Posts tagged “google”

Integrating a bad product into a good one doesn't make the bad product good, it just ruins the good one. Microsoft, Yahoo, RealNetworks, and Apple all learned this. If Google bakes Google+ notifications into Chrome instead of fixing the actual product, users will just abandon Chrome.

Check out my mini-review of Google Buzz on Flickr.

The rumored Microsoft/News Corp deal to de-index from Google and go Bing-exclusive is dead on arrival. No single publisher has enough leverage to make users switch search engines, and News Corp especially doesn't. This would be a lose-lose-lose for everyone involved, News Corp most of all.

After a few weeks with Chrome, it's fast and clever but not a game-changer for mainstream users. Its real value is strategic: a shot across browser makers' bows to innovate, and a source of ideas (especially V8) for others to adopt. Good browser, limited adoption ahead.

Google Knol gives its own content unfair PageRank advantages over competitors, which is an abuse of monopoly power. Google has crossed the line from organizing the world's information to stealing traffic from better sources and monetizing the theft. This is evil, plain and simple.

Neither company will "win." Google and Yahoo are like Toyota and Honda, doing essentially the same thing with the same fundamentals. Google executes better on ads right now, but the market values us equally. Competition makes both better. That's good for everyone.

Google's $3.1 billion acquisition of DoubleClick, inventors of the world's most obnoxious advertising, officially ends the "Don't Be Evil" era. It's sad to watch one of capitalism's rare ethical giants finally go the way of all the others. Goodbye, non-evil Google. It was nice knowing you.

CNN's poll shows 49% think YouTube shouldn't be liable at all, but popular opinion didn't save Napster either. Google's acquisition looks naive in hindsight. YouTube's going down the same path, the media companies will get paid, and some new startup will take YouTube's place. Same story, different players.

Yahoo handles eBay's US ads; Google handles everywhere else. Also, I chewed on the right side of my mouth today. Big day all around.

Google Music Trends has the same problem as LaunchCast: it's all aggregate stats with nothing personal for the user. Last.fm succeeds because it gives people personalized charts and recommendations. Without a personal hook, why would anyone sign up, other than to give Google more of their data?

Google launched an IM and VoIP client, but it's basic compared to Trillian and lacks a killer feature until it connects to other networks like MSN and AIM. Worth watching, but for now it's a "wait and see."

I've got 10 Gmail invites to give away. Hit me up if you want one.

I got a GoogleWhack with "luddism exobiology" — though it won't last once Google indexes this post.

Google appears to be hitting fundamental scaling limits, producing bizarre results and workarounds instead of a painful full recode. We've grown dependent on its godlike ability to find anything. What happens to how we use the web if Google simply doesn't scale?

Google knows too much about me. Searching my name with friends' names pulls up surprisingly accurate photos of them. Oddly, Mikey keeps appearing alongside my romantic interests. I also tried "Seldo next" to predict my future entanglements. The results were alarming. Watch out, boys.

Google has indexed my entire site, including blog entries. Amusingly, it will now also index this post about being indexed, creating a hopelessly reflexive loop of links.

Google Groups now archives Usenet posts going back to before I was born, meaning every major event of my entire life is documented in searchable form. It's a fantastically cool digital record of history, even if the discussions themselves are full of clueless people.