What is Google's next step
Ivan | Fri, 2005-09-16 09:14Remember the days when we had to do summersaults and other tricks to get a Gmail invite from a privileged blogger that had 5 to give away? And if you were late to the show, you were out of luck?
Anyway, those days are long gone. Just click on the envelopes below to get an invite. Every envelope can only be used once, so don't be surprised if it doesn't work. Try another one.
But this post is not about giving away invites.
Do you remember who gave you your invite originally? I was invited by a friend over at Macminute cafe. If you don't remember - don't worry. Google probably does. And that person is your contact in the global social database. They remember the people you gave invites to. They also know what things you search for and what your contacts are searching for. Maybe Google knows your social network better than you do yourself? If you have a website especially with Adsense, they also know how popular your site is and who visits it! If you use Google's other personalized services, like the Google homepage, they will be able to get an idea of your personal interests and behavior even better.
And all this information can be processed with smart algorithms to make a surprisingly precise profile of a person. Just a simplified example - you keep looking for stuff about a certain country and got some new contacts there. This may be an indication that you have intention of visiting that country. That is information regarding your future plans and dreams. Marketers would kill for that.
One might wonder what are they gonna do with this information? If they keep this information organized at all that is.
Information is power. And Google has lots of it. We know that Google is an advertising company. And, we also know that in advertising targeting the customer well is highly important. Will Google make profit of the information that they have? Or is it too dangerous to expose the fact that they keep track of virtual presence of real people on the internet? I would say it is risky, but in a way they are already doing that by serving you ads that are relevant to your private email conversations. As a recent adventure Google Talk is taking advantage of the information about your social network.
So, giving you targeted ads based on your sophisticated profile that are less relevant to the visited site's content, but relevant to your hopes and dreams can be considered a service to you. Never before marketing managers had a chance to focus their communication so precisely in the huge global market as it would be possible with "Google Direct".
But that's not all. Google is not the only player. Yahoo, Amazon, eBay and other internet giants probably have similarly detailed profiles. Would they join their forces to create a profile of you your shrink would be proud of?
It would make sense for them to trade customer behavioral data. As a primitive example - if Amazon today serves me the products I Googled yesterday, there is a much higher chance of purchase than serving me a random ad. Especially if Google can tell Amazon what pages I visited, so that Amazon can make sure I get a better offer than any other I have seen so far.
Surely there are certain laws protecting our private data. But, what if there are no actual people listed in a database, only a virtual consumer? What if it is literally just a string of recorded actions and preferences not even attached to any real person? Would the law protect that virtual entity? Does it need protection?
Virtual profiling for higher ad revenues is just one of the many things Google can do with this mountain of information. I'm tempted, but I won't go further into unfounded speculations about what Google's future products and services may be. I'd rather have your opinions weather I went too far and unrealistic already and if we should be afraid or be happy about all this.
Now, if you get some of those invites - behave, because it's all going on my record since you're my social contact.
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Funny. Why pick on Google? Amazon and others have way more info or similar info. Also, your mortgage company, student loan company, college, insurance provider(s), credit card companies, government agencies (by accident or design), ISP, web host, etc... all keep records like these and whore you out for money.
What is really funny, Pot, is that you require me to create an account with you in order to post a comment.
Yeah, that IS cinical. I just do it to protect readers against spam.
can all interpret things differently! I thought Ivan's article was informative and concise. It didn't occur to me as Google bashing as such.
In our dealings with everyday life, we have the 'powers that be' holding lots of information about us than we realise.
Just as an example, in the UK, you only have to walk in any town centre, and you would be covered by CCTV.
You can be tracked by your mobile phone, car reg no, spending habits analysed by store reward cards, credit cards, you name it.
I suppose if you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to worry. I just would not want any info on me to be used in any unethical way...
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Google certainly have some big plans for the future but I don't think they will be using user data in any kind of underhand way. I think their business model is more about offering useful online services and delivering advertisers to an audience based on content rather than user patterns.
Just look at google maps. If you search for an address you can then be shown pointed content. I am happy with the way Google has handled itself so far in terms of the paid for content being relatively unobtrusive and fairly easy to ignore.
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Yes, I agree. I don't think they would risk anything fishy. And, I'm a fan of Google too.
Google has very close ties to the US Gov't, and, if your read Google's TOS, you will see that your search keywords, emails, and every message you send via Google may be monitored.
A lot of people turned away from GMail because of this. If you send or receive an email with several "target words," such as "bomb," "assiasinate," "president," etc...it's pretty safe to assume you're not the only one who knows about that email ;)
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Who gives a crap about privacy anyways... good article nonetheless!
If Google is an advertising company, here is my theory on Google's next big step:
My reasoning:
1. Google has pretty much nailed the Internet advertising business
2. However, Internet advertising is restricted to only Internet-savvy customers and businesses that are willing to conduct business over Internet
3. If Google wants more advertising revenue, Google will try to gather localized businesses
Now, I understand that Google Earth is an attempt to tie in the localized business advertising, but Google Earth / Map is still "pull" advertising. Google is known for its "push" advertising based on your information provided. So there must be a bigger scheme...
Why Google Talk?
Google has been purchasing optic lines throughout the States and purchasing WiFi technology; now, what if Google decides to use the infrastructure that they now possess, integrate with Google Talk and Google Earth / Map, and provide telephony solutions over WiFi?
There we have it: free mobile phone service that pushes localized advertising based on your location and perhaps even your telephone conversation / e-mail contents. How sweet would that be?
Google, if you're seeing this and it just so happens that it's your plan, give me a call because I'd definitely wanna work for you!
Google's information on you is only as accurate as the information you put into it. If you feel paranoid about what information google uses, simply put, don't put accurate information in that area.
I understand that what I put through on the internet can and may already be monitored. Google's no exception, they really don't have a choice in the matter anyway. I'm not going to take out my frustrations on Google for this, but the entity involved in removing barriers of privacy *cough*.
I think Google is just trying to create new ways to centralize your online experience. It's this innovative trial and error that helped Google attain the popularity and usefulness they have today. I applaud them for trying something new and innovative. It's good to see a company not just applying the same-old same-old online.
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Two reasons for the invite only system...
1. To stop spammers getting gmail accounts. You wouldn't give an invite to a known spammer would you ?
2. To test the six degrees of seperation rule.
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Good article, way to get people thinking!
Reading through it reminds me a lot of the mockumentary type movie, EPIC 2014, wherein Google has joined forces with the likes of Amazon to deliver super targetted ads, news, etc. Great for a good laugh.
Bugger, I was going to post that! ;)
Anyway, I found this article a great read Ivan, thanks.
I enjoy Google type services, i think i use everyone of them each day. But, even though Google is a big gynormous company they seem benign enough to trust. Google has been adopted in to the english language as a verb much like xerox, kleenex, coke/pepsi (which ever you prefer). In an article in Wired, the author acredited this company with god like status by saying "in 20 years a normal conversation someone might say 'i got into my google to go to the google bought some google with some google that i had left in my google.'" Scary, just like the smurfs.
But maybe it was to many SciFi movies (like terminator, or even batman forever-no thatit was a crapfest) but To Much Info i feel is bad for companies to have, even if they have tight control on it. If people know where it resides they'll find a way to get it.
Not SciFi - A journalist is being put in jail in china because he sent an e-mail to a newspaper (i believe). And how would the Chinese Government know that this e-mail would be bad amongst the zillions of other chinese e-mails - do yo yahoo? Gotta imagine, when does this become a worldwide norm? Being sent to jail for e-mailing unfriendly words to others. I understand that the laws are much more strict in China, but where do you draw the line? I mean now-a-days i am even afraid to make a mix tape/cd in fear of the RIAA coming down on my ass. Would i have to fear traveling that i could get incriminated by the variety of pornspam that i get in my Yahoo account because their spam filter sucks?
What does this button d.... CRAP!
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if you want an invite just send me and email with your email adress(where to send you the invitation) to thestaticbot[at]gmail[dot]com
//Static
a little additon to infomation spreading over different mediums. To sum it up... Basically take a pop hit and play the freaking crap out of it using P2P. Using the volume of file swapping data to encourage DJs at radio stations to follow suit.
the phrase "I hate that song cause i hear it everywhere" will take new meaning in our hearts and soldered in our brains.
What does this button d.... CRAP!
Chris Brophy
Iklectek Designs
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