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Gmail’s Mysterious Grey Box
There’s a small grey box rendered in an iFrame in the top left hand corner of Gmail, and TechCrunchIT is trying to figure out what it is. The icon is a ten by ten pixel graphic with a diagonal line across it, with one half in black and the other in gray. It isn’t an inline image, as you can not highlite it or select it in your browser, nor right-click on it. There is also no reference to the image within the style sheet for Gmail.
So what is it? Since it’s being rendered in an iFrame it’s difficult to say. We’ve been emailing back and forth with Google since Wednesday but so far they haven’t said what it is. What’s your best conspiracy theory? The most elaborate/entertaining or most accurate comment (on TechCrunchIT) gets a free TechCrunch Tshirt.
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Follow Animal Migrations On Google Earth
Google Earth is turning out to be a great resource for scientists to visualize and communicate the phenomena they study. You can see the migration patterns of endangered and other threatened animals, based on data collected by the Commission for Environmental Cooperation. (The image above shows the range of both the Northern spotted owl and the Mexican spotted owl).
Anybody can take geographical data and turn it into a layer on Google Earth. Scientists are doing this in droves. You can also track storms, the paths of solar eclipses, volcano activity, arctic ice melting, bird flu mutations and biomaps of emotional stress levels in different cities (see this Popular Science article for more info).
Since these are all KML files, they could be made into layers on the regular Google Maps as well. Although they wouldn’t look as cool, more people would see them.
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Google, You Can Eat My Cookies Anytime
Google has just released a lengthy blog post to announce that it has finally put its privacy policy on its homepage. The search giant has been repeatedly questioned over the last few months over its lack of a readily available privacy policy, which until now has been buried in the “About Google” section of the site. The explanation has always been vague (and ridiculous), with Google repeatedly appealing to its desire to keep the home page as pristine as possible.
Google hasn’t said why it finally gave in, but it’s likely that it has been facing pressure from the government to make the privacy policy more available - a post by Saul Hansell points out that the lack of a visible policy may have actually been illegal under California law.
The announcement was accompanied by a lighthearted description of Google’s “homepage weight” - the number of words visible on the page at one time. Apparently the magic number is 28 words, and the company was forced to drop a word from its copyright disclaimer in order to make room for the new link.
It’s an interesting little story, but the tone of it is sort of strange. Privacy is a big deal at Google, so why the levity? We’ve had some recent concerns over where Google is getting its website usage data from, nevermind the fact that it may soon hand over all YouTube user data by court order. It would be nice if they were a little more forthcoming, even if it’s at the cost of a whimsical story.
Despite these concerns, we should give Google some credit for a hosting a pretty comprehensive privacy portal (even if it was difficult to find before). Here’s their captivating introduction to cookies:
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Department of Civil Disobedience: Google Should Deliver Its YouTube Data to Viacom in Paper Form
The recent court order directing Google to hand over data to Viacom about every YouTube video ever watched strikes many people as an absurd overreach of the law into the privacy of anyone who has ever used YouTube (i.e., almost everyone on the Internet). Google should definitely keep fighting the ruling if it can.
But if it can’t, perhaps it should comply with it in a creative way. The data in question are data logs containing the records of every video watched on YouTube, by whom, and at what times. The court is also ordering that Google hand over all videos that have ever been taken down for any reason. The logs alone take up 12 terabytes. Google should print them out and deliver them on paper.
It would literally fill up the Library of Congress. That is roughly the equivalent of all the printed books in the Library of Congress (by one estimate, others put it at 20 terabytes—either way, it’s a lot of paper). The court order never states what form, the data must be delivered in.
(Photo via, appropriately enough, the Library of Congress And hat tip to reader Paul Christiansen for the original suggestion).
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ratproxy - Google Code
Judge Protects YouTube’s Source Code, Throws Users To The Wolves
The ongoing Google/YouTube-Viacom litigation has now officially spilled over to users with a court order requiring Google to turn over massive amounts of user data to Viacom. If the data is actually released, the consequences could be far more serious than the 2006 AOL Search debacle.
Louis L. Stanton, the senior judge on the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, issued the opinion and order, which is here (PDF).
