LDNbeta

Looking at search results is a roughly decent way to assess our online maturity. If there are a lot of random, irrelevant, and inconsistent results on the first page it means there isn’t a big enough selection of content and links for the search algorithms to crunch — we’re not linking to each other enough and there isn’t enough stuff to link to in the first place. 

For example, I googled “London Ontario Innovation” last night. Here’s what I got on the first page:

1. not from London, it’s for the Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation
2. Innovations in Hair, a salon that doesn’t even have their own site; it’s posted to a generic listing service
3. a news/blog item announcing that ‘Innovation London 2009‘ — a drumming competition (?) — will be cancelled
4. Northwestern Ontario Innovation Centre
5. a news item on London Topic from March 2008 announcing $11 million for London’s Innovation Industrial Park (finally!)
6. a Toronto-based legal blog post asking, Does Ontario’s Innovation Minister Wear Pajamas?
7. McGuinty Government Leads Delegation To World’s Largest Biotechnology Convention in Atlanta
8. more provincial stuff
9. finally the last result on the first page is for the London Economic Development Corporation — but it’s a PDF file listing federal and provincial support programs, with nothing there about London (except an address) and no links to the LEDC main page

This is what happens when there’s virtually no online dialog about innovation and business issues in London. Someone who might be thinking about relocating their startup to London could be booking their flight to Thunder Bay this very moment after stumbling on that city’s innovation centre while looking (unsuccessfully) for London’s.  

I mean, sure, the “Ontario” messes it up — i.e. the “London Innovation” search doesn’t generate any local results, for obvious reasons — but that just means we need to work even harder.

Having said that, the word “Ontario” in searches for “Waterloo Ontario Innovation,” “Guelph Ontario Innovation,” “Hamilton Ontario Innovation” didn’t turn up such dismal results.

The results were a little better for “innovation in London Ontario.” At least the LEDC’s home page was first, and WORLDiscoveries was there too — after the same salon, drumming competition and pronvincial site came up again — but then the very next result is my own post on London being “the future innovator of non-bullshit politics.” Yeah (I’ve changed the title to read “BS” now but will take a while to reflect in Google). Sorry.

Ideally those search results should look something like this:

1. a list of London-based companies that are actually driving innovation — not just using the word because it sounds hot (though we shouldn’t underestimate the economic value of forward-thinking hair stylists)
2. a London-based innovation centre or initiative, e.g. Southwestern Ontario Centre for Innovation (I made up the name — and by the way, I googled it: there weren’t any London results until the third page) [Correction: maybe the Stiller Centre fits this role... and further correction, so does TechAlliance in a different way... see my next post.]
3. news stories about innovation in London, preferably from recent months and published by London-based sources

Bottom line is that we need more people writing about, blogging and linking to London-related stuff online. For that to happen we need things to write about and link to. Both sides of that equation have to develop together, in tandem.