Posts Tagged ‘google’
Google Chrome review: good and bad
September 9th, 2008
Google chrome was released on the 1st of September, with a leaked comic book PR stunt. If you liked the comic book idea used by Google, that was an effective way of demonstrating its new browser, check out social animation made easy or a great paid-for version called Comic Life.
But getting down to the nitty gritty…
The good Google Chrome:)
1, Google Chrome is free.
2, Google Chrome imports your bookmarks, passwords, and settings from Firefox or Internet Explorer on start-up (only on the Windows XP)
3, Chrome’s layout is very simple like all Google products.
4, You can set your own Google Chrome homepage, or you can use the ‘most visited’ sites page as your starting point, which gives you a nice visual touch.
5, Google Chrome searches your browser’s history page titles as well page content. The history results show the title of the page, as well as a thumbnail representation of the page.
6, The default Google Chrome search engine is Google. However, you can choose from a list of nine other search engines, or add your own search engine.
7, Google Chrome includes a number of features that appear in other browsers, such as tools for web developers to use in viewing and troubleshooting source code, and the ability to restore all tabs from a previous session.
8, Did I also mention it’s fast!
9, It’s OPEN SOURCE!
10, A feature called incognito. “Pages you view in this window won’t appear in your browser history or search history, and they won’t leave other traces, like cookies, on your computer after you close the incognito window.”
11, A nice usability feature called text zoom, which with the click of a button makes the text larger on the current page.
12, You can already have a Portable Chrome: Carry the Google Browser on a USB Stick
13, If you want to change the no frills Google start up page you can re-skin it - check out this post to find out more: How to Change Google Chrome Theme With Custom Chrome Theme
If you you still are not sure about Google Chrome and are a die hard FireFox fan, why not check out the Open Websites in Google Chrome from Firefox application.
The Google Chrome bad:(
1, Yet more strings to the Google bow.
2, The lack of URL information can make it difficult to identify the specific web page you’re going to, especially if the site’s title bar description is not specific (because, say, different sections of the same site have identical title bar descriptors).
3, Windows-only for the moment.
4, Still in beta so you might find some small bug-related issues.
5, As with all Google applications, it looks a little drab.
To read more about Google Chrome the BBC has a good post: Google launches internet browser, and it’s also worth checking out the Google official blog - A fresh take on the browser
Chinwag Live: Search versus Recommendation a no-brainer debate
September 3rd, 2008
Last night’s Chinwag Live: Search v. Recommendation event was not the packed out, sweaty debacle that it usually is. My hunch is the motion of the debate was not as sexy as widgets or social media measurement, and was also pretty much a foregone conclusion. At the end of the day, there’s not much of a case that can be made to suggest recommendation/review sites will win out over super beast Google (the ‘search’ side of the argument quickly became a Google one - pointed out by a heckler who commented “let’s get off Google’s dick!”).
With that in mind, there was little debating going on, but some interesting points were made about recommendation sites from a B2C point of view - interestingly no one brought up the role they can play within a B2B audience. To summarise:
- Only a fraction of a percentage of internet users add ‘+review’ to their search phrase - something that I was very surprised about as I do it all the time! I’d be interested to see more detailed stats on how search linguistics change between searching for specific information, and searching for inspiration or trusted reviews.
- Recommendation sites know very little about their active reviewers at the moment, and it was agreed that this detail is currently difficult to obtain. Panelist Walid Al Saqqaf, co-founder & COO of TrustedPlaces admitted that only 17% of his registered users write reviews, while a “much smaller” percentage of unregistered users are active reviewers.
- YouTube is becoming a popular destination for searching for reviews, particularly for mobile phones and digital cameras, and has the potential to overtake written review sites in the future.
- Twitter is also increasingly being used for micro-reviews.
- It is currently very difficult to measure reviewer intent across recommendation sites, which is limiting their usefulness and relevancy. According to Chinwag panelist Lisa Ditlefsen, Head of Search at Base One, Microsoft is currently looking to limit the number of review sites that rank in natural search rankings.
- People are generally more happy to give out personal information about themselves on social networks such as Facebook and Bebo, than on review websites such as Tripadvisor. The networking opportunity, from a business or personal perspective, is a key aspect that review websites need to tap into.
A good review of the event is also available on The Crowdstorm blog.
Cuil cooling down - a month on!
August 19th, 2008
After a blaze of publicity Cuil launched on July 28th 2008, some of the headlines below suggested Cuil was going to overtake Google as the major force in search.
Cuil Launches — Can This Search Start-Up Really Best Google?
New Search Engine Cuil Takes Aim At Google
Search site aims to rival Google
Cuil search engine aims to challenge Google
Cuil might just be cool enough to become the Google-killer in search
Cuil Search Engine Out to Challenge Google
However, the graphs below from Twitter, Alexra and Technorati show an alarming drop-off in the volume of people talking about Cuil and visiting the site over the past month since its launch.
Twitter Mentions (Cuil in the red, Google in the blue) - click on graph to see larger graph.
Traffic History form Alexra
Technorati blog mentions of Cuil
Cuil blog trends vs Google
All the graphs say pretty much the same thing - after an impressive start Cuil has slipped back in-line with all the other wannabes!
Here are the headlines that seem to have the correct answer:
Why Cuil Is No Threat to Google
Cuil not a Google killer - yet - Techland
Can Cuil kill Google? Not yet - Machinist - Salon.com
The New Cuil Search Engine Sucks - Columns by PC Magazine
Cuil is not so cool - The INQUIRER
Danny Sullivan, editor in chief of Search Engine Land summed it up by saying “Competing with Google is still a very daunting task, as Microsoft will tell you.”
Dragons Den talks search engine optimisation (SEO)
July 29th, 2008
As a big fan of TV’s Drangons Den I tuned in to last nights weekly episode as usual, half way through the show a guy pitched for a company called Diamond Geezer, an online retailer of Diamonds. What happened next was a first for Dragons Den. Peter Jones wanted to know all about Diamond Geezers Google rankings and key words.
View the video to see how the conversation unfolded:
Just goes to show how (SEO) keywords and page ranking are now becoming an important mix of companies online strategy’s.
Virtual sex too Lively for brands?
July 17th, 2008
I was watching a rerun of the Mighty Boosh a couple of nights back and one bit clicked in a new way. It’s the moment when the Crack Fox plays Vince some Foxy Porn – “for the fuzzy tingle times” - instead of his life story.
I’d been back on Google Lively Beta that day for another underwhelming virtual experience and had trawled through the list of user rooms, a lot of them offering Foxy Porn (er – or similar). The Boosh gag was laced with that uncomfortable truth of the ubiquity and motive power of sex in all media.
Since then Google has responded to the harrumphing about porn rooms on Lively but I wonder how many brands will risk visibility in virtual spaces where an accidental click can associate them with, let’s say, humping foxes.
Meantime, has anyone else tried out Lively and has positive, smiley results? I love the virtual experience when it pings but I’ve rarely found it on the community worlds so far. I’m too old for Habbo and WeeWorld (even with its own new-ish virtual world). They keep growing and BarbieWorld now has 10 million registered users, so maybe it’s the more controlled, youth spaces that will win the brands’ respect and trust.