That data includes every YouTube username, the associated IP address and the videos that user has watched on YouTube. Google will also be required to hand over copies of every video removed from Youtube for any reason (DMCA notices or user-initiated deletions). Stanton dismissed Google’s argument that the order will violate user privacy, saying such privacy concerns are merely “speculative.”
Meanwhile, the judge denied Viacom’s request that Google turn over YouTube’s source code as it could “cause catastrophic competitive harm to Google by sharing them with others who might create their own programs without making the same investment.”
I can understand why Judge Stanton, who graduated from law school in 1955, may be completely and utterly clueless when it comes to online video services. But perhaps one of his bright young clerks or interns could have told him that (1) handing over user names and a list of videos they’ve watched to a highly litigious copyright holder is extremely likely to result in lawsuits against those users that have watched copyrighted content on YouTube, and (2) YouTube’s source code is about as valuable as the hard drive it would be delivered on, since the core Flash technology is owned by Adobe and there are countless YouTube clones out there, most of which offer higher quality video.
YouTube’s core value is in it’s network effect - the library of content along with its massive user base.
The privacy fallout of this ruling is spectacular. The EFF has already chimed in, noting that the order is highly likely to be in violation of federal law.
Judge Stanton doesn’t seem to care much about that law, for now. And he clearly doesn’t understand that far more data is being transferred than is necessary to comply with Viacom’s core stated concern, which is to understand the popularity of copyright infringing v. non-infringing material. Viacom has asked for far more data than that, and there’s only one use for that data: to sue individual users (or shake them down via the threat of lawsuit, which has been perfected by the RIAA) who have watched a few music videos or television shows on YouTube.
I say this with the utmost respect, but Judge Stanton is a moron. And Google simply cannot hand this data over without facing a class action lawsuit of staggering proportions.
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Once Nearly Invisible To Search Engines, Flash Files Can Now Be Found And Indexed
For most people on the Web, if Google or Yahoo cannot find something, it doesn’t exist. That has been one of the biggest drawbacks to creating a Website or application that displays itself as a Flash (SWF) file. Search engines could see the file, but they could not see what was in it. Until now.
Adobe has come up with a way for the search engines to read SWF files and index all of the information they contain. That means any text or links in a Flash application can now be indexed. This is a huge step forward for Adobe and anyone who develops in Flash/Flex. Michele Turner, Adobe’s VP of marketing for its platform business, explains:
We are releasing technology to Google and Yahoo that enables them to crawl and index SWF files. They are now searchable. This will open up millions of Flash files to search.
Adobe has created a special Flash player for the search engines that acts like a virtual user going through each application. It actually goes through the runtime of each Flash application and translates it into something the search engines can understand. So all of those fancy interactive Flash Websites and other rich Internet applications that have been invisible to search engines, can now be seen by them.
Turner acknowledges that this invisibility so far “has been a big problem for those developing rich applications.” After all, it doesn’t matter how pretty your Website is if nobody can find it. Flash applications and Websites (many ironically created by ad agencies) have not been able to take advantage of any of the search-engine juice that so many online ad campaigns depend upon. This should be seen as part of Adobe’s larger efforts to remove any remaining restrictions associated with Flash (in April, for instance, it opened up the Flash runtime as part of its the Open Screen Project).
Google is already rolling out the SWF-indexing technology, while Yahoo still “has some work to do,” says Turner. Even so, this won’t solve all the problems with Flash content showing up on search engines.
Becoming visible is one thing, actually ranking highly is another. Google currently can find about 73 million Flash files on the Web. But until Adobe makes it easy for the average Webmaster or blogger to link deeply into those Flash files, they are not likely to appear at the top of many search results.
Update: More info from Adobe here and Google here.
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Google Launches Affiliate Advertising Network, Courtesy of DoubleClick
Amazon, watch out. Earlier today, Google launched an affiliate ad network. Or, rather, it rebranded Performics, the affiliate ad network that came along with its purchase of DoubleClick, as the “Google Affiliate Network.” As with other affiliate networks such as Amazon’s, participating Website publishers get paid a fee for each referral that results in a sale. Existing advertisers include Bank of America, Barnes & Noble, Citi, Target, and Verizon.
