+#CCLQ™

"With new changes that offer personalized search results -- most of which are being taken from its own Google+ social network -- Google has just made social connections and links the new search-engine optimization strategy"

Interesting analysis by Mathew Ingram on what Google just did by tweaking search results to include Google + results in there. And in particular what this means for the Media industry.

If you're not familiar with the change, the article describes it well and there's another piece you can check that will probably freak out some.

To elaborate on Mathew's point, I would put it more concretely: the time where Media could simply use Twitter or G+ accounts like RSS feeds is over. User engagement is required and it means getting readers to like, comment, +1 and... curate your content.

Clay Shirky once defined curation's role this way: "Curation comes up when search stops working".

Well, now if you want your content to be searched, you better start by making it curated.

NBC Learn is the education arm of NBC News.

"Jon Miller of News Corp may have predicted 2012 will see the "channelisation" of the web, but he really means a renewed focus on curation..."

"Channelisation implies that media corporations such as News Corp will be the ones controlling the playlist of content, but 2012 will see the role of such organisations fall back to providing content for others to turn into a wealth of different “channels” where the barrier to entry essentially falls to zero."

Key highlights curated from the article:

Curation of niche interest: channelisation

"...opening up of video on demand services from all these channels will allow much smaller organisations to provide cross-channel curation.

If the channels who provide the content are still showing their ads before, during and after each show, then curators could start channels focusing on more specific interests and smaller niches than a broadcast channel could do – there will be channels dedicated to crime shows, medical shows, shows with appearances from certain actors, and more.

A user will just have to think of a single genre or idea that they want to watch in a show, and there will be a “channel” or that."

The curator
"More interesting than the drive to smaller and smaller niches, which could, at least in part, be algorithmically generated – will be the focus on the curator.

If a user trusts the taste of a journalist, presenter, blogger or other figure – they may be more interested to watch the content that user picks than the content programmed for any particular channel.

...These curators could add to the content by providing commentary from their own knowledge of the content – offering a place where consumers could find a new love."

Social Curation
"...Equally, groups of curators could join together to offer more regular programming than the one-off playlists of individuals, basically creating “channels” without any of the budget and monetary constraints of a real channel.

They would not have to pay for licensing as the content owners will bundle ads with the in-stream content, and so people will curate out of love and interest rather than having to focus on budgetary constraints."

Insightful. 8/10

Read the full article here: http://www.techfruit.com/2012/01/12/channelisation-curation/ 

(Curated by Robin Good)