Klout integrates Bing search prevalence - Warren Buffett gets excited

Do you stay awake at night dreaming of Klout scores and that you will one day have the impossible “100” rating? If so, you really need to talk to someone – Klout shouldn’t be dragging you down like a bad seafood dish. The good news for you Klout addicts is that the company is now introducing Bing search prevalence into your scores.

Last fall the company announced a partnership with Microsoft’s Bing team and now, Klout’s new search engine based scoring is ready. The number of times someone searches for you on Bing will contribute directly to your Klout score; increasing it if you are loved and not doing a thing if you aren’t.

The people at Klout had this to say about why the new Bing integration is so important:

“Consider someone like Warren Buffett. Obviously Warren has tremendous real world Klout, but he isn’t particularly active on social media, with only three Tweets to his name. His relative influence can be challenging to measure with just the available online data.”

In essence Klout’s new Microsoft Bing integration is in place to help rate the influence of those who aren’t necessarily active on social media networks like Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+, or Twitter.

For those who aren’t necessarily clear about what Klout is and how it is useful – let me explain. Klout uses multiple services to determine how “influential” you are. The service scans your posts on these services and uses a formula that includes the “ratio of reactions you generate compared to the amount of content you share” and “factors such as how selective the people who interact with your content are.”

Klout scores can be useful at times to see your reach, but questions have arisen about the exact formula that powers the service. Just like the Colonel Sander's fried chicken recipe – we will never know those secret herbs and spices that make the gears of Klout turn.

If you have never seen Klout before you can check the site out by clicking here.

Do you use Klout – what do you think about the service?

Source: The Offical Klout Blog

Michael Archambault
17 Comments
  • I though Buffet actually commented on this.
  • Cornel Sanders? I think you mean Colonel Sanders.
  • I obviously have to go to KFC more. Fixed, thanks! :)
  • No, KFC is too expensive.. Skip that.. Anyways, what about an official Klout app?
  • The idea of Klout.com is solid - finding a way to measure an individuals impact. But I'm not sure the way they're doing it works. Or maybe I'm just bitter that I've been a '64' on Klout for a long time.
  • Firstly, I am not Knocking you Sam, or anyone else that uses this "service", but I just don't get it. I have never heard of it before. I went on the link, and read their blurb, but seem to be missing the point. This appears and to be something that scours the web for things you have done or posted or whatever, then attaches a value to the various information transactions. This is then used to establish your influence rating. Like that Metacritic, but different. Am I getting it? And I really am not trying to pick a fight or offend anyone.
  • "...finding a way to measure an individuals impact." --> "...finding a way to measure an individual's online impact."
    It is important to keep recognizing that measurements of social media interaction are just exactly that...measures of those who participate in that particular method of achieving impact. This fact smacks you in the face as soon as you try to access Klout.com and they make it clear via their sign-in mechanism that if you don't have a Facebook or Twitter account you just don't really exist.
  • I'm afraid that if I join, Klout's servers will just melt.
  • They would melt, by trying too hard to find anything about you hahaha!
  • Klout is a media trap. I don't have an account. Neither should you.
  • The official windows phone 8 version is not working. No data. ??
  • Sigh, something tells me Klout is going to be the new 'IT' word like swag or whatever kids are saying now.
  • What's the Klout score of Klout?
  • 87
  • Well, not that Bing is cozy (or should I say Kozy) with Klout, mabye they can get them to make a Windows Phone app.  They have an iPhone official app.  The unofficial 3rd party WP apps are all broken, which makes me think that Klout blocked them. I'm not gonna lie, I've gotten some good stuff from Kout:
    * a long weekend test drive of the Chevy Volt
    * Cocktail hour and screening of a film before it released (Sponsored by GM)
    * Sony X Headphones
    * Chili's certiticates
    * Shaving kit from Dollar Shave Club
    * 2 bottles of Vita Frute cocktails from VEEV
    * A SAMSUNG FOCUS Windows Phone (I already had one, but used it to recruit another WinPhan) I also got a VIP ticket to Windows Phone 7.5 launch and played with those devices before they were available for purchase. There's more, but these are sticking out in my mind.  Klout is more than just a vanity number, they are leveraging the social capital with brands in a similar (and much smaller) way that brands attach themselves to actors, musicians and athletes.  
  • I'm actually pretty excited to see this new integration. I'm a fairly regular user of the service (mostly because it simply amuses/informs me), though I'm not a high-roller by any means (mid-40s). Hoping the Bing tie-ins give me a little boost, haha. Also [shameless plug], for those interested, I'm also the dev behind the leading Klout app in the Windows 8 store. Would love to hear how WPCentral-ers think I could push it further. :)
  • My klout score is 56 with twitter & instagram alone