Search-Powered Web Apps

The Lijit team spent last weekend at the Blog World Expo in Vegas. In addition to speaking with bloggers, answering questions, and thanking our current users, we had the opportunity to debut our new trade show booth. While this may not sound exciting, it represented a big deal because it’s the first real booth-like thing that Lijit has ever had. We put a lot of heart into our trade show presence last year, but we put a lot of money into it this year and it made a difference.

Armed with the popular Lijit swag of small laptop stickers and uber comfortable t-shirts, we decided that we needed something more. We wanted to provide even more value and functionality to the bloggers attending the conference, so we decided to help people clean up their search. And their hands. (Don’t forget what a dirty city Vegas is…)

Besides spreading the joy of hand-sanitizing, we also helped to spread the word of our search. The beauty of Blog World is that everyone there is passionate about what they’re doing, so from wine bloggers to mommy bloggers, we had the chance to talk to people about what they love doing and to show them how Lijit can make them even better at it.

In addition to hearing feedback from blog publishers already using Lijit (big thank-you!), we also had the chance to convert some new publishers to our search goodness. Welcome…

Quickrelease.tv
Volleyball Voices
Vino Las Vegas
MoneyNing
Frugal Upstate
John Hawkins Unrated
Don Nozzle
The Wiz of Odds
Money Making Scoop

While we didn’t have much time to walk around the trade show floor, there were a few companies that caught our eye, including MindTouch, Zemanta, Woopra, JS-Kit, Photrade, ContentRobot, and BlogCatalog. This represents just a small sampling of the many Blog World exhibitors present and we only wish there had been more time to find out about all the companies in attendance.

We loved having the chance to co-sponsor some giveaways with b5media, because they are always such a fun group to be around. In addition to the poker chips they were handing out for the game in their booth, we got to see some of our favorite b5 bloggers, like Mary Jo…

Lijit was mentioned in a few other Blog World recaps. John Andrews, Senior Marketing Manager for Walmart, was impressed with us (as you can see in this video clip) and we sold Ben Koo on the up-and-coming Boulder tech scene. David called us some of his favorite naggers, which he meant as a compliment (I believe) and Carlton liked our Purell swag so much, he blogged about it. Additionally, Lijit captured Greta’s interest and managed to make an impression on Karen again this year.

The entire Lijit team worked hard while at Blog World and must thank all those who stopped by our booth to say hello! We appreciate your interest and support in making this year’s Blog World an even bigger success than last year. See you in Vegas next year!

[photo credit: carltonreid]

This post is by our very own Derek Greentree, who visited the Yahoo! campus for a field trip. In addition to using his business cards for the first time while on this trip, he was also very excited about being the recipient of developer swag. And he was nice enough to share it with the rest of us in the office.

Two weeks ago, I flew out to sunny California to attend Yahoo! Open Hack Day, an interesting developer event periodically held by Yahoo!. Attendees get access during the event to up-and-coming APIs (and other technology) in development at Yahoo!, and are given a challenge to create a mashup or other interesting hack and demo it at the end of the event. You can find information about the hacks that were demoed at the hack day blog.

If you’ve never been to the Yahoo! Sunnyvale campus, you probably won’t know quite what to think, as it’s filled with purple carpet, exclamation points on the walls, and emoticons everywhere. It’s interesting to see a very large corporation try to promote a youthful and exuberant appearance at a corporate headquarters with security guards, a cafeteria, fountains, volleyball courts, outside dining, and multiple buildings. I arrived Friday morning and was also surprised at how organized the event was; after entering, I was always greeted with friendly faces willing and able to help me find what I needed.

The theme of the weekend was APIs and openness. First, I’m happy to see that Yahoo! is getting behind OAuth, an open standard for API authentication. I wish everyone supported this simple mechanism (*cough* Facebook *cough*), as the various APIs offered by services out there desperately need to settle on a single, well-understood mechanism for allowing users to grant access to private data.

