I run a digital agency and have just had a potential new client on the phone talking about Webtogs – they are taking too much of his online business apparently.

Ever inquisitive I look into this and discover the Webtogs and Crowdstorm connection, which is of interest to me as myself and a colleague (on the side) have launched Tribesmart which is user generated site and based on a community/product discovery model – although granted it’s very early days for us.

Cheers fellas and all the best

First, on the theory, I think you’re correct. IMO, there will always be a gap between the retailer and the search engine and that gap should be filled with *discovery* engines.

Second, what interests me most at the moment is not the theory (again, I’m sold on that) but the practical steps that entrpreneurs are taking with limited resources (ie here in the UK ) to unlock value from the opportunity. It’s fascinating to watch how different people address the problem in different verticals (Crowdstorm, TrustedPlaces, hereorthere, growsonYou etc) or in attempting to straddle all verticals(the former RecommendBox approach).

I’d argue that, in 2008, incorporating search into the general opportunity of *discovery* reduces risk as a business as it’s how the mass market (individuals and businesses/advertisers) use the net and, critically, if you are building your business by cashflow, it’s how you’ll get loads of traffic from Google. In 2010, things will probably be different and one would be able to take a different approach.

We all take different approaches but ours would be then to build social networking and user content into the product after that first step.

We’ll see how it pans out

I strongly agree with James Penman above about the *discovery* issue. The Internet is 99% search and 1% discovery at the moment. I envisage that this is about to change for good. Not 50-50 but discovery will break through quite soon. We already have discovery *paladins* in the music space with Last.fm, in the news space with Digg and in the more generic website space (now also pics and videos) with StumbleUpon.

Anyway, I attended the Chinwag event and I noticed one thing… the recommendation-guys were sort of search-guys anyway. Let me explain it. When I think about recommendations I instinctively associate it with discovery, not with search… but the recommendation-guys on the panel didn’t respect this association of mine. The Filter looks to me to be the closest to discovery, but Trustedplaces and Reevoo (both sites that I use and enjoy) are mostly search-driven not just because Google gives them 95% of the traffic but because they’re based on a direct relationship between a user’s specific need and the satisfaction of it. I need a nice place for my date… let’s check Trustedplaces, not Google. I want that LCD TV, let’s double check the prices and let’s go to Reevoo and find out what other product owners say, not Google. Fair enough. And clever, I like it and I do it.
But there’s not that much discovery to me into these mental processes! I have a need and I satisfy it by *searching* for something. The only difference is the place where I search… not Google.

So, to me discovery is something different and it involves latent needs. I like outdoor kit – to use the example above – and although I don’t have a specific need at the moment I’d like to discover stuff I’d love and be inspired by *someone* who knows my taste. That someone could be a friend, it could be my Twitter network (too geeky to be mainstream though and hardly scalable/manageable), or it could be a website powered by the community. The Filter – although I need to check it more thoroughly – might be one. Digg is definitely one. Last.fm is one – depending on how you use it. StumbleUpon is another one.
Crowdstorm could be another one as well (although I could use a closer look) but – no offense – it’s a bit too much search-focused at the moment. Search in the way I used it above.

Why am I so interested into this discovery issue? Because the start up I run is based on discovery – finally some disclosure you bugger!! – and we’re working on a new version which puts discovery patterns even more prominently at the core of the business. At the same time I struggle on a daily basis to make people understand – or at least evaluate the opportunity – that searching is great but there’s other stuff that we can do to fulfill our needs… present or future, manifested or latent…
It won’t be an easy journey but the more people will support the concept of discovery the easier it will get. To close this far too long comment, a while back I met Stumbleupon’s founder – Garrett Camp – and he said that (a) discovery is just another form of search, possibly more evolved, and (b) they’re still struggling to get this concept into people’s heads.

Would love to hear what you guys think about this whole thing.

Cheers,
Fabio

I think old media is pretty good at giving the punter the space in which to *discover* things (products, places etc) over a long period of time.

New media, mainly owing to different types of search engines and new CPA/CPC ad models, is mighty fine at enabling you to find things quickly.

The internet still doesn’t do *discovering* things very well which is why Crowdstorm and other *discovery* sites will have increasing relevance. As a note, I think recommendations are merely a part of this larger *discovery* concept.

As for retailers, even Amazon doesn’t have the product coverage to negate the need for a Crowdstorm type product. Example: I live in Dartmoor National Park, love mountains etc. I buy technical outdoor kit (North Face etc) and traditional outdoor kit (Barbour etc) which means that a retailer focused on technical outdoor kit such as Webtogs isn’t going to get all my money or attention. There needs to be a product that bridges this and that’s not retailer territory.

IMO, the space or gap is always going to be there for *discovery* sites and the market place is wide open at the mo in all categories, whether it be tourism which is the vertical in which I work, or shopping or finance or education etc, etc