The Technorati.com beta site you see today has literally been rebuilt from the ground up. When you take a look at the new site, you’ll see some things you like, and you’ll notice some things that are gone (some of which will be back soon). But we guarantee you’ll see a more stable site that helps you find the blog content you’re looking for. We’ve already gone into a lot of the “why” behind the changes, so without further ado, here’s what’s changed.
Technorati Authority
In the past, we based Technorati Authority on six months of blogosphere data. Because most searches are looking for items less than a month old, we’re going to narrow that window in a similar way. In the past, because the data window was so long, Authority and the Top 100 lists it powered were relatively static. With the new algorithm, the resulting Authority will better reflect the fast-changing nature of the blogosphere. Its new inherent volatility will also show which blogs are rising and falling in authority, rewarding authors on posting frequency, context and linking behavior, as well as other data inputs.
We are also excited to announce Topical Authority. As opposed to overall Technorati Authority, Topical Authority is limited to a specific category. Some blogs may rank in more than one category.
Search
Our search previously prized recency above all else – the real time web – and the old algorithm delivered the last result, not the best. As many high authority blogs have earned a mainstream media status, we’ve added more weight “relevancy” to deliver the most relevant results from authoritative sources while still acknowledging timeliness. Simply put, when you do a search, the results should be a lot better.
Improved blog directory
The new blog directory is vastly improved. Of note, you can now view top blogs overall by Authority, AND top blogs by category by Authority. The results are something readers have requested for years: Top Lists for major categories, AND the daily risers and fallers in each category as well.
Original articles
Bloggers can now directly publish articles on Technorati.com. This provides a unique opportunity and yet another way for authors to present their content to a larger audience, directly by presenting articles to millions of readers and indirectly by receiving traffic from links back to their own blog or site. Conversely, it also provides the audience yet another way to discover great content and new authors. Down the road, we envision further opportunities for some participating authors who may choose to also join Technorati Media. As this is a totally new feature, we want to stress that this is additive to the discovery process: readers will still be able to search algorithmically selected content, browse the directory for blogs in favorite categories and now read a selection of in-depth articles. Find out how you can contribute an article.
What’s gone for now?
With six years of history behind us, we have also discovered what’s important and not important in our offerings. As such, some things will go away permanently, and others will return later with enhanced utility that reflects the new features of the site. Here’s what’s coming back shortly after launch:- Technorati Charts and API: both will be returning later
- Widgets – For those sites with widgets on their sites, there’s no need to worry. Some widgets will continue to serve as they have in the past, and some that utilized legacy Technorati technology will either change slightly or temporarily disappear without any affect on web pages. Technorati will be developing some exciting new widgets that match the new features in the site.
- s.technorati.com is still there, but it’s moved to the main site at Technorati.com/search
- Watchlists are gone
- Some (but not all) RSS feeds.
And a special mention to our partners:
- JS-Kit for providing comments
- ShrinkTheWeb for providing site thumbnails
- Get Satisfaction for support
And finally, we want to thank all of the publishers that are part of Technorati Media. In the 15 months since we launched, Technorati Media has grown into the largest social media advertising network. With over 400 influential blogs and niche social networks and communities, the network reaches 108 million monthly unique visitors. We enable marketers to engage with social media at scale by approximating the audience reach of a large social network. Our publishers have enabled five quarters of consecutive growth, and the new Technorati.com.
Next week, we’ll release the 2009 State of the Blogosphere report (with a preview at Blog World Expo this Friday). This is our biggest effort yet with a survey executed by the well known political polling firm Penn Schoen and Berlind, interviews from more than a dozen of today’s most successful professional bloggers, and additional data sources.
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