Sony.com Search
Search results on Sony.com are served up from two different search indexes:
A) The proprietary Keyword Management System (KMS)
The KMS enables Business Unit managers to control which keywords are the best
match for their URLs. The KMS also provides functionality to create redirects, or
“vanity” URLs (such as Sony.com/stealth), off of Sony.com for marketing purposes
Users can run weekly reports to review the most and least searched-on keywords in
their Business Unit, click-through information, total search usage, and all redirects
used in the given week.
B) The third-party Verity Ultraseek search engine
Verity Ultraseek is a spider that is set to index all Sony US websites, using a variety of
techniques to give each instance of a search term a relative weight based on context.
These techniques involve an optimized combination of enhanced linguistics
techniques, stemming, link analysis, and weighting based on term location, frequency,
and rarity. Results from this search engine can be filtered by Business Unit and then
by sub-areas within each, for example, for Electronics, then for Notebook Computers.
1. Next Version of KMS
KMS 3.0 is currently in development, scheduled for release in late September, 2005. This
version is a substantial upgrade from the existing program, so much so that we have
given it a new name. KMS 3.0 is called the Marketing Management System (MMS) to
emphasize its ability to manage multiple aspects of the Business Units’ online initiatives.
New Development Team
The MMS is being developed by MCS, a development company with a long track record
of working with Sony Electronics, Inc. They are using their expertise in evolving
databases to improve the keyword system.
Development continues to use Java as the application-level code, with HTML and
JavaScript running the front end. Data is managed in an Oracle database.
Implementation
The system will continue to be hosted at Sony Pictures Digital, just as the current KMS
system is. Implementation and maintenance will be facilitated by SPD engineers and
staff. A data freeze will occur in the existing system for one week prior to rollout.
Training for all users will occur in the first weeks after rollout.
©Sony Corporation of America
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2. Major Differences/Updates
Accessibility
The MMS is being developed to operate on both Windows and Macintosh platforms, in
multiple types of browsers. It also will be more easily accessible remotely, without
compromising Sony security.
User Interface
The MMS has an improved user interface, with menus at the top of the screen providing
more screen “real estate” for tables and reports. Users have onscreen access to current
and archived system messages, improving communication for keyword approvals and
other information.
Redirects/Keywords
Keywords and Redirects will be handled separately, so that redirects no longer will be
automatically identified as also being search terms (though the option will remain). This
will enhance users’ tracking capabilities and reporting while streamlining the amount of
maintenance necessary by the MMS administrators.
In the MMS, ownership of keywords and redirects will be restricted to individual users.
(The existing system allows edits by any user in the same Business Unit, which has caused
some misunderstandings.) As part of the same issue, there will be improved System
Administrator oversight of keyword, redirect, and URL modifications and deletions.
Users will have the option to provide live and end dates for keywords and redirects. This
will enable launches to occur outside of regular business hours, and provide an easy way for
items to be removed when no longer needed. Also, users can reserve redirects in advance of
having an associated URL, which will fill a need the current system doesn’t permit.
Reports
The current version of the KMS provides weekly reports that track keywords and
redirects. The Top Searches and Searches With No Results reports include data for where
the keyword was entered, the number of times the keyword was searched for, and how
many results were found both in KMS and in Verity. Search Click-Thrus tracks keywords
that resulted in URLs being clicked in the Sony.com search results.
MMS will include a full host of reports, which can be generated for any time period from
one to 90 days. Reports will be exportable to Excel, comma-delimited text file, and PDF.
There will be enhanced versions of the Top Keyword Searches report, Keywords With
No Results report, Keyword Click-Thrus report, and Redirect Report. There will also be a
new Performance Quick View report so a user can review the performance of a a few
specific keywords, redirects, or URLs. System Administrators will have access to
enhanced and revamped Audit reports.
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Find
The ability to find data in the system is significantly more robust. Keywords and redirects
can be found by whole or partial data, by Business Unit, and/or by the user who owns them.
Miscellaneous
The MMS has many user-oriented improvements, such as usernames being email links to
facilitate communication between users, sort-able tables in reports and other areas, and
stricter controls of data each user owns. On-the-spot cleanup when items are created will
reduce data entry errors. Also, System Administrators have greater flexibility in pushing
approvals and in reassigning keywords and redirects to new owners across Business Units.
3. Enhanced Tracking System
Existing Version: KMS 2.0
The current KMS accepts tracking elements as part of any URL entered by a Business
Unit manager. KMS provides reporting on activity that occurs within the Sony.com
search interface, so any unique tracking elements submitted as part of the Business Units’
URLs is reflected in the reports.
Currently, KMS users do input URLs that contain tracking data. With this information,
they can identify whether or not a user arrives at their website from Sony.com search
results. For some departments, marketing and promotional materials now often contain
Sony.com redirects that are specific to an individual ad campaign. The Business Units
can incorporate that information into evaluations of their website traffic and performance
using their own analytic tools. However, since all redirects created in the KMS are also
automatically identified as search terms, we cannot guarantee 100% accuracy that the
term is only being used as a redirect.
New Version: MMS
Users can continue to input specialized URLs into the system. Plus, the new “de-coupled”
redirect functionality and improved reporting in MMS will enable users to research the
effectiveness of their marketing campaigns from within the keyword system itself.
Additionally, the Sony.com team is working with members of Sony Style USA to
leverage an automated data feed that will provide product information to Sony.com
Search, first as a part of the Verity Ultraseek results, then into the MMS itself. Sony Style
currently has a similar data feed in place for search engines such as Google and Overture,
and will contain specific tracking information for Sony.com search in the URLs provided.
Development is underway, with Verity integration planned for early Fall 2005 and
integration into the MMS following its launch. In the future, the data feed utility can be
expanded to include keywords from other Business Units.
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Confidential
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