The second most exciting thing demoed (for me) that weekend was YQL, which will be a single URL that takes a SQL-like query and returns data from many Yahoo! services–like Flickr, mybloglog, Yahoo! Messenger, Yahoo! Mail, and others. Currently, each of these services has a different API and a different authentication mechanism, which means that supporting them is a pain. Having one mechanism for authenticating to the Yahoo! API (OAuth) and for querying any data within it will greatly simplify the code base we use here to interface with external services.

Next was Yahoo! BOSS, a search API. Many services (like Google and even Yahoo!, using yet another API) expose search services to external users, but BOSS is special. The problems with all the major existing APIs out there is draconian usage restrictions. Many of them, for example, don’t allow you to:

• Reorder search results
• Change the display of search results
• Use the API more than a certain (low) number of times per day
• Inject advertising of your own into search results

This is a mistake: allowing services to use your search data in unique and interesting ways is a win-win for the service and the search provider. With BOSS, on the other hand:

“BOSS (Build your Own Search Service) is different–it’s a truly open API with as few rules and limitations as possible. With BOSS, developers and startups now have the technology and infrastructure to build next generation search solutions that can compete head-to-head with the principals in the search industry. BOSS will grow and evolve with a focus on providing additional functionality, tools, and data for developers.”

I attended an excellent presentation by Vik Singh, a member of the BOSS team, on some example usage. He’s also developed a very cool Python library called the BOSS Mashup Framework that lets you whip up interesting mashups using Yahoo! Search with simple, elegant code. If you’re a developer and into this stuff, you definitely should check things out.

Perhaps most importantly, the weekend made me think about APIs that Lijit wants to offer (or could offer) to the outside world. We have access to a lot of interesting and unique data here, and I’ve seen more than a few startups that would benefit by having access to the work we’ve done. Look for more on this in the future, but I think providing access to Lijit’s data via a set of APIs could produce some very interesting mashups, and help Lijit grow in cool and unique ways.

[Photos found on Flickr and used via CC license: freshelectrons, Jinho.Jung, and bluesmoon]

This is another guest post in our series written by Lijit employees. Shawn makes up the majority of our QA team and once she was hired, a collective sigh of relief was heard around the office. She was kind enough to share her thoughts on what she thinks about working at Lijit.

A short time ago, colleagues, friends, and family told me I was crazy for even thinking about working for a start-up company where nothing is ever certain. But growing up, I was always told, “You’ll never know until you try”.

So I tried, and two start-ups later, look at where I landed!

The intrigue, adrenaline rush, and personal satisfaction of working for a start-up far outweigh any disadvantages there may be. Here at Lijit, the people really make this place go. I knew it from the moment I was told that Lijit was looking to build their QA team and the Software Engineers were driving the need. Could such a place really exist, where Software Engineers and QA Engineers work in tandem to get software to the market? Why, yes it can!

There is a core group of folks here that have successfully worked together at other companies. They provide a solid foundation for Lijit. Combine these folks with the rest of us and we all bring life and career experience into a collaborative environment where we take pride in reaching for and obtaining the same goal–getting it done quickly and getting it done to a great degree of publisher and investor satisfaction. How and when we get it done can be both challenging and exhilarating but well worth the effort.

We are continuously in motion to improve upon and formalize the processes that work well for us as well as being open to processes and procedures that will help us continue to improve and grow.

This is another in our continuing series of guest posts by Lijit employees. Jacqueline is a community catalyst who spends her days taking care of Lijit publishers and in her spare time, enjoys exploring what Colorado has to offer. She was kind enough to share her thoughts about a recent trip to Denver.**

A few weeks ago, Lijit went on a field trip (sans parental permission slips) to the Democratic National Convention. It was an opportunity to witness history in the making in Denver. History always transcends politics and we saw that firsthand. Generational and racial barriers fell to the side as people from all walks of life embraced themes portrayed throughout Obama’s campaign. It was inspiring to see.

A call to action within the Democratic Party was interpreted through an artistic lens at the “Manifest Hope Gallery.” The gallery was comprised of contemporary political art, with its star, none other than Senator Obama. Talented artists from around the country used their art as a voice in order to amplify and motivate the grassroots movement surrounding the Obama campaign. Progressive politics through art captured the core values of Obama’s campaign, “hope, progress, change, unity, and patriotism.” The art displayed has made a huge impact in the visibility of the Obama campaign.

Walking around the gallery provided a personal sense of patriotism. Collectively and individually each piece of art addressed the current challenges and struggles felt under the Bush administration, and how Senator Obama will bring about the change that is so desperately needed. The artwork captured strength, power, and intelligence as the brush, paint, and artist worked together to give Senator Obama a place on the canvas. Portrayed as an iconic symbol, it truly is an Obama nation.

As the end of the day drew near and things ended, the Lijit team headed home. Lijit has publishers from all different walks of life with different political beliefs. Today, we were lucky enough to meet and speak with some of our publishers. They expressed their opinion of the candidates and the issues important to them in this election. Separated from Denver by thirty miles, Lijit felt extremely fortunate to be a part of the Democratic National Convention and represent not blue or red but, our own color, Lijit green.

**As with all of our guest posts, Jacqueline’s views are her own and do not necessarily represent those of the entire company.

Lijit was fortunate enough to be one of the sponsors of a fantastic party that took place last Thursday, on the closing night of the DNC in downtown Denver. The Rocky Mountain Blogger Bash aimed to bring bloggers from the area together to talk about one of our shared passions: blogging. Regardless of political viewpoint, bloggers from all over Colorado (along with many out-of-town bloggers in Denver for the convention) gathered to watch Obama’s speech, eat, drink, and exchange URLs.

Since bloggers are our people, it made sense that Lijit was there. We had the opportunity to meet many publishers already using our widget and the chance to explain what we do to others. Our Lijit t-shirts and stickers were a big hit with all attendees, as were the free drinks that our sponsorship provided.

Our new friends include: Amber of Crazy Bloggin’ Canuck, Heather of A Mama’s Blog, Laura of LaLaGirl, Amy of Crunchy Domestic Goddess, Melissa of Nature Deva, Aviva of Parentopia, The Crunchy Green Mom, Hubs of Artifacting, Rosie of Rosalicious, Tessa and Michael of My Left Nutmeg, and Kath of A Likely Story.

In addition, many bloggers from the Denver/Boulder tech community showed up to attend their FIRST ever Rocky Mountain Blogger Bash, including: Aimee of Greeblemonkey and her awesome husband Bryan, Julie of mothergoosemouse, Geekmommy, Jeremy Tanner, Dave Taylor of Ask Dave Taylor, Robin from CopyDiva, Gerhard and Kary of Fling it Girl, Kit Seeborg, and the fabulous Deb in Denver.

And let’s not forget the old pals from past Blogger Bashes: Molly, Wheels, Left off Colfax, and Andy of The World Wide Rant (pictured above) who, unfortunately, is no longer blogging.

A big thanks to the organizers of this fantastic RMBB: Mr. Lady and Zombyboy, who pulled off a great event on what some called “a crazy day to have a party in downtown Denver”.

You can read other recaps of the event here, here, here, and here.

Once the gauntlet was thrown, there was no looking back. Micah pulled off a friendly competition that brought together all those with big appetites in the local tech community. 12 guys showed up to compete and after deciding on the rules together, the contest began. But not before the spectators put their predictions in for who they thought would win. Jenny from Boston thought that Danny Newman was the one to pick, mainly based on the fact that he came dressed to play…

Brad Feld was honest when he said that he would stop eating when he was full…because Amy, his wife, told him to and we all know what a good husband he is. (Additionally, Brad kept making the competition harder by adding in his own rules, like drinking a beer between each round and attempting push-ups as well.)

Spectators took turn ordering the rounds of sushi so that the competitors didn’t have any unfair advantages. The first few rounds were easy, but the sushi got progressively worse as the night wore on. Plates of the hard stuff (quail eggs, smelt roe, fermented soybean, and the like) began appearing in the later rounds, knocking out weak-stomached competitors along the way.

After 14 rounds of sushi, one competitor puking, and many others looking like they were going to puke, the first Sushi Regurge champion was crowned. To the surprise of no one, the same guy who organized the entire event (and talked the most trash) was the one who was left standing at the end of it all.

Many thanks to the employees of Hapa, who put up with our screaming and cheering, and to everyone who showed up to support the competitors. And of course, thanks to Micah…

without whom, none of this disgusting gorging would be possible. Thanks for pulling it together, calling everyone out, and putting your best stomach forward! We look forward to another equally unappetizing gathering like this again next year.

The following is a guest post by Bill, a software developer here at Lijit who is leading the search engine team. I thought his post was a great follow-up to the one from our CEO on the company’s recent funding and appreciate Bill taking the time to share his thoughts on how we should spend that cash.

As you may know, Lijit recently received 7.1 million dollars in venture capital funding. This means different things to different people. To the investors, it means they see promise in the company and are willing to take a calculated risk. To the executives, it’s a significant milestone in building a successful company. To the employees, it means we still have jobs, and it keeps alive the stock-option dream. But to the engineering team, it signifies a new phase.

Prior to this, Lijit has been a true startup. Everybody has worn multiple hats: the VP of Engineering does systems administration, the senior architect does configuration management, and everybody doubles as the QA team. This early phase can be very exciting and very satisfying. You get to do a little bit of everything, and the urgency to ‘just get it done’ means that you’re rarely constrained by bureaucracy or red tape. But it’s also a difficult time. Everybody is overworked, you often have to do tasks outside of your comfort zone, priorities and direction can change daily, and progress is often constricted by a lack of resources.

I only joined Lijit a few months ago, so I missed a lot of the early pains. But I got here in time to experience some of it, and I worked with many of the Lijit staff at a previous gig where we went through all these phases.

With the funding, it all begins to change. From an engineering perspective, this can be a very exciting time. In the past couple of months we’ve hired a QA team, built a dedicated Test Environment which mirrors the production system, and instituted a bug tracking process. We’ve brought additional developers on board with specialized skillsets, and organized into teams dedicated to each of our primary products (website, search platform, adserving platform). Not only have we built a talented IT team, we’re hiring a configuration management engineer. We’re adopting agile development methods, and we’re building a product roadmap and release timeline that give us direction months into the future. Across the board, we’re transitioning from a small team with limited process to a larger, more specialized team, with greater resources, and naturally, more process.

If we do this right, we become a more productive and higher quality organization which can quickly respond to business needs. If we do it wrong, we can become mired in process and overhead.

And that, really, is the exciting part–we get to define ‘doing this right’. The trick is to integrate these processes and resources while still remaining nimble. We get to pick and choose the parts that make sense. If it doesn’t make sense, if it doesn’t make us faster and improve our quality, then we don’t do it. It’s easy to get bogged down in all this stuff. But we won’t because we’ve been here before.

Photo credit: noahwesley

This is another in our ongoing series of guest posts written by different employees around the office. Charlie was kind enough to help out this time and in case you couldn’t figure it out, he loves his bike. And now, with his bionic knee, he’s an even better rider.

Sure, that sounds too much like a box of chocolates, but, well, nobody would ever accuse me of being original.

1. The more skill you have, the more fun you have. The more challenging a trail, the more satisfying it is. If search was easy, it wouldn’t be fun.
2. You don’t always know *exactly* where you’re going.
3. Sometimes there are crashes, and you have to fix your bike or the web servers:
4. You have to keep moving and be able to improvise to get through the most difficult bits.
5. You have to suck it up for some long, brutal climbs sometimes.
6. Beer is good at the end of the day.

I’ve been riding seriously for 7 or 8 years or so, and over the years have fallen in with a group of people that are great riders, and great friends. We all ride regularly and go on weekend trips together, with different combinations of people every time. I’m not the best rider in the group, but we all like the same kind of difficulty, and are willing to work on the technical sections until we ride them clean.

