Thoughts in defense of EveryBlock
Entry updated Feb. 12, 2008 at 9:05 a.m.
Update: Lucas Grindley responds to my entry in the comments. He makes a good point about the stats for his site -- I can see how the valued loyal users would arrive through the homepage on a regular basis.
Update: Matt Waite of Politifact fame has some prolific things to say about EveryBlock. I especially like this:
I've seen several people say that EveryBlock is data without context, but that's not entirely true. The context comes from the user through geography. The block is the context.
The launch of the highly anticipated EveryBlock has generated a lot of discussion amongst the journalistic community, including a blog entry posted on this site.
But there are some decidedly negative comments surfacing that, to me, make little sense. Even more frightening is their revelation of an antiqued way of thinking for an industry some say is on the brink of collapse.
No context for EveryBlock's data
A big criticism I've heard both on the blogosphere and within my social circle is that EveryBlock is not providing context for the data it aggregates.
This is, for the most part, true because the data is only as good as what is distributed by the sources of that data.
Do we really need all of that context? Can context exist for every crime committed, or for every piece of graffiti removed?
I don't live in Chicago, New York City or San Francisco. So the data EveryBlock presents isn't relevant to me.
But if there existed a feed for my part of Knoxville, you can bet that would be an RSS feed I'd check daily. And because I don't have time to sift through every story from any of the local news sources, I would appreciate the data, straight up.
The media can't report on every crime, and it makes sense that the crimes they do report on have news value.
So if the media only provide a story for newsworthy crimes, then are users done a disservice for not being made aware of crimes that don't warrant a story?
Also, newspapers' reporting staff aren't getting any larger. Therefore it's reasonable to assume that in the future, there will be fewer crimes given context.
For example, a rash of vandalism in my former neighborhood in Roanoke, Va. that resulted in many broken car windows barely received a mention in The Roanoke Times. And that was many days after the fact.
If I had know the scope of the crime as soon as they were logged by the police department, I would have organized with neighbors to form a watch group or other deterrent.
So if users are presented with the data, they can make judgments based on said data over time. If crime goes up in their neighborhood, they can petition local government to do something.
Or they can create their own context by blogging about the data, since if it happened in their neighborhood (or on their block), they're likely to know more than traditional media.
EveryBlock lacks an effective homepage
Operations Manager for the Sarasota Herald-Tribune Lucas Grindley claims that EveryBlock lacks an effective homepage:
If EveryBlock is in the business of news, it needs a better Page 1A. Or, since this is hyperlocal: 1B.
There is no 1A on the Web. Nor is there a 1B.
Newspaper folks need to stop carrying print ideas about content hierarchy to the Web.
Most newspaper Web sites are a disaster for any user hoping to navigate to content that is relevant to him/her. The sections are mostly carry-overs from those in the paper.
Also, the number of users arriving at content on newspaper Web sites from Google, social networks, blogs and other outlets is growing. Check your stats son -- I'd reckon the majority aren't traveling through your home page, or section pages to get to the content.
In fact, Adrian Holovaty himself calls out Grindley's assertion in his entry's comments:
...I'm not sure I understand your comment about there not being a "home page" -- we have a home page for every city (e.g., chicago.everyblock.com), for every block (e.g., http://chicago.everyblock.com/streets/addison-st/1050-1098w/) and every neighborhood/ZIP.
Holovaty went on to say that friendlier text was added to these home pages to make it clear that they are in fact that, home pages.
Because EveryBlock is organized as it is, with index pages and detail pages, it's an SEO gold mine. Even data gleaned from Yelp, Flickr and newspaper Web sites have detail pages -- I'm surprised that no one has mentioned this yet.
EveryBlock doesn't archive it's detail pages based on a directive within those templates' meta data, but they're quite findable by Google and others.
This will help drive some traffic to the sites sourcing the data.
EveryBlock is not perfect. It's limited to three cities for now, and there could be more data sources with additional fields and relationships with other data types. There's no API.
But those are issues that they can fix over time.
Holovaty and crew have delivered an innovative product that I believe will influence how the media operates on the Web. Believe it y'all.
Four comments
Adrian already changed a small part of the page to address my very real concern. I imagine Adrian might make more adjustments in response to my comments and those from others.
So take it down a notch. You're way overreacting to my comments here.
For example, just because we live on the Web doesn't mean it's automatically wrong to make a metaphorical reference to the newspaper's print version. In some ways, a newspaper's Page 1A tries to accomplish many of the same things for readers that a home page does. When you know a lot about how both work, there's no shame in comparing their strengths and weaknesses.
And, sure, lots of people find our content via search engines. But not repeat, loyal users. Those folks still use the home page. Check your stats. If you have Omniture Discover, you can see that loyal users depend on the home page.
Adrian asked for feedback, and I think he was sincere when he asked for it. Feel free to disagree with me and claim that the home pages are effective, but I do know what I'm talking about. And I'll eventually be proven right.
I agree that sites in general need to take on a more organic approach to navigation, essentially treating every page as a possible home page. But that doesn't erase the reality that 'home' is still the single most important page of nearly any Web site. Maybe one day every site will be like About.com, which for many users is little more than a search result. But now is not that time. We still have to pay a lot of attention to home pages, and whether they well serve repeat users.
Repeat and new users are the key to all Web site growth.
@Lucas
Thanks for the rebuttal.
The reason for my "overreaction" is borne of frustration more than anything.
While I understand your print references as they relate to online -- I've written my share of print articles, and know my way around the copy desk -- I think it's time to move beyond them.
The marketplace has shown that carrying the traditional print mentality to the Web isn't effective.
I can't argue with your own stats about loyal users coming to the home page. It sounds like a reasonable statement knowing how many newspaper Web site users are.
But I'm not sure it makes sense betting on the home page to carry the weight of content.
The Web is becoming too fragmented and open to rely on folks, even loyal users, coming to one page on a regular basis. Content needs to be designed to flow from one interface to the next -- kind of like the data used on EveryBlock.
I think EveryBlock's architecture is well executed. It's easy to navigate and find what you want at a glance.
I did see that the "homepage" text was added to various listing pages -- I too applaud the changes made to the site based on user feedback.
I think we'll have to agree to disagree on the subject of home pages however.
Thanks again for the comment.
@Lucas
Content, not the home page, is the most important part of any Web site.
Agreed. But in terms of revenue, the home page is but a small piece of the total.
I count two display ads on the home page of the Herald Tribune. There are at least three on a story page, not including the text link ads.
Yes, the CPM for home page ads is probably higher, but there are a lot more story pages than a home page.
And growth for newspaper Web sites is not measured in users, but in revenue.
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