Edgenet's Peter Montross and Craig Cervenka are featured in the latest episode of "Edgenet Trends," and they're talking about the demanding world of product data feeds, product data management, and meeting the ever-changing target set by consumers and retailers.

In 2000, no one would have cared too much about how many ounces your travel-size shampoo was. By the end of 2001, laws had changed, and 3.5 ounce bottles were necessary. Does your car have an ipod dock or interface? Some people are making buying decisions based on whether they can play their music while driving.

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.

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 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.

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?

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.

The shift continues.

Take, for example, this article in the Wall Street Journal, which notes shopper research has moved beyond the most expensive items to the daily shopping lists - even groceries.

Whether its food and beverages, baby items, or pet products, consumers are researching first before they buy.

Edgenet Trends is back, and in this episode, Edgenet's Vice President Peter Montross and Product Data Specialist Joel Carstedt share some comedy - and tragedy - of bad data. They also show the rich, quality product data that Ezeedata delivers every day.

For about 20 years, Microsoft has been awarding its MVP- Most Valued Professional - award to those who "freely share their deep knowledge, real-world experience, and impartial, objective feedback to help people enhance the way they use technology."

The Microsoft MVP Awards are given in over ninety technology areas. MVPs reflect Microsoft's global customer base and the breadth of Microsoft's technologies. A significant proportion of new MVPs represent emerging markets in China, Russia, and Korea, as well as smaller markets including Ghana, Nepal, and Kazakhstan.

As we showed you before, Bing is featuring Edgenet's logo on searches that include Edgenet's enriched product data. We crowed about it because it's a tip of the hat from one of the world's leading search engines.

So if we crowed about it before...

Edgenet's Dana Becker

What do trailing white spaces have to do with quality data? Dana Becker knows. The Edge recently performed an email interview with Dana, a product data expert who has risen through the ranks to her position of data manager.

EDGE: Tell everyone who you are and what you do.

DB: My name is Dana Becker. As a Data Manager II, my main responsibility is to work with Edgenet’s partners to define and create data collection processes. I ensure the data sent from Edgenet includes all the needed attributes and meets data quality standards for each recipient.

As a part of the Data Management team, I currently manage accounts such as Google, Bing, eBay, Fastenal, Coburn Supply, and Noble Supply & Logistics. The data manager position requires an understanding of data applications and process development. In addition, analytical and creative problem-solving skills and strong communication skills are necessary.

EDGE: Does each retailer or search engine require different attributes and quality levels? Why? Is there one file type or attribute that practically every retailer or search engine requires?

DB: Every retailer and shopping engine is looking for “good” data – they know that’s what sells products. Most recipients are asking for the same pieces of data… usually just in a slightly different format. In Ezeedata Commerce, we collect the core product information that all retailers need. Our team has also implemented data quality standards related to correctness and completeness.

For example, Product Image, Product Name, and several other marketing attributes will be required for each item. As this data is entered, Edgenet analyzes it to make sure the Product Image is the correct size, the Product Name is in the correct format without spelling errors, etc. The more complete and correct the data is, the higher the data quality score will be.

Each recipient has a minimum data quality level requirement. Certain recipients have extra requirements for information that is specific to their business, and in some cases we help collect those too. These data quality standards give suppliers reassurance, knowing their data is evaluated before it’s sent out to recipients. In addition, retailers and shopping engines can be confident that data they receive from Edgenet is accurate and complete.

EDGE: How important is the Ezeedata score actually? Have you seen retailers or search engines relying on the score or certification as a true indication of good data? Or is the score more important to us internally?

DB: Data quality scoring is a relatively new concept, and we are already seeing it used by many recipients. Some recipients, such as Google and Bing, are actually displaying it online. Others are incorporating data quality scores into supplier performance metrics and vendor scorecards. For Ezeedata Commerce customers, data quality scores give them a way to measure their progress and improvement. They also can use it to see how their scores compares to data from their competition…. great motivation!

EDGE: One objection we hear from suppliers is that their data is fine – that they don’t need any help optimizing or delivering it to an endpoint. If you had to guess, what percentage of supplier data that you’ve seen is fine when you encounter it? Is there a common area that suppliers fail to deliver?

DB: Well, the data probably does seem fine to the supplier. But let’s be realistic.. with manual data entry, there is always room for error.

How often do you check for trailing white spaces at the end of a word or sentence? Sure, if you’re entering and reviewing data for one item you might catch a mistake like that… but what happens when you are looking at hundreds or thousands of items? With our system’s quality checks, we find these types of issues that can easily be missed.

Small inconsistencies, like the one listed above, can prevent customers from finding products online. Retailers need certain pieces of data to be normalized for search capabilities on their websites. Retailers want customers to be able to filter product results based on product type, color, size, brand, etc. so they are more likely to find what they’re looking for to make a purchase.

For example, if a customer filters on products that are “Red” and your product is listed as “Bright Red,” it may not show up in their results… and you may have just missed a chance at a sale. Most of the supplier data I’ve seen has room for improvement and some sort of data quality issues.

Suppliers who use Edgenet’s Supplier Portal will have better data because we guide them through each attribute with specific instructions and notify them of any issues.

EDGE: Is there a funniest/craziest data story you’ve seen through all the years and different partners you’ve worked with?

DB: The craziest data issue I’ve seen is a company spelled their Brand Name wrong for all of their products. Easy mistake to make… but it’s a big one!

We're proud to present episode 1 of our podcast, "Edgenet Trends." This episode, hosted by Edgenet's Peter Montross, focuses on Edgenet's Ezeedata Search, it's premium solution that collects, perfects and then delivers your product data directly to Edgenet's partners, Google and Bing.

Peter is joined by Edgenet's SEO expert Britney Helm, who shares her insights into why Ezeedata Search is a game-changer.