I’ve known some of the people at Lijit for 15 years. These are among the most technically competent people I’ve ever worked with. We’ve worked together for a variety of different companies, in different product domains and different combinations. We all like to have a tough problem that’s worth solving, and are willing to work on it until we get it done.

That is why I ride with those guys, and that’s why I’m at Lijit.

Sure, that’s a pretty short post, but, well, nobody would ever accuse me of being too vocal. And beer is good at the end of the day.

Micah and I attended BlogHer this past weekend, held in San Francisco. This was my third BlogHer event and they’ve all been unique. With a thousand attendees, the BlogHer organizers did a fantastic job of logistically insuring there was an ample amount of activities scheduled in order to have lots of opportunities to meet other bloggers and learn from them. As a representative of Lijit, it was helpful knowing some bloggers going into the event. On top of that, Lijit was mentioned on two different panels as a useful tool for bloggers. (Yippie!) And to round out our good Lijit vibes, when I told people where I worked, I was greeted with looks of recognition.

From attending a session on why mommyblogging is a radical act (shhhh…it’s because women are telling the truth) to a session on how to pursue your passion, there were intelligent and dedicated bloggers all over. I know that some women were concerned with the high school/sorority aspect of the conference, but for me, it was all about thanking the publishers who are currently using Lijit and following up with those who have yet to install. Building relationships is a HUGE part of my job and BlogHer presents a wonderful space to do just that.

I would never have started blogging if it weren’t for taking a job with Lijit and I love that because we make a blogging tool, it’s a no-brainer for us to have a presence there. (I’m thinking that next year, we might even have to get a booth!) It’s amazing how being social, striking up conversations, and meeting people can take it right out of you. I never realize how hard I work at a conference until I come home, sleep-deprived and with a three-inch stack of business cards.

Micah wrote a post about his experiences as one of the few BlogHims in attendance, while I posted some personal highlights of the trip over here.

In order to share the link love, here are some of the blog publishers that I ran into at the conference who are currently using Lijit:

Schmutzie’s Milkmoney Or Not, Here I Come
califmom
Everyday Goddess
Greeblemonkey
electromute
Send Chocolate
Whiskey In My Sippy Cup
Dirt to Dish
PHAT Mommy
Average Jane
Pause
This Mama Cooks! On a Diet
Scheiss Weekly
Greek Tragedy
Table for Five
contentious
CityMama
Queen of Spain
Mommy Needs Coffee
SecondHand Karl
MOMocrats
A Mommy Story
POP! PR Jots
Her Media

And then, if that isn’t already a great list, we’ve also had some blog publishers sign up as a result of Lijit being at BlogHer. We’d like to welcome these new users…

bad mom
Elkit in Wonderland
Oh, The Joys
happykatie
Alex Year Two
Glossed Over
Moms In The Right

Thanks to all those who gave us great feedback and shared their thoughts about Lijit. We loved having the chance to listen to what you had to say and appreciate your continued support!

This post and pictures accompanying it are courtesy of Colleen, who holds the title of “executive assistant”, but should be called “the great one who keeps our office together”.

A couple of weeks ago, our CEO, Todd, and his wife Lura hosted a summer BBQ for the Lijit crew. It was a great time for everyone to socialize with each other outside of the office. The evening was filled with good company, good food, hilarious conversations and a bit of weak badminton playing. (I know, we can blame the dogs for stealing the birdies, but the only one who really brought their A game was Dan…who is some sort of alternative sports guru and brings his own racket with him to picnics.)

When the Lijit crew is outside of the office and not talking shop, their personalities and creative sides shine through in many ways. Below are photo highlights from the evening:

There weren’t enough badminton rackets to go around, so Manny decided to improvise and use Todd’s security sign. I believe it had further reach than your average racket.

Who knew Todd was a grilling machine?

Leslie sporting her salsa competition trophy

Jeff’s son, who lost a tooth on a toasted marshmallow

How could I not mention Manny’s Sprite-dwarfing muscles?

Badminton action shots

All in all, everyone had a great time and we’re looking forward to next year. Look out Dan…I hear people will be practicing up for a badminton rematch.