This post was inspired by Stan Schroeder’s post on Mashable entitled, “Bing takes on ‘Goliath’ Google with Huge UK Advertising Campaign.” Apparently, Microsoft will spend up to $2.0B on an advertising campaign in the U.K. To put this “huge” campaign into perspective, Microsoft current has a market cap of approximately $253B.
65 Google buzzers replied with comments. I commented: “Microsoft is pushing Bing prematurely. Wired ran a very good article about Google which, among other things, compared the accuracy of results between Google and Bing. Bing was pathetic.” The Wired article is entitled, “Exclusive: How Google’s Algorithm Rules the Web.” In that article, Google’s accuracy is compared with Microsoft Bing’s.
I have no doubt that Google will dominate internet search, perhaps in perpetuity, but this has less to do with the algorithm Google uses than the Wired title suggests. Google is womping the competitors because it has something they don’t… better data and a steady flow of it. When I say better data, I don’t mean that Google knows about web pages that other search engines don’t (although it’s quite possible). Google search is the smartest around because it has a phenomenal algorithm, no doubt, but also because it has been collecting data generated by humans (clicks) for a very long time. Between the data and the algorithm, Google can predict what content you want to view. In a sense, Google search is the high watermark for artificial intelligence. It can predict human behavior based on a person typing a word or two.
According to the Inside Google special on CNBC, Google saves everything typed into Google indefinitely. Your own search results are identified with your Google account and IP address for a period of 18 months and then anonymized. This information makes Google smarter. Now, a full 20% of Google searches are actually tailored to you and differ from Joe Schmoe’s search results.
Enter Bing. Bing is an outgrowth of MSN Search. MSN Search was never a dominant player in the search business. AltaVista, Yahoo and others were Google’s chief competitors. In the early days, search was dominated by who had the biggest map of the internet which was a function of the “spidering” software. Another factor was the algorithm used to produce results. Google won the search war but it did it by being innovative and leveraging data. It learned if you clicked the what you were looking for and didn’t return to Google for another X seconds.
Microsoft is trying to play catch up. It needs to brand Bing but it also needs Bing to accurately predict what you want to click. How can it accomplish this when Google has virtually monopolized the search market? Maybe spending $2.0B in the UK will bring in $2.0B+ worth of data (clicks). Then again, maybe it won’t. It will be difficult to leverage this localized data because Google will generate more and arguably better data in the same period of time globally. It’s data where Google excels; even if Bing had precisely the same algorithm and the same map of the web, it would lose the search war on data alone.
Bing’s strategy seems somewhat outside of the box. Colorful graphics and promotions seem to be in Bing’s playbook. These seem like mere window dressing to me. When it comes to getting accurate results, Google wins. It knows what I want to click. Will Bing ever be smart enough to be a viable alternative? I’m not sure but spending $2.0B in advertising off in the U.K. won’t propel it ahead of Google.
I believe that Google Buzz is primarily aimed at attracting Twitter content right now, not Facebook content. This is a follow up post to the video I recently posted.
There’s a slew of blog posts the past couple days about Apple’s decision not support Adobe Flash on it’s upcoming tablet, the iPad. Things got interesting today. Adobe employee, Lee Brimelow, fired back with a blog post that really shows off Adobe Flash… and it’s use on porn sites. Apparently, the blog post was short lived but below is a screenshot:
Unless you were born yesterday (which would really suck because of its proximity to Christmas), you already know that Google is fundamentally an advertising company. In 2008, Google generated over $21 billion dollars in revenue and over 95% of that revenue was generated by Google’s Adwords program. Year end numbers for 2009 will probably be at least as impressive. Google’s success, however, depends on it not remaining simply an advertising company.
I read that the beta version of Chrome OS that I tested will be altered to allow users to login from the browser instead of the blue screen that follows the boot up. This will enable logins and logouts without rebooting the computer. Whoopdie do, right? This is a far more significant development than it may seem. It suggests to me that the so-called “personal computer” will become the “public computer” and also supports the notion that Google will install free computers in heavily trafficked areas… investing heavily in this endeavor and significantly profiting from it.
I installed a VirtualBox image of Chrome OS that is floating around online. It’s available from gdgt and other less trustworthy sources. To sum it up… waste of time. The test drive was entirely unfilling but it did significantly pique my interest in antitrust concerns.