The service isn’t yet integrated into Google AdSense (publishers and advertisers still have to set up separate accounts), but that would be a logical next step. An integration with AdSense could add a contextual element to the affiliate ads placed through the network. The more relevant Google can make those affiliate links, the more that consumers will actually click through and buy (in theory).
Google also continues to experiment with a pay-per-action advertising program, which is still in beta. At some point, it might make sense to consolidate that effort into the Google Affiliate Network as well.
Update: Google will actually be phasing out the PPA program at the end of August as part of the integration with DoubleClick. You can read more details at the blog post here.
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Google to Make History with Exclusive Animated Internet Series?
Google is getting some serious press, support, and power from Hollywood today. According to the New York Times, Google will be bringing on Seth MacFarlane, creator of the hilarious TV series "Family Guy", to work on a secret animated series called "Seth MacFarlane's Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy." While that's nothing short of exciting, Google's distribution plan for the project is causing heads to turn.
The Distribution Plan
Apparently, the plan is going to involve a lot of of work will use Google's Adsense advertising system and the Google Content Network to run the series.
"Google will syndicate the program using its AdSense advertising system to thousands of Web sites that are predetermined to be gathering spots for Mr. MacFarlane's target audience, typically young men. Instead of placing a static ad on a Web page, Google will place a "Cavalcade" video clip. "
There will be numerous strategies used for incorporating the advertisements into the clips including "preroll" ads, which will remind viewers of a commercial, banners at the bottom of the video clip, or a "brought to you by" note at the beginning.
The Animated Series
The series will be exclusive to the internet alone. The series will also include a new line-up of characters and will be 50 episodes that are two-minutes each. MacFarlane describes the episodes as, "animated versions of the one-frame cartoons you might see in The New Yorker, only edgier." MacFarlane will receive a percentage of the advertising revenues and will also work with advertisers to provide original animated commercials to run with "Cavalcade" for a hefty fee. There's no word yet on who's signed-up for the deal.
Why is This a Big Deal?
If Google succeeds, this could become the premier internet business model for Hollywood to look into. With a multimillion-dollar production price tag and a high-profile Hollywood celeb, Google could make history, while making Hollywood's dreams come true. This pay day could be huge for both sides of this fence if Google succeeds.
In New Deal With Tele Atlas, Google Maps Sends Data Back
Google signed a five-year deal with Tele Atlas to keep getting the map data that helps power Google Maps. The deal extends to Google Earth and mobile apps, and covers 200 countries.
Google also gets map data from Navteq, which is being bought by Nokia for $8 billion. Tele Atlas is owned by Dutch GPS-maker TomTom.
Up until now, the deal between Google Maps and its data providers has been a one-way street. Google licenses the underlying map data that forms the basis for Google Maps. Once it’s up there, anyone on the Web can enhance the maps, correct faulty data, or add their own. But up until now, Tele Atlas did not benefit from those edits. As part of the new pact, Tele Atlas will have access to edits made by the Google Maps community to update the underlying maps. (The company already collects similar corrections from the Map Share feature in the 20 million TomTom GPS car navigation systems out there).
Once Nokia completes its acquisition of Navteq, it too will collect data from consumers to improve its maps. But it will tap into their cell phones.
It is almost a wiki approach to making better maps (presumably with more controls). How soon before other providers of real-world data catch on that sometimes the best source of data are the users themselves?
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Google Goes After the TV with Google Media Server
Google just announced its odd Google Media Server, a Windows app that finds photos, music, and video and makes it available to DLNA devices like the PlayStation 3, XBox 360, and most Media Center PCs.
Google Media Server is a Windows application that aims to bridge the gap between Google and your TV. It uses Google Desktop technology such as Desktop gadgets for the administration tool and Google Desktop Search to locate media files. All you need is a PC running Google Desktop and a UPnP-enabled device (e.g. a PlayStation 3). At the touch of a button, you can then:
* Access videos, music, and photos stored on your PC
* View Picasa Web Albums
* Play your favorite YouTube videos
This shows that Google is very interested in getting its message out across multiple platforms. With the launch of Android forthcoming, could the Google set-top box be next?
