Big Data – A revolution that will Transform how we Live, Work and Think is the title of a book by Viktor Mayer-Schonberger and Kenneth Cukier.

Schonberger and Cuker talk about the huge volumes of data that is now being generated and give many examples of companies using big data for prediction.   Proper use of big data can greatly increase insight and eliminate false predictions.  According to one Amazon reviewer “We all seek smarter ways to find the most relevant information for our work and life so filtering messy amounts of big day will continue to be a popular kind of business service that will force sweeping changes in most all markets and professions.”

The book is not a how to book but rather a “what it is and the power of big data” book.  It is an excellent primer for anyone who wants to stay ahead of technology.

At General Sentiment, we believe the title it right – big data will transform our thinking.  General Sentiment is a Big Data company.  We scan the internet everyday for all news, blogs, websites and tweets.  The amount of data is huge.

General Sentiment is in the business of dealing with big data efficiently.  And not only processing it but interpreting it.  This is the sort of thing that only a computer can do.  We are open and tell people how they could do it themselves.  Simply read every mention about your company, products or topic and determine whether it is positive or negative.  And also determine how positive or negative.  Remove any results that appear to be “fake” so no one can “stuff the ballot box”.   And then weigh ones that are more important than others (EG NY Times is more worthy of weight than my blog).  Then compare these to competitors or compare them to 6 months or a year ago to see if sentiment is improving.   And compare different regions – is sentiment better in Chicago than Miami etc.

Big Data allows for the new market research.  It is instant.  The sample size is huge.   It is like having a focus group with 1,000,000+ people.

Every so often, an application comes along that changes the way businesses function. For example, personal computers didn’t make much sense for business until word processing became easy and spreadsheet and accounting programs could be added onto the same hardware. Enter MediaMatch: a game changer in media.

It’s said that 50 percent of all advertising is wasted, but you never know what 50 percent to cut. So, brands just keep throwing money at it. Instead, focus your ad buy better. Here are 10 ways MediaMatch does that to help you save time, save money and increase revenue:

1) All rating points are no longer created equal. Shared affinities across brands and shows offer unique engagement insights and actionable information.
2) Agencies can provide a “brand rating point” for clients, leveraging MediaMatch to create engagement opportunities.
3) Break ratings ties by identifying larger populations amongst shared environments. In other words…
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