Hi search engine enthusiasts,

We're excited to provide you with one of the brightest & trendiest examples in which search engines can make or break a product. Yael Elmatad, Lead Data Scientist at GIPHY, will explain how she & her team develop their search engine to remain at the top of the social media frenzy.

Search at GIPHY: Staying on Top of the Zeitgeist

While on the outside GIPHY search may seem like a standard search problem, being on the top of the zeitgeist is an increasingly viral world is a constant challenge. GIPHY has devised ways to make sure our users are getting the most relevant search via models that allow us to exploit known performant content while experimenting with potentially successful content. This model ensures relevant content is surfaced to the end user while still trying to explore the space to ensure that new & exciting content has a chance to propagate up towards the top of the page.

Bio:

Yael Elmatad is the Lead of the Search & Discovery Division at GIPHY. Prior to that she spent 4 years at Tapad (a Marketing Technology company based in NYC, acquired by Telenor in 2016) as a Senior Data Scientist. Yael earned her undergraduate degree in Chemistry from NYU in 2006 & graduated as Valedictorian of the College of Arts & Sciences. She earned her Ph.D. from UC Berkeley in Theoretical Physical Chemistry in 2011 focusing on the statistical physics of supercooled liquids. She then spent 2 years as an Assistant Professor/Faculty fellow in the Center for Soft Matter Research in the Physics Department of NYU where she conducted independent research & taught undergraduate Statistical Physics & Quantum Mechanics.