Semantic search has come up in various presentations I’ve given so I wanted to update you on Hakia receiving $5 million in funding.

The core value of semantic search is that it works from meanings, not just occurrences of words. Semantic search seeks to increase the relevance of search results and to make searching more natural.

As conventional search tools like Google, Yahoo!, and MSN are maturing, semantic search is often seen as the next major innovation in search.

Learn More about Hakia

Pete Prestipino at Website Magazine just blogged about the new editor for Google AdWords.

New features include the following:

• Draft account for sharing with other AdWords Editor users
• Splats are available which display warnings/errors to find errors quickly
• Maximize work space and view more rows in the data view

Read more at Website Magazine

Mashable! reports that Google Analytics has added a much-needed comparison feature. Comparing analytics data from two different date ranges can be very helpful.

From the Mashable! article:

So far the new feature does include the ability to compare several data points for your own site, including page views, unique page views, time spent on the page, bounce rate, % exit, and $ index.

Read more at Mashable!

Jeffrey Zeldman, publisher of A List Apart, has written a great article on the subject of Understanding Web Design.

Read the rest of this entry »