a major part of search. This is through the use of search engines that help search for information. Companies have paid search engines to put their websites/advertisement on some of the first pages of search engines to receive more recognition. Generally people only look at the first page which appears on the search engine. So with paying a search engine to make their website appear on the first page this is beneficial to the company. Paid placement would cause presumption that the company would not abuse their position. (Rappa, 2005)

· Searching through a search engines such as Google and yahoo help people search for information. Although there is a problem which is that search engines cannot collect all the information available on the internet (Rappa, 2005). The data on the internet increases everyday but this does not mean the data base has all the information. Search engines do not always have every part of data that is available on the internet.(Rappa, 2005)

Rappa,M.(2005). Managing the Digital Enterprise. Retrieved on March 10, 2009 from the Digital Enterprise website: http://digitalenterprise.org/navigation/nav.html

b) Watch or read the Marissa Mayer interview. Write a paragraph or two, on four points made by Marissa Mayer, that you think were the most interesting or significant for business. There are no right or wrong answers here; I just want your opinion.

Melissa Mayer is the vice president of search products and user experience at Google. Melissa Mayer made a few interesting points concerning business. The points I found most interesting were:
· By using her experience at Google Mayer talked about how they created the prototype. She discussed how they used the feedback and information gathered from users of the prototype to see if it satisfied their needs. They also used this information to see where they need to improve (Mayer, 2009). Businesses have to do this to see where they need to improve their product and even to see if the product is successful. If companies do not use the feedback that they obtain then the company might hit some obstacles and not know how to deal with issues surrounding a particular product or service. Companies need to satisfy consumer’s needs and wants or consumers would not buy or use the product/service. (Mayer, 2009)
· Mayer also talked about advertisements on the internet. Businesses can pay such internet sites/businesses like Google to advertise their business since people browse search engines. People browse search engines and may pay attention to ads being advertised. Mayer states “the amount of attention that a user pays on each page...is fundamentally different” (Mayer, 2009). This means that when ads appear on search engines when people are searching information the ads might only attract or catch the focus of a few people but not everyone. Companies can use this information to their advantage by having advertisements on the internet that attract the user’s attention. (Mayer, 2009)
· Throughout the interview Mayer talks about Google in other countries (their effect in other countries). Google can be accessed from any country. Although Google launched a different product in India and Brazil which was more successful in those countries then the US. (Mayer, 2009). This is important for companies due to by introducing product in another country it extend recognition. Although the company needs the resources to attempt such international marketing to be successful. While doing this the company has to research the country and see what/who their main competition are (Mayer, 2009).
· Mayer also stated an important issue which is that there are not many women engineers. This shows women should try and break into this industry since there is a minority of women who are engineers. I found this rather interesting because there is a big opportunity for women to become engineers. (Mayer, 2009).


Mayer,M.(2009).Marissa Mayer on Charlie Rose: The future of google, Future of search. Retrieved March 10, 2009 from the Tech Crunch website: http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/03/06/marissa-mayer-on-charlie-rose-the-future-of-google/