What's New in Amazon CloudSearch

Presentations from the April 3 CloudSearch Meetup Now Available

Couldn't make it to the CloudSearch Meetup? See what Snapguide and EDU 2.0 had to say about using Amazon CloudSearch:

Also, check out the presentations from the Amazon CloudSearch solutions architects:

Amazon CloudSearch is Now Available in Three Additional Regions Worldwide

We are excited to announce that Amazon CloudSearch is now available in the the US West (Oregon), US West (N. California), and Asia Pacific (Singapore) Regions. These new Regions join the US East (Northern Virginia) Region, and the recently added EU (Ireland) Region.

Amazon CloudSearch is a fully-managed search service in the cloud that allows customers to easily integrate fast and highly scalable search functionality into their applications. With a few clicks in the AWS Management Console, developers simply create a search domain, upload the data they want to make searchable to Amazon CloudSearch, and the service then automatically provisions the technology resources required and deploys a highly tuned search index.

Getting started with Amazon CloudSearch is easy with our free trial program. To learn more, see the Amazon CloudSearch Page.

Relevance Webinar Recording Now Available: Get The Most From Your Search Results with Amazon CloudSearch

This webinar describes how to deliver better and more relevant results for your search applications using Amazon CloudSearch.

Topics covered include:

  • Tuning and debugging search results using matching, filtering, ranking, and sorting
  • Using facets to create a better user experience
  • Personalizing search results by tailoring ranking for each search request
  • Using relative field weighting to boost results
  • Leveraging the new CloudSearch side-by-side visual rank comparison feature

You will see how Amazon CloudSearch can help you rapidly iterate and test changes for your search results - without having to rebuild your index.

To view the webinar please go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAr-9swjlcU.

Amazon CloudSearch Adds Analytics and Rank Comparison Features

Amazon CloudSearch users can now take advantage of two new features to manage their search applications.

The Amazon CloudSearch rank comparison feature provides a new way to visually compare changes to rank expressions. Developers can quickly see how different rank expressions and field weights impact the sorting of search results in side-by-side windows. Field weights can be adjusted by using slider bars. Fast A/B testing and rapid iteration of rank expressions are enabled, without rebuilding the index. To learn more about comparing rank expressions watch this video.

The Amazon CloudSearch analytics reports provide insight into search effectiveness and user behavior. Metrics data can be tracked for each search domain including:

  • Total Searches—the total number of searches
  • Searches with No Results—the number of searches for which no matching documents were found
  • Top Searches—the most frequent searches
  • Frequent Searches without Results—the most frequent searches for which no matching documents were found
  • Top Documents—the documents that were most frequently returned in search results

Analytics reports can be viewed through the Amazon CloudSearch console and downloaded in CSV format for specific date ranges.

These features are available immediately. For more information, see Comparing Rank Expressions and Viewing Search Metrics in the Amazon CloudSearch Developer Guide.

Amazon CloudSearch Announces Free Trial Program and a Price Reduction

For a limited time, AWS is offering a free trial program for Amazon CloudSearch that enables new users to set up fully-functional search domains that they can use for up to 30 days at no charge. The Amazon CloudSearch free trial program can be used to develop and test new search applications, migrate existing applications, or simply gain hands-on experience with Amazon CloudSearch. The free trial is available in the US East (N. Virginia) Region to users worldwide. Participation in the trial program requires an AWS account with a valid credit card.

Along with the introduction of the free trial program, we are announcing a reduction in search instance pricing in the US East (N. Virginia) Region. The new pricing reflects a savings of 17-19%, with small search instances available for $0.10/hour. The new pricing is effective November 1.

Some restrictions apply. For more details and information about the trial program and how to participate, see Amazon CloudSearch Free Trial. For pricing details and to learn more about Amazon CloudSearch, see the Amazon CloudSearch Overview.

Amazon CloudSearch Adds Features for Tuning Result Ranking

Amazon CloudSearch users can now use field weighting and query time rank expressions to fine-tune their search results. Field weighting prioritizes results from certain fields to improve document ranking. For example, if you are selling books on your site, you could have matches to the title field score higher than matches in other fields. That way, searches for “Harry Potter” will rank the Harry Potter books higher than a book that happens to have a reference to “Harry Potter” in the description. Query time rank expressions enable you to personalize search results by customizing ranking for each search request. As an example you could rank camping books higher for a customer that you know has an interest in camping. You can also use query time rank expressions to rapidly iterate and test changes in how you rank search results for all users without having to rebuild your index.

These features are available immediately. For more information, see Using Field Weighting to Customize Text Relevance and Defining Rank Expressions in Search Requests in the Amazon CloudSearch Developer Guide.

Building Better Search for Wikipedia Using Amazon CloudSeach Webinar (Recording and Slides Now Available)

In this webinar Paul Nelson, CTO and search guru at Search Technologies, reveals how he improved search capabilities for Wikipedia using Amazon CloudSearch. By watching this webinar you will learn about the steps that Paul took for data acquisition and clean-up, indexing, handling queries, relevance ranking, and building the search user interface. See how Wikipedia search can now deliver a richer experience that includes faceted navigation, better and more relevant results, and an improved user interface.

The webinar recording is now available on YouTube and you can download the slides from SlideShare.

Guide to Configuring Index Fields for Amazon CloudSearch Domains

A search domain's index fields control how document data in Search Data Format (SDF) is handled during indexing and how you will be able to search and use the data once your index is built. This document will help you understand how the index field configuration impacts index size and the cost of your Amazon CloudSearch domain. It describes how to decide what index field types to use, how the document data is mapped to the index fields, and how you can configure fields to support faceting and return data in the search results.

View Now

Bay Area CloudSearch Meetup Group

If you are in the Bay Area and interested in Amazon CloudSearch please join the new Amazon CloudSearch Meetup group. This group will meet occasionally to discuss the use of Amazon CloudSearch for the development and deployment of search applications.

Join Now

Guide to Formatting Your Data in SDF

This guide describes how to structure your data for Amazon CloudSearch, describe it in Search Data Format (SDF), and validate the SDF before uploading it to your search domain. Find out more about sending documents to Amazon CloudSearch, generating SDF automatically, and get SDF troubleshooting tips.

View Now

Guide to Using Elastic IPs to Manage Access to Amazon CloudSearch Domains

This guide describes how to use elastic IPs to manage access to your document and search endpoints from EC2.

View Now

©2013, Amazon Web Services, Inc. or its affiliates. All rights reserved.