In the process of analyzing recent links to Global Voices, I got a chance to play with some of the new tools my friends at Blogpulse are offering. I’m impressed. Really, really impressed. I started working with Blogpulse a couple of years ago, when they offered me access to their API for my GAP project – at the time, they looked like a less flashy, less consumer-savvy version of Technorati. Over the past couple of years, they’ve developed a reputation for reliability and stability, which isn’t an easy thing to do while maintaining a database of 15 million blogs and countless links. But until very recently, there hasn’t been much that’s been too exciting for the average consumer on Blogpulse.
(Okay, that’s not entirely fair. Conversation Tracker is very cool, though a little complicated for the average user. For instance, here’s the conversation that took place around my post “Bono and Brad Pitt Need Your Help” – it does a nice job of allowing you to track second and third-order references to a conversation you helped start.)
I’m guessing that Blogpulse is about to become a lot more popular. Blogpulse Profiles adds a number of features that are completely new to the world of blogs. Most blog fans are used to tracking the top 100 blogs on Technorati, and seeing where their (registered) blog ranks in comparison – Blogpulse lets you check the rank of an arbitrary blog (say, mine.) With Technorati, the rank is determined by the number of links over the totality of the blog; Blogpulse recalculates rank on a much shorter term basis, which lets them present a graph of how one’s rank changes over the course of a month. (I was evidently much more influential early last month, when I was talking about Live8, than I am now.) It’s great fun to check out the rank of blogs I admire – a general observation is that the well-trafficked blogs seem to change in rank a lot less often than those of us on the outskirts of the A-list.
Other cool stuff: the “posts” tab lists recent posts on a blog… but also lists terms that appear more often in a particular blog than in the web as a whole. Evidently I use the word “evidently” a lot… “Citations” adds to the technorati “cosmos” of a post, featuring links from high-influence blogs… which lets me see just how much more influential my friends like David, Loïc and Sabbah are than me. “Sources” lists outgoing links, which can be useful, and “Neighborhood” matches one’s blog up with other blogs that have links or terms in common. I’m unsurprised to see Jewels in the Jungle as one of the blogs in my neighborhood, as it’s a blog I hugely admire, but the others are new to me. More to explore.
Anyway, if you’re interested in who’s looking at your blog, or a blog you’re a fan of, Blogpulse’s new tools are certainly worth a close look. I’m pretty blown away by them and get more impressed the more closely I look at them.
Oops … didn’t see this, looks my questions are answered here.
tried the conversation tracker, but doesn’t seem to work for some reason…typed in a url link of a post, hit enter and it keeps presenting me with a fresh search window…probably missing something.
thanks for the post.
As I mentioned, Conversation Tracker’s not the most intuitive piece of software. Make sure you’re using a root URL that’s been linked to by other blogs. Also make sure that you’ve chosen an appropriate start date – usually the date of the post. And try not using keywords, to get a more thorough picture of the conversation…
Yet another toolset for bloggers that will definately keep us away from our most important function: creating and publishing stuff that makes trouble for the “Leaders of the World”. Blogpulse looks like a feature-packed service with very useful graphs and data. Ditto on that Neighboorhood feature as there are some real surprises for my blog too.
Did you checkout Julio Alonso’s blog “Merodeando por la enredadera” and his posting about Blogpulse for the 22 de Julio? It would be great to know his angle on Blogpulse’s new features but unfortunately my Spanish comprehension is very weak. The Blogpulse Showcase features a project named GAP (Global Attention Profiles) which is pretty cool.
Thanks for the compliment (dark-skin blushing) and to be fair it should be pointed out that Blogpulse is a subsidiary of Intelliseek Inc. which is financed by money from In-Q-Tel Investments. Doesn’t bother me a bit but it could be an issue for some of your readers who begin to use the service (on your tip) and then find out later who (indirectly) owns it.
Hey BRE –
Thanks, as always for the comments. I love Julio’s blog – his post on Blogpulse is excellent and a good pointer for the Spanish-language blogosphere to find out about the tool.
As for GAP… that’s my project. Actually, that’s how I got to know the Blogpulse folks. Glad you find it cool… :-)
Don’t know who In-Q-Tel is… is this a group I should know about?
I think Spanish will be the next language I attempt to learn (ref: Julio’s blog et Al.) I am very interested in what bloggers over in Central and South America are doing for example and figure I can handle the Portuguese (Brazil, Mozambique) if I have good Spanish skills. I’ve got “auf Deutsch” down pat for the time being for my needs.
I knew that the GAP project is your baby, just promoting your work since you didn’t. Looks real interesting if I can find the time to check it out.
In-Q-Tel is a private, non-profit investment company funded by a very famous U.S. government institution:
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)
http://www.in-q-tel.com/about/
I believe that Intelliseek Inc. of Cincinatti, Ohio was one of their 1st major investments, but I could be wrong (God forbid!!). There is a good article about In-Q-Tel over at the FCW.com website dated August 04, 2003 titled “CIA funds not-so-secret investment operation” by Michael Hardy. In-Q-Tel has since setup shop out in Silicon Valley (California). Lots of folks are beating a path to their front door tryin’ to sell ’em stuff. I hear they pay well too.
As I always say, “If you can’t beat ’em, Join ’em!” At least the Blogpulse software apps by Intelliseek are dead-on target and useful for the global public.
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