Hello all,

Today I’d like to take a look at something we’ve gone over in my online journalism class that goes along with the subject of this blog, being “textually active”, and that is Amazon and aggregators.

Amazon is largely used as a marketplace for books and other products.  The things that make it special and unique are its preferences algorithms and the ratings from other consumers.  Amazon will remember your buying choices and recommend other similar products that it thinks you might be interested in.  This mathematical algorithm is highly innovative, and its what put Amazon on the map.  Its other         feature, consumer ratings, adds value to the the information available.  Imagine, for instance, that you are unsure about whether or not you want to buy a specific product.  Amazon shows the ratings and reviews of other consumers for many of the products available on its website.  If someone says that a product is complete garbage, then you will probably be less likely to purchase it.

Google, the world’s leading aggregator, is another thing we discussed in class.  Instead of creating content like most websites, it provides links to information.  Companies and websites pay google for SEO, or search engine optimization, in order to come up on Google’s first page of results.  Google also makes money through pay-per-click, in which websites pay a certain amount for each unique visitor linked to them through Google.

Newspapers websites are currently battling Google, trying to get compensation for the money Google is making off of the information it links to, but didn’t pay to produce.  This is an interesting skirmish that could have consequences that affect the entire industry.  So keep your eyes peeled!

-Tyler ;)

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