The latest Wired features an interview with Google CEO, Eric Shmidt,
where he breaks down the most powerful brand in the world:
"One is as an advertising system. Another one is as this end-user system
(the search, email, and other applications Google delivers to users
through an Internet browser). A third way to think of Google is as a
giant supercomputer. And then a fourth way is to think of Google as a
social phenomenon involving the company, the people, the brand, the
mission, the values – all that kind of stuff."
Probably the most important thread tying it all together has been personalized content and search. And in the last couple of days, Google has launched some new products/features including:
- iGoogle (the renamed personalized homepage)
- YouTube Active Sharing (your username appears next to your recently watched videos)
- Gadget maker (allows users to easily create customized widgets for their homepage or to share)
According to this recap of a "Personalization workshop" recