It's likely you've heard about the shift in both Google and Bing's algorithm which rewards fresh content in organic search. But you might not have realized that the search engines prize freshness - perhaps to an even higher level - within product search.

It makes sense, doesn't it? You don't want shoppers showing up at your stores looking for merchandise that is outdated at prices that are no longer in effect (as described in this interview Edgenet's Craig Cervenka performed earlier this year with Robert Hintz,  a Powersports Dealer).

We at Edgenet continue to hear from manufacturers and suppliers who are certain they know who is shopping for their products, and therefore these manufacturers and suppliers KNOW what product details their shoppers want and need.

You sure about that?

We'd like to present Exhibit A: The Cave People.

The LA Times reports that millions of people in China live in caves. They like it there. Some of the caves have running water, electricity.

What product details are valuable to Chinese cave people?

We'll give you a moment to think about it.

Congratulations to a titan of the Edgenet Network, Sears Holdings Corporation, whose stock has posted gains of over 128% in 2012. It looks like partnering with Edgenet for product data isn't the only sound business decision they've made recently.

Edgenet has recently inked a partnership with 50 Below, THE premiere internet business solutions provider which has been providing web-based solutions for thousands of clients. The Edge recently had a chance to talk to Edgenet's Craig Cervenka about the impact this deal will have.

EDGE: How important is the partnership that has been forged between 50 below and Edgenet?

CC: The 50 Below – Edgenet partnership is extremely important as it is a catalyst for one of the most significant technological developments I’ve seen since retailer web sites became commonplace over a decade ago.

We at The Edge want to call attention to yet ANOTHER Microsoft MVP in our midst besides this guy and this guy - Damon Payne. Damon's MVP was awarded because of his excellence in the area of Client App Development. When he's not being awesome at Edgenet, Damon is asked to speak at events all across the country.

A recent article in the Financial Times of London speaks to just how much the world has changed for retailers. Neiman Marcus, the American luxury retailer, tried to expand into China.

Trouble is - it's really expensive to expand into China. Experts studied China's environment and announced that at an ESTABLISHED retailer in China, it would cost 27,000 to list a new product.

Perfection Spring & Stamping Corp, a family-owned manufacturer of metal stampings, extension springs and wire forms, is a great example of a company that has only just begun to scratch the surface of what the internet can do.

At one point, Perfection employed 18 agencies to sell its parts. They've since eliminated many of those agencies, and have begun to embrace the power of internet search.

A recent study by ClickIQ demonstrates how badly consumers want product information while shopping. ClickIQ polled consumer panel members who used their phone or mobile device to research products while shopping. 61% said they used the internet to research a particular product, far and away the most popular activity.

Common misconception: stores that offers a product online (in other words, any store) sell products.

WRONG.

We have proof: go online to your favorite online store. We can wait.

Got it? Now, choose a product you're interested in. And then, reach into the screen and pick it up. If it's shoes, put them on. If it's a chrome-handled jumprope, skip it a few times.

We're certain that unless you're Willy Wonka, none of you could handle the request made above. That's because your favorite store isn't selling a product. It's selling product details. If you like the details, you'll give the stores money, and then they'll mail you a product.

So how are your product details? Are they good enough for sale? Are they as complete and well-tested as your product?

At Edgenet, we routinely encounter businesses that spend more time concerned about their product's packaging than their product data. Even though they're selling their product data every second of every day.

Congratulations to a partner primed for domination: AutoZone, the largest U.S. auto-parts retailer and a member of the Edgenet network, has reported that its second-quarter profits rose 13%.

"This marks the thirteenth consecutive quarter of 20% plus growth in earnings per share and our twenty second consecutive quarter of double digit growth," said AutoZone Chairman and Chief Executive Bill Rhodes.

While we at Edgenet can't lay claim to AutoZone's unbelievable growth, we do proudly value their partnership which provides them with the best product data in the world.

Looks like AutoZone's made quite a few great choices. Have you?

More and more shoppers are naming local search results to be key influencers in their buying decision. Google and Bing see the power of local search, and have begun to align themselves and their data to provide current, relevant local search results.

For retailers, the rise of local search is both a potential gold mine - and a new pain in the neck. The trouble for the retailer is just how much information is required - retailers have to supply search engines with three separate feeds of product information in order to be a true player in local search.

Until now. 50 Below, the massive web and e-commerce solution provider, has joined forces with Edgenet so that all retailers have to do is sign up. Once a client with 50 Below, Edgenet will do what it does with product data: collect, improve, and then deliver it to Google and Bing; and 50 Below will do what it does, make professional, user-driven websites all while delivering their own feeds of information to the world's largest search engines.

Voila. The product feeds are all handled by someone else - and in this case, the someone else is the two best someone elses at what they do in the world.

Now, suppliers can deliver their product data directly to 50 Below websites and solutions and Google and Bing FOR FREE. Ponder that a bit.

Ok, stop pondering and get going. Time to step into the future of retail. With this deal, it's waiting for you.

Edgenet's Craig Cervenka, a long-time thought leader in the powersports industry, will present a workship on e-commerce through the 2012 Dealer Expo in Indianapolis.

Cervenka Cervenka will call on his industry insight and intimate knowledge of product content in his presentation, “Navigating The World of E-Commerce.” The presentation is scheduled on Friday, February 17, at 3:15; Saturday, February 18, at 12:00; and Sunday, February 19, at 11 AM.

Edgenet welcomes Dealer Expo attendees to meet Craig at booth 5169 and learn find out how Edgenet's latest partner and its leading-edge technology are changing powersports.

Product data has always been a part of retail, but today's information-hungry culture has created shoppers who will not make a purchase without first reviewing the product data they need.

That's a statement we've made at Edgenet over and over through the years. For those just discovering the power of rich, complete product data, it might sound like we've added a little hyperbole to increase Edgenet's importance.

Our response? Point to the incredibly powerful and influential suppliers and retailers who are part of our network. We can talk all we want. Our partnerships probably make our point a lot better.

No one doubts the geniuses at Google. Well, Google has partnered with us to deliver them our one-of-a-kind optimized product data. Microsoft's Bing is no slouch. We have partnership with them, too.

Fastenal's sales increased 22 % last year. Think they know what they're doing? We do. They're in our network. This last quarter, AutoZone marked its 12th consecutive quarter of 20 percent growth in earnings per share and our 21st consecutive quarter of double-digit growth.

Fastenal, eBay, Zoostores.com, AutoZone, Sears Holding Corporation. All massive, influential retailers who have partnered with us to receive our data - and the list of iconic, business-savvy members in the Edgenet Network goes on and on.

We're confident in our technology, our experience and our product. But if you're looking for a testimonial, consider our partners. We must be on to something.

The mighty, always-informative Internet Retailer reports that more and more e-tailers are improving their websites to accomodate shopper research. A study conducted by the site showed that more retailers are allowing shoppers to use advanced search, as 39% of retailers now have this feature, compared with 21% in 2010.

So, when shoppers search these sites for your products....what will they find?

It's just another example of a member of the mighty Edgenet Network exceeding expectations: Masterlock, one of Edgenet's partners for data services, was mentioned by President Obama in his 2012 State of the Union address.

Masterlock is receiving high praise for bringing hundreds of jobs back to the United States from China.

“We are honored to be mentioned by the President in such a traditional and time-honored event as the State of the Union address,” Heppner said. “As an American manufacturing company in business for approximately 90 years, we are proud to participate in the trend of ‘insourcing’ jobs back to the U.S.”

Edgenet is proud to partner with Masterlock and applauds the acclaim they're receiving.

Many analysts have begun to throw their opinions in on Google's latest earnings miss - specifically the slowing in the search giant's core business (from 33% to 25% in Q4). This article in Business Insider theorizes that mobile search is far less profitable than standard search, and indicates that Amazon's rise might be taking a huge bite out of Google's success.

If Edgenet's success rode on organic search and Google's ability to rule the internet, Q4 of 2011 would have delivered us some sobering news.

Mashable one of world's hottest websites for news, has just published an article entitled "Seven Startups That Live Or Die By Search." Here at The Edge, we're all about reading things so you don't have to - so allow us to give you the takeaways from the Mashable article:

1. Search Isn't Just Google - It might actually use Google's search engine, but

We explained in an earlier post - for Edgenet's other other Microsoft MVP - that the Microsoft MVP award is globally prestigious award that is earned by true leaders. Microsoft's website puts it this way: "Of more than 100 million users who participate in technology communities, around 4,000 are recognized as Microsoft MVPs."

So what are the odds that Edgenet would have two Microsoft MVP's on their staff? Pretty good, if you know Edgenet. The minds here are that good.

Edgenet has attracted so many enormous, credible, successful partners because it offers a one-of-a-kind technology from a staff of some of the best minds in the world. Cory is one of those talents. Here's a brief email interview with Cory.

EDGE: Who are you, what’s your title and how long have you been with Edgenet?

CP: My name is Cory Payne, Director of Product Management and User Experience at Edgenet, and I’ve been here for almost 4 years.

EDGE: Edgenet has developed a really unique solution in Ezeedata – something that has attracted some of the world’s most powerful and influential companies in technology today.What makes Ezeedata so unique? Why couldn’t a company like Google just make a product like Ezeedata on its own?

CP: Edgenet’s Ezeedata services are built on decades of experience with rich product data. We know what sells and what doesn’t.

This experience has allowed Edgenet to create an app that assists customers in creating and enhancing product content to the highest standards in the world. It also allows us to reduce the amount of manual data entry required by the customer; you’d be surprised how much data we can fill in just by providing a picture of your product!

I live and breathe this stuff every day, so trust me, Edgenet is the Gold standard in product data quality.