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Google Merges Search and Google+

admin — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 23:30:44 +0000

This is an excerpt from an article by Lance Olanoff for Mashable

Now we know Google’s master-plan for integrating Google+ ever more deeply into the Google ecosystem: Pour the whole thing into Google search. Starting today, Google+ members, and to a lesser extent others who are signed into Google, will be able to search against both the broader web and their own Google+ social graph. That’s right; Google+ circles, photos, posts and more will be integrated into search in ways other social platforms can only dream about.

Google calls the search update “ “Search plus Your World.” Jack Menzel, product management director of search, explained that now Google+ members will be able to “search across information that is private and only shared to you, not just the public web.”

Google calls this access to “your web.” So instead of all the public information that is already available to everyone searching via Google, so you can see information that you posted into Google’s new social network and on some of Google’s other services like Picasa Web.

Menzel explained that starting today, Google+ results will be blended in with the traditional “authoritative results,” but clearly annotated.

It’s a significant blurring of the line between the web as we know it and the web as you and your Circles of friends know it. Google’s Menzel admits, though, that those “your world” results are only as good as the information in the posts and on the photos. Many people post photos with the original JPEG file names. This will not help in the “plus Your World” search as, says Menzel, Google applies the same ranking standards to social graph data as it does to the rest of the web.

The deep integration of Google+ in search does not stop there, though. Google+ profiles will now be a part of the search query box. As long as you’re signed into Google+, Google will try to finish your search query with the most likely in-your-Circles match. Google, in other words, is assuming that you’re looking for someone you know and not just a random person with the same name. Actually, that could be a good bet.

You’ll also see results for public profiles of those you don’t follow or have in any circles. Naturally, the new Google Search will allow you to add them right from the results page. Similarly, when you search for a topic, Google will helpfully return results with “prominent people” who are experts in that topic. Yes, you can follow them direct from the results, as well.

At every turn, if you’re part of Google+. Google’s new search tools will only pull you further in, ensuring that the still young social engine is top of mind. As Google sees it, you’re getting more relevant results, because this is the information and the people you choose to connect with in the first place.

This is an excerpt. Click here to read the full article on Mashable.com.

Google TV Gets Much Needed Upgrade

admin — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 17:07:26 +0000

By Rik Myslewski for The Republic

Google has announced a major upgrade to a product that has fallen flat on its Googly face: Google TV.

“The initial version of Google TV wasn’t perfect, but launching it gave us the opportunity to learn,” Google’s VP of product management Mario Queiroz and director of engineering Vincent Dureau co-wrote in a blog post on Friday.

“These are still early days,” they added, “and we’re working hard to move forward with each update.” Early, of course, is a debatable term: Google TV was unveiled on March 20, 2010.

But we have no reason to doubt Queiroz and Dureau’s good intentions – at first blush, the update does indeed appear to be an improvement over the fussy UI with which earlier versions were lumbered.

In addition to a cleaner interface, the new version adds access to the Android market. Well, a quite limited selection of apps in the market, at least.

“Initially, the number of apps won’t be large,” Queiroz and Dureau admit, explaining quite reasonably that apps which require a touch screen, GPS, or telephony won’t be available. They do promise, however, that “50 developers have seeded the Market with cool and useful apps for the TV.”

Those would be the developers for whom Google released Google TV templates, guidelines, and a UI library for its Chome–meets-Android Google TV operating system this February.

They also promise that the new interface will make it easier to search “Live TV, Netflix, YouTube, HBO GO, and more,” and that a new browser called, appropriately enough, “TV & Movies”, will let you peruse 80,000 films and TV shows on “cable or satellite, Netflix, Amazon, YouTube, and many other sites.”

What you won’t be able to watch is any web-based content from ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, or Viacom – the first three blocked Google TV access to that content last October, Fox joined the lockout in November, and Viacom followed suit later the same month.

But for the content you can watch, the new UI has new help. You can now, for example, turn “virtually any topic” on YouTube into its own channel.

The upgrade will be rolled out to Sony Internet TVs early next week and Logitech Revue TVs “soon thereafter”.

This is an excerpt from The Republic. Click here to read the full article with images from the new Google TV user interface.

Google Unveils New Try at Social Networking

admin — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 18:07:17 +0000

Online search leader Google Inc. is taking yet another stab at social networking, as it tries to go up against Facebook in this wildly popular and lucrative segment of the internet.

This time the project is called Google+ and it aims to make online sharing more like real life.

“We think people communicate in very rich ways,” said Vic Gundotra, senior vice president of engineering at Google. “The online tools we have to choose from give us very rigid services.”

Other social networking tools make selective sharing within small groups difficult. They don’t allow for the nuances that people are used to in offline communication and because they call so many acquaintances “friends,” said Gundotra in a blog post announcing the service.

Many Facebook users, for instance, find it difficult to limit their status updates to small groups of people so that their coworkers aren’t exposed to party photos or their parents aren’t privy to flirtatious posts on their “wall.” Though Facebook has tried to address this with a much-hyped “Groups” feature, it’s not clear how many people use it.

Gundotra’s criticism seems aimed squarely at Facebook, the world’s largest online social network. Facebook has become synonymous with online sharing since its founding seven years ago.

In a prepared statement, Facebook said only that “we’re in the early days of making the web more social, and there are opportunities for innovation everywhere.”

Excerpt from article on CBC. Read the full article here.

Social Networking Bill Of Rights Released

admin — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 06:00:00 +0000

In the aftermath of much-publicized breaches by heavyweights Google, Facebook, and AT&T, among others, attendees of the annual Computers, Freedom, and Privacy (CFP) conference spent last week creating a Users' Bill of Rights that is now available for public consumption, feedback, and approval.

The 14-point bill is available for comment on Facebook and Twitter. It was adopted unanimously, save for one dissent on data portability, during a vote at the twentieth annual event, held in San Jose, Calif.

Before presenting the 14 points, the elements were circulated for comments, drafted, and redrafted, said Jon Pincus, chief technology officer at Qworky and co-chair of CFP 2010.Facebook, which recently rebutted an open letter seeking further protection of users' personal information, said that although it wants to provide a safe and trusted environment for users, "we don't agree with all of the proposed elements of the Bill of Rights for social-network users."

Read the full 14-point bill on nextMedia-source.

Low hanging fruit – YouTube. Google. Facebook.

Catherine — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 21:42:23 +0000

YouTube. Google. Facebook. All of these channels are seriously underexploited by many entertainment companies, given that there are a number of simple things that content creators can do right now to capitalize on each.

With YouTube it is important that producers don’t just upload content and wait for hits. YouTube provides a number of strategies and tactics to drive traffic to your content; it is baffling that most producers don’t follow these guidelines.

Google ads generate real dollars with targeted advertising; it is amazing how many high traffic sites don’t host Google ads and leave these dollars on the table. In fact, fans right now may be taking your entertainment content and monetizing it themselves with simple Google ads.

In May 2008, Facebook launched Facebook Pages, profile pages created specifically for businesses, musicians, entertainment brands, non-profits and more to promote their initiatives – at no cost. The Pages include advanced functionalities and customization, including a Flash Player application. According to Facebook, “users can add themselves to your Facebook Page as fans, write on your Wall, purchase products, learn about special promotions, upload photos, and join other users in discussion groups. You can send Updates to all your fans whenever you like.”

Not surprisingly, entertainment (music, television, film), sports and politics boast the most significant fan bases on Facebook, according to this blog post by 20bits.

As well, you may wish to promote your content virally on social networks with applications – for tips on how to make this work for you check out an FanTrust blog, Fast Money With Widgets.

And, if you are really ambitious and want your own little piece of technology and some money to finance it, you can also get substantial funding from VC’s that invest in the development of Facebook apps. An upcoming July FanTrust Blog will show you the money.