FourSquare is already gaining steam amongst geeks and non-geeks alike. It’s a located-based service that allows users to check in at various locations using their cellphones, earn points and even become the “Mayor” of some locations. Back in July, Jennifer Van Grove at Mashable.com suggested that FourSquare could become the next Twitter and earlier this month Pete Cashmore said on CNN.com that located-based apps will rule 2010. FourSquare apps are already available for Android and iPhone. A Blackberry app is in the works. Rumor has it that SocialScope’s alpha now supports FourSquare. While it certainly looks promising for FourSquare…
I predict that Google will soon offer a translation service via the Android phone operating system. It would operate by recording speech, crunching it, and then translating it into voice or text in another language. The pieces are already there:
The first revision to its endorsement rules in almost 30 years, the FTC now regulates emerging digital advertising channels, including the blogosphere. I reviewed the 81 page FTC notice of adoption of revised Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising (the “Guides”). Without making your eyes glaze over or oversimplifying the Guides, I distill them into digestible form in this post. I also include a brief summary of statements made by the FTC on the issue of enforcement.
I have been avidly reading about the details of Google’s Chrome operating system. Initially, I was disappointed. In its early stages it appears that the Chrome OS will be simply a boot up to the Google Chrome browser (youtube video). After reading some commentary, including Ben Parr’s post on Mashable entitled “With Chrome OS, Google Intends to Destroy the Desktop and Microsoft,” I reconsidered my initial opinion. Google’s web-centric philosophy and the Chrome OS has the potential to be shift the computing paradigm. If you want to read the basics of the Chrome OS, there are over 1,045 news articles published in the last 24 hours. I intend to head in a different direction than most of the mainstream articles. After a brief introduction to Google’s Chrome OS, I will discuss the winners and losers if Chrome OS achieves widespread acceptance. Other musings appear in this post.
The relationship between Verizon and RIM, the Blackberry manufacturer, appears to have soured. Why? For the time being, Verizon is betting heavily on the Droid. Will that continue?
Will Google Wave enforce a quota system on users like Gmail? How can this be done?
If you kicked the tires in Google Wave, you might have also noticed the image to the right which shows some ghosted options for transferring files to a wave. There are similar options under images, some of which are not ghosted. This prompted me to consider storage capacity for waves, particularly public waves. Presumably, Google is not planning on allowing people unlimited wave storage. Gmail doesn’t.
From Google Accounts Help: “It isn’t currently possible to merge separate Google Accounts.”
Many users, myself included, have more than one Google Account. Some have different services on each account, multiple calendars, more than one Gmail address, different iGoogle pages, Adwords on a business account, et cetera. Although there are some workarounds and plugins for Firefox (an inferior browser to Chrome?), it would be more efficient and user-friendly to have a system like the following:
Google Wave just put out a survey about the Google Wave Preview on Twitter this evening. You can find it here: http://bit.ly/u1N61 . If you are participating in the Google Wave Preview, I encourage you to complete the survey. It is very long but covers almost every aspect of Google Wave, including its current deficiencies. Specifically, I would like to see improved scrolling and a mobile version of Google Wave. Check. That is covered in their survey. They now know that. Kudos to the Google Wave team for putting out the survey and checking with the users. I betcha that some of this feedback is acted upon quickly.
SocialScope for Blackberry is the much anticipated social networking app that combines Twitter and Facebook features. The project has been under wraps in its beta stage and many Blackberry users who have requested access have yet to receive an invite. Apparently those who have access are asked to adhere to a strict confidentiality agreement. Therefore, little is known about this project. It appears, however, from scouring chat boards that some breaching early stage testers were unhappy with SocialScope.
During the beta period of SocialScope, RIM announced its own native Twitter app in the works. It is rumored to use push technology to receive tweets. This could be crushing blow to 3rd party Twitter app developers. Consider the impact of RIM’s own Facebook and MySpace apps. Does anyone regularly use a 3rd party Facebook app or MySpace app? The RIM apps have significant flaws but they still squeezed out 3rd party developers. What’s the future of SocialScope, Ubertwitter, Twitterberry (Sarah Palin’s favorite) and other Blackberry twitter apps?
SocialScope better hit the streets first or else it has very little hope of converting people away from RIM’s own Twitter app.
