Author Archives: Eric Silver

The Best Christmas Gifts for New Moms

Posted on December 1, 2011 by Eric Silver

Do you need to be a gift for a new or expectant mother in your life, but all this baby stuff has you stumped? No prob, Bob. We’ve got everything you need to pick the the perfect present right here. … Continue reading →

Posted in Best Gifts, Christmas | Leave a comment

The Problem with User Ratings, Part 2: Astroturfing

Posted on November 30, 2011 by Eric Silver

77% of online shoppers use user reviews and ratings while making purchases online. This means that companies increasingly rely on positive online user reviews to make money. Enter, astroturfing. “Astroturfing” is a play on the idea of a grassroots movement. … Continue reading →

Posted in Astroturfing, User Ratings | Leave a comment

The Best Christmas Gifts for Men

Posted on November 29, 2011 by Eric Silver

  Christmas shopping for the men in your life can be tricky.  That’s why we thought we’d put together a list of gift ideas for all the different men in your life.  If you need a little extra help shopping, … Continue reading →

Posted in Best Gifts, Christmas | Tagged | 3 Comments

Think you aren’t affected by marketing? Think again.

Posted on November 8, 2011 by Eric Silver

From Facebook to billboards to bathroom stalls, advertisements are everywhere. It’s no secret that we are being marketed to almost constantly from the time we wake up until the time we go to sleep. In fact, Media Matters estimated in … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment

What Kind of Chicken is in Your Pot?

Posted on October 31, 2011 by Eric Silver

“A chicken in every pot and a car in every garage” is a phrase that was made famous by President Herbert Hoover during his 1928 election campaign.  At the time the country was still riding high on the crest of … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

The Problem with User Ratings, Part 1

Posted on October 19, 2011 by Eric Silver

77% of online shoppers use reviews and ratings when making purchases online. A user rating is just one person’s opinion about a product and all too often that person is actually the manufacturer itself. So why do we rely so … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized, User Ratings | 1 Comment

How Do We Judge Our Own Decisions?

Posted on September 26, 2011 by Eric Silver

We all like to think we are logical thinkers making decisions based on the best available evidence. But do our decisions come from our heads, or from our gut? For a decision-making company like Pikimal, this question strikes at the … Continue reading →

Posted in The Pikimal Mission | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Google, Quora, and all your friends keep giving me bad advice.

Posted on June 15, 2011 by Eric Silver

Why crowd-based solutions reflect marketing spend more than inherent quality: Looking at a page of Google search results, it’s understandable to assume that the results that don’t say, “paid” aren’t there because someone spent money. Unfortunately, it’s just not true. … Continue reading →

Posted in Pikimal | Leave a comment

Data-Driven Decision Making: The Google Breaker

Posted on May 18, 2011 by Eric Silver

When Google displaced Altavista and Yahoo! over a decade ago it seemed like we’d been rescued from bad search.  Google’s PageRank algorithm – and page design – pushed away the clutter of Altavista while their deep indexing beat out Yahoo!’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Corporate Criticism, Pikimal, The Pikimal Mission | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Eric Silver, On Being a Pittsburgh Startup

Posted on May 11, 2011 by Eric Silver

When people talk about good places to start a fledgling company, not many think of Pittsburgh. It still suffers from an “old world” feel – at the junction of three rivers, Pittsburgh was a place for industry, unionization, Pinkertons, coal, … Continue reading →

Posted in Pikimal, Pikimal Updates, Special Interest | Leave a comment