Campaigns & Elections' Politics - February 2008 - (Page 56) TechBytes info@contactservicesinc.com 703-862-1280 Hable Español MENTION THIS AD & THE PRICE DROPS: Live Calls: $25.00 Per Production Hour! Auto Calls: Per Call! We Are A Full Service US Based Call Center Our Capabilities Include: • Outbound & Inbound Live Calls • Fulfillment • Message Broadcasting • Auto Poll & Survey $ Now They’re Blog Mining to Track Trends candidate may electrify supporters gathered in a hotel ballroom. But to see if that buzz spills into the blogosphere, campaign staff are using ever-more sophisticated search engines. Zeta Interactive’s RelevantNoise service, for example, used their own search technology to find out what bloggers were saying about Chuck Norris’ endorsement of presidential candidate Mike Huckabee. Until now, such so-called “blog-mining” search engines were more common in the business world, helping anxious execs find out whether their new brands and products are making a splash. Nielsen BuzzMetrics, for A .05 Contact Services also has access to every listed residential phone in the US as well as being a list broker. “Contact Services did an outstanding job with our Voter ID project! The project was an immense help with our ‘Get Out The Vote’ efforts, all of our candidates were VERY appreciative!” – Jayson Ronk - Executive Director, Idaho Republican Party instance, used blog-mining software to keep an eye on the online buzz surrounding Apple’s iPhone before it went on sale. But campaigns willing to spend a couple thousand dollars a month also could use the services to get a feel for what influential bloggers and others are saying about candidates, their positions and their prominent supporters. So far, even the most sophisticated blogmining search engines can’t sift for sarcasm or reliably gauge statements such as “I would love to see Hillary lose.” But it’s only a matter of time before they do. “There are banks of Ph.D.’s around the world who are trying to figure this out,” says Lori Arnold, vice president of RelevantNoise. But even if a search misjudges individual statements, it can still be a reliable indicator of overall trends, either good or bad. 56 Politics February 2008 http://www.ethicscounts.com
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