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Deflexion.com: The Cloud, WebApps, and Desktop Apps
ClickPass Adds Google, Facebook, Yahoo, And Hotmail To Its OpenID Gateway
Clickpass, a startup that has simplified the OpenID login platform, has built out support for additional third parties that brings the promise of a universal login even closer. Users will now be able to use their Google, Facebook, Yahoo, or Hotmail passwords on any site that includes the Clickpass authentication system.
The new Clickpass system requires almost no effort from the end user. Supported sites simply embed a button on their login page which prompts users to login with their credentials from one of the aforementioned services; you don’t even need to have a Clickpass account. On supported sites, creating a new account is as simple as logging in with your preferred service (I use Gmail), and picking a display name to show other users. This is what OpenID should be.
So what’s the catch? At launch the service only works on a handful of sites, but CEO Peter Nixey says that implementing it on a website is easy - we can expect to see the number of supported sites skyrocket in the next few days. Developers need only implement the standard OpenID protocol along with the Clickpass system and they’re good to go.
One problem that Clickpass will soon face is that it is really a temporary solution to a problem most of these companies are already working on. We can expect Google, Yahoo, and the rest of the lot to implement their own version of OpenID, which will effectively take Clickpass out of the equation.
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Google Employees Even Get Japanese Space Toilets
Google employees are so special that they even get Japanese space toilets on which to rest their stock options.
SFist found these sexy Japanese Toto toilets in Google’s headquarters. They feature front and rear cleansing along with a dryer and some sort of insane wand cleaning system that may be part of Google’s 80-20 projects policy. The toilets are fairly common in Japan - heck, there are even toilets that offer birdsong to cover up embarrassing noises - so perhaps they’re these were installed as a treat for their Asian employees.
The real question, however: Is there an API?
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Google Gets Its CFO. He Gets His Payday.
After looking for a nearly a year, Google has finally found a new chief financial officer to replace outgoing CFO George Reyes. So who’s job will it be to count all of Google’s cash? The lucky winner of what must have been one of the most intense executive searches of the year is Patrick Pichette, the president of operations at Bell Canada.
Google went with a relative unknown here, but Pichette (a Rhodes Scholar and former McKinsey consultant) must have done well on the brain teasers Google famously asks all incoming employees. Pichette will be counting some of his own cash. At today’s stock price of $532, Pichette is looking at $1.7 million just in restricted stock a year from now. Add a $500,000 signing bonus, plus the here’s-another-$500,000-for sticking-around-six–whole-months bonus, plus his $450,000 base salary, plus another regular bonus of as much as $1.125 million and the total comes to $4.3 million. And that is not even counting the stock options. (In comparison, last year George Reyes brought home $5.1 million in total compensation. Sergey Brin, Larry Page, and Eric Schmidt each receive $1 in base salary, although Schmidt’s personal security detail cost the company $475,000 last year and is listed as part of his total comp).
The compensation details outlined in Pichette’s offer letter are the following:
—Patrick’s annual base salary will be $450,000 and his discretionary target bonus percentage will be 150% of his annual base salary.
—Google has agreed to pay Patrick a special one-time sign-on bonus of $500,000 (taxed as supplemental income).
—Google has agreed to pay Patrick an additional special bonus of $500,000 (taxed as supplemental income) upon completion of six months of employment. In the event that Patrick’s employment is terminated by Google prior to the end of this six-month period, this additional bonus will be paid out in full within 30 days from the date of termination.
—If Patrick terminates his employment with Google before the one year anniversary of his start date then Patrick will be required to repay the special bonus amounts described above, prorated for time spent at Google.
Google has agreed to grant Patrick four new hire equity grants:
— stock option to purchase 11,112 shares of the Google’s Class A common stock pursuant to Google’s 2004 Stock Plan. The stock option will vest at a rate of 25% on the date one year after Patrick commences employment and will vest an additional 2.083% each month thereafter, for a total vesting period of 48 months.
—5,556 Google restricted stock units (GSUs) pursuant to Google’s 2004 Stock Plan. The GSUs will vest at a rate of 25% on the date one year after Patrick commences employment and will vest an additional 25% each year thereafter, for a total vesting period of four years.
—910 GSUs pursuant to Google’s 2004 Stock Plan. The GSUs will vest at a rate of 100% on the date six months after Patrick commences employment. In the event Patrick’s employment is terminated (other than as a result of Patrick’s resignation) prior to the six month vesting date, this GSU grant will immediately vest.
—910 GSUs pursuant to Google’s 2004 Stock Plan. The GSUs will vest at a rate of 100% on the date 12 months after Patrick commences employment. In the event Patrick’s employment is terminated (other than as a result of Patrick’s resignation) after six months but prior to the 12 month vesting date, this GSU grant will immediately vest.
Google will assist Patrick with relocation-related expenses pursuant to Google’s policy with respect to the relocation of officers in North America.
In accordance with Google’s standard equity grant policies, Patrick’s options and GSUs will be granted on the first Wednesday after Patrick commences employment with Google.
Patrick will also participate in the compensation and benefit programs generally available to Google’s executive officers.
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Jerry’s Back! And So Is Microsoft
Last week Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang literally dropped off the grid for a couple of days, leaving his top execs (other than, presumably, President Sue Decker) in the dark. As I wrote on Saturday, no one could locate Yang, and, given the sheer number of high level departures and looming reorganization, those remaining in their jobs were basically freaking out.
As the weekend progressed it seemed clear that anything was possible. More than a few people saw Yang stepping down, with a new CEO stepping in. Other theories (all coming from Yahoo senior ranks) predicted anything from a merger, restructuring, asset sale, etc. Saturday was the low point; fear was rampant.
Then Yang reappeared, with a renewed determination to stay in power, fight off all these new activist shareholders and keep the status quo, say people close to Yahoo. No one seems to know exactly what happened to turn him around, but they say he’s digging in and keeping up the fight to keep Yahoo at least partially independent.
Today’s letter to shareholders was a not-so-subtle way of showing that Yang remains in control of the company, and retains the confidence of his board. And the board of directors also retains confidence in itself, apparently: “Your Current Board of Directors Has the Knowledge, Experience and Commitment to Best Represent Your Interests and Maximize Stockholder Value.”
Microsoft Negotiations Heating Up Again
Microsoft is fighting for Yahoo in two ways - First, they’re denying that any talks are occurring in the hope of keeping Yahoo’s stock price down. This keeps the PR people busy as they field calls and answer direct questions indirectly. Meanwhile, a contingent of Microsoft and Yahoo insiders, desperate to marry these two companies, keep telling us that negotiations are very much alive, even if not officially recognized.
It’s Orwellian, but everyone knows Microsoft and Yahoo are talking, but since they officially aren’t talking, we’re not supposed to report on it. Meanwhile, the discussions go on.
So what kind of deal are they not talking about? It could be a full buyout. Or it could be a partial buyout tied to that fugly search asset acquisition deal Microsoft put on the table after merger talks broke down. One person close to the negotiations pegged a full buyout by end of year at 60% likely.
What about that Google deal? Well, it turns out there’s no penalty at all if Yahoo simply never implements it. Google can terminate the agreement, but there’s no downside to Yahoo. If Yahoo sells itself to someone they have to pay a steep $250 million fee to Google. But an interesting detail: Microsoft can buy up to 35% of Yahoo without triggering that $250 million penalty fee to Google. See the full analysis in our previous post.
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The State of Open Mobile OSes
Open operating systems, for most folks, means that the operating system is essentially free. The average computer user knows that Linux is free, as in beer, while Windows costs money. The case is the same for mobile OSes although, until very recently, the idea of purposely using an open OS has been a fairly nebulous concept.
To be clear open mobile OSes have been around for years, starting most prominently with the QTopia project that ran on ARM hardware found in many PDAs and phones. The Linux kernel plays well with almost any platform, making it ideal for small installations.
With the announcement of an “open” version of Symbian coming soon, let’s take a look at what open means to the average consumer.
Android - Google’s smartphone OS is probably about as open as you can get. It’s designed to run on almost any hardware and includes a fully open and free UI complete with source code. It costs nothing for carriers to use and if, if used in its official form, simply brings Google apps and content to the fore at opportune times. To the average consumer Android should be able to add smartphone functionality to a number of odd devices, including phones that once depended on proprietary, no-name operating systems like the Motorola RAZR.
iPhone OSX - iPhone’s OSX uses a Mach kernel which, like Linux, is fairly open and well-documented. Unlike Linux, however, the price of the iPhone’s kernel is bundled into the cost of the actual phone and cannot be sold to third parties. The SDK or programming tools for the OS, however, are quite popular and are free. This ensures that programmers can harness the full power of the OS without having to dig too deeply into the core. As a whole, OS X is as close to being open as you can get without really being “open” and fully cross-platform.
Windows Mobile – Windows Mobile is a closed operating system. The common user interface remains unchanged across devices, however, third-party applications can be developed by writing programs using software like Visual C++. Windows Mobile also makes use of the .NET Compact Framework, which is similar to the .NET Framework found on Windows-based PCs.
Symbian – Currently, the Symbian operating system is not classified as open source, although with Nokia’s recent announcement, it will soon be available under the royalty-free Eclipse Public License. As it stands now, though, handset manufacturers that make use of the Symbian operating system are only provided with certain parts of the source code. It is expected to be fully opened up within the next two years. Symbian is the most widely used mobile operating system in the world today.
One interesting aside: there is an excellent chance that Symbian will not make it through its conversion to openness alive. The OS is old and crotchety, unable to handle data intensive applications with the same aplomb RIM or even the iPhone OS have. Once the platform is open, Nokia will most likely put it out to pasture, watch as the developers branch it off, and then build something entirely new. As popular as it is, I doubt many of us would miss Symbian’s various foibles and flaws.
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Is Google Ad Planner Getting Its Data From The Google Toolbar?
The recent launch of Google Trends for Websites was just a dress rehearsal. The real product that it is based on is Google Ad Planner, which the company announced today. Google Ad Planner is built for ad buyers who want to decide where to place their ads. It provides general traffic and demographic information for Websites, including gender, age, education, and household income.
One drawback of Google Ad Planner is that you cannot actually buy ads from inside it, not even Google ads. Advertisers have to log in separately to their AdWords or other ad platform accounts to do that.
But the bigger issue around both Google Ad planner and Trends for Websites is where exactly Google is getting this data from. The traffic data in Googel Ad Planner appears to be the same thing consumers can see on Google Trends for Websites. In fact, that is just a light version of Google Ad Planner, which uses some of the same underlying data—”aggregated Google search data, opt-in anonymous Google Analytics data, opt-in external consumer panel data, and other third-party market research.” If that sounds kind of vague it is because it is.
The unanswered question is whether Google is using its widely deployed toolbar to collect the traffic data that it now wants advertisers to use for targeting ads. Danny Sullivan at SearchEngineLand, who has a good review, specifically asked Google if it was using toolbar data as well. Google responded saying it would “not disclose the elements of our secret sauce” even though it disclosed some of the other elements above (search data, Google Analytics data, panel data, etc.). Sullivan concludes:
It’s noteworthy the Google Toolbar isn’t being mentioned. I specifically asked to have confirmation that the toolbar is NOT in the mix, and “secret sauce” reply above is all I got.
That makes me think that toolbar data IS being used. In particular, the focus on Google Analytics data feels like a sideshow. Google can’t rely on Google Analytics as a core data source for this information, because of the simple reason that not every site runs it. In contrast, using Google Toolbar data would give them a nearly complete sample of all sites out there.
If that is true, Google should disclose the fact, even if it is only using the toolbar data in an aggregate, anonymous form. Because most people who download the toolbar are probably not aware that the data it collects about their surfing habits can be used to target ads back at them. (I wrote about the possibility that the toolbar might be a Trojan Horse for ad targeting here).
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Google’s Android Hits Snags With Mobile Carriers
Google is finding that launching an entirely new cell phone platform is taking longer than expected. When it first announced its Android mobile operating system, Google said the first Android phones would be available during the second half of this year. Now the mobile carriers that signed up as Android partners are pushing out their launches, with only T-Mobile still trying to get an Android phone out by the fourth quarter of this year. All the other carriers are pushing out their deployments until 2009. Reports the WSJ:
T-Mobile USA expects to deliver an Android-powered phone in the fourth period. But that launch is taking up so much of Google’s attention and resources that Sprint Nextel Corp., which had hoped to launch an Android phone this year, won’t be able to, a person familiar with the matter said.
China Mobile, the largest wireless carrier in the world with nearly 400 million subscriber accounts, had planned to launch an Android phone in the third quarter but it has run into issues that will likely delay the launch until late this year or early 2009, a person familiar with the matter says.
. . . AT&T Inc., the U.S. carrier for the iPhone, is still working with Google to determine if it is feasible to launch an Android phone.
Sprint wants to add its own bells and whistles to its Android service, and the recent management shakeup is not helping matters. China Mobile is having trouble getting Android to work with Chinese characters and integrating it into its existing data services.
By the time Android phones seriously hit the market next year, there will be more than 10 million iPhones and many more Blackberries and other smart phones to contend with. Android holds a lot of promise and is generating a lot of excitement among developers, who are already creating interesting mobile apps for the platform. But without phones in consumer’s hands, it won’t matter how cool Android is.
Getting Android right is immensely important to Google, which faces a huge platform shift as the mobile Web finally starts to take off. It needs to parlay its leading position on the Web today into a leading position on the mobile Web. And it cannot do that alone. The more players involved (carriers, developers, handset manufacturers), the greater the chance for delays or other hiccups. Contrast that with Apple’s approach to the iPhone, where it controls every aspect it can. Which platform will win in the end?
Five years from now, which will be the dominant mobile platform for Web applications?
( surveys)
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Google Trends for Websites Sucks for Small Blogs
Recently, Google Trends added an update to the service and extended its functionality to websites with Google Trends for Websites. Google Trends gives recommendations on popular trends occurring on the web today. Now anyone with a website can find out popular trends about their website, except for the small guys.
Google Trends for Popular Websites
Google Trends for Websites is yet another traffic tracker for sites. It's in a field already dominated by Compete, Quantcast (for US traffic), and Alexa. So what could it possibly offer to users that we don't already have? This is Google we're talking about and Google has a significant amount of data about a ton of websites. For example, in our recent poll of Instant Messengers that ReadWriteWeb readers use here's how the websites IM clients Digsby, Trillian, Pidgin, Miranda IM, and Adium stack up against one another using Google Trends for Websites:
You'll receive a graph of traffic stats along with stats on the region of most visitors, related sites that visitors visited, and even other search terms if there are any. In contrast, Google Trends for keywords will show related searches, how popular the keyword is, peak time, news articles and blog posts mentioning the keyword.
The Little Guys Are Left In The Dust Again
If your blog or website doesn't receive a lot of traffic, you're better off sticking to trackers such as the Google Analytics service. Google Trends for Websites won't have any data for such sites, which is a shame considering the smaller bloggers may be the biggest users of the product. Personally, I don't see the use for Google Trends for Websites compared to other tools that are out there that offer the same information and more. Blogs already receive the information that Google is giving via their own statistics software with a lot more flexibility and options to choose from. In the end, Google Trends for Websites seems like a bit of a dud and the name should be changed to Google Trends for Popular Websites.
A Peek Inside Google’s Gmail Usability Lab
Nika Smith wrote a post on the Google blog today showing the evolution of Google chat before it launched in early 2006. Google does extensive testing of new products using employees as guinea pigs (see our post on the pre-launch evolution of Gmail) as well as outsiders brought in to test software and interfaces in their usability lab.
I had a chance to see the lab a few weeks ago. It’s a small room with a large flat screen monitor, along with a desk and computer. It also has a number of discrete cameras (and a microphone) that keep an eye on the user herself as well as the screen.
Around the corner is a second room where Google employees can watch people interact with the software real time. The room has a couch and a chair along with two screens and speakers to monitor the lab. See the image to the right.
The Gmail Labs team took us through some of the pre-launch iterations of Gmail chat that were tested in the lab. Most of these weren’t included in the Google post, so I’ve added them below. All of these were eventually abandoned as the team moved towards the much more low profile chat window at the bottom right of the Gmail screen we see today.
