The chatter around Technorati’s Authority feature is so much this morning, that my mind hurts. Guys, did you try it out? Please do, and then you will realize that its not that good. I did that with Scoble recommended “Technology” link, and guess what, I couldn’t find myself on search results – for seven pages. I guess I have no authority in “technology.” Tick, done and forgotten. What else you got Dave?
[...] Another tip? Make friends with other bloggers. You know, if 15 z-listers link to you, are you a z-lister, or did you just move up to the m-list? Hint: it doesn’t take that many links to be seen as an “authority” on Technorati. Well, unless you’re Om Malik and then Technorati just thinks you don’t have any authority. Yikes. But, anyway, usually you will get noticed if a few blogs link to you and it’s not hard. Got a good post today? Why don’t you email a few people (one at a time, not in a group) and say “hey, I think you’d enjoy my post today on xxxxxx.” Don’t beg for a link, just show some passion about what you’ve written or posted. [...]
[...] Technorati lacks Authority (Om Malik) [...]
Yikes. That sucks. Sorry, I didn’t have time to really test it out before writing about it.
If they had picked a less weighty word than “authority” for the feature they might have garnered a little more sympathy.
Om, that is a search of posts for the word ‘technology’ , which is not one that shows up in your posts often.
Check your blog tags so you show up here:
http://technorati.com/blogs/technology
and here:
http://technorati.com/explore/technology
Or try a search for ‘broadband’ which is a word you do mention a lot:
http://www.technorati.com/search/broadband
Try the word “Broadband”, Om…
here’s the link:
http://www.technorati.com/search/broadband?authority=a7
The word “Skype” works as well, along with “Broadband” above in popping up those “Om” links.
Same results, Om. I am surprised with the results when none of the top listed links for several search terms were totally unknown. Not sure what algorithm is powering this features, but definitely needs more work :)
I agree – doesn’t work and is an idea that is counter to the stated purpose. On to the next thing…
Seriously, it’s still a keyword search. Unless Technorati starts doing some fancy contextual stuff, maybe like latent semantic analysis or some such thing, unless you specifically mention “technology” in your post, you’re not going to rank highly. It’s hardly any different than, say, Google and others in this regard. As others pointed out, you rank quite highly for “broadband” and other keywords you’re more likely to have mentioned directly in a blog post.
I agree with Chris. There should be a way that makes sites like Om Malik rate higher without having to tag every post with the general subject. Should for example Tuaw.com have to tag every post “mac” to rate high on Mac? Doesn’t make sense. On the other hand, I don’t have any other suggestions on how this should be done…
Why should I have to tag at all? Is that all I should be doing on my blog, or should I care more about content and actually saying something for the greater conversation?
The “authority” button should be replaced with “popularity and linkers”.
Authority is just linking blog. I see no realistic important of it. Search Engine sends most traffic to websites and blogs. The site linking are sending very little traffic in most cases. Search Engine vs. linking Blog (Technorati Authority) – Search Engine wins. – My humble opinion.
On lighter side answering Om’s Question
Om Mailk: What else you got Dave?
Pinal Dave : My blog already has Authority in it – SQLAuthority