A CNBC producer called me today to schedule an interview on how to fix Yahoo!

It’s actually quite simple.

It comes down to search performance and changing consumer perceptions.

I argued with a colleague of mine about the quality of Yahoo! search. He said it was fine. I said it was sub-par and meta descriptions are not updated in months.

He is a search afficionado.

I would like to call myself one, but I’ll just call myself an above-intelligent search engine user…probably more like the average consumer (from Lake Wobegone).

Our dispute was not resolved, but one thing was clear…consumer perceptions of Yahoo’s search have not changed.

Consumers are creatures of habit, and perceptions are slow to change.

Very similar in the automotive industry.

US automotive build quality is not quite at the Japanese level, but it’s actually very close if you talk to experts in the field.

Poll consumers on US auto quality vs. Japanese, and perceptions haven’t moved much.

Enter J.D. Power with short-term and long-term quality ratings.

Enter the IHHS safety ratings.

Now we have independent metrics to say who’s got a better quality car and who’s got a safer car.

Yes there are quibblings about how the studies are done, but the data are there.

What Yahoo! (or for that matter any of the upstart search engines like hakia.com or Ask.com) needs to do is prove that their search is better.

Leave it to J.D. Power…let them charge Yahoo a fortune for the data.

And prove, once and for all, that whether it’s Yahoo, Google, LiveSearch from MSN, hakia, Ask, or even the long forgotten Lycos…the better search engine can be measured objectively by a broad, statistically significant panel using double-blind survey methodologies.

Fix search performance. Change consumer perceptions with a J.D. Power style survey.

That, is how you fix Yahoo (or any search engine looking to gain ground).

Mark Hughes is a professional speaker, consultant, and author of the book Buzzmarketing: Get People to Talk About Your Stuff (Penguin/Portfolio).

Technorati Tags: buzz, buzz+marketing, brand, innovation, yahoo, marketing,buzzmarketing,terry+semel

As I watched the Democratic and Republican debates live on CNN, I also had my laptop open and tuned to CNN.com’s live streaming video of the same debates.

Why on earth would I do that?

Someone over at CNN and CNN Pipeline had a great idea…let’s put the tool that political pollsters, researchers, and strategists like Frank Luntz use and put that online.

It’s called the dial-meter where a group of people watching the debate turn their dial positive or turn their dial negative based on their impression of what a candidate is saying.

As candidates speak, you get to see real-time positive or negative feedback from the wisdom of crowds vs. single pundits.

CNN got a two-for-one with me…double the amount of media impressions for one viewer.

Therefore, theoretically, double the amount of advertising revenue for CNN.

Perhaps the smartest use of two media platforms in one media event ever.

Someone at CNN is getting the new media world (at least on the political side).

Provide content which one medium can’t deliver, and put it on another medium…then promote.

I was hooked.

Live, you could see for yourself how people reacted to Hillary (quite well actually).

You could see that McCain needED to step up his game, and abandon his current stance on immigration.

You could also see the swing vote for “Reagan Democrats” will be won over on one issue apart from Iraq…the environment.

Data is a wonderful thing. I’m now glued to the dial-meter technology offered by CNN.com for every upcoming debate.

Somebody at CNN.com knew what they were doing, and its fresh to see.

Mark Hughes is a professional speaker, consultant, and author of the book Buzzmarketing: Get People to Talk About Your Stuff (Penguin/Portfolio).

Technorati Tags: buzz, buzz+marketing, brand, innovation, motorola, marketing,buzzmarketing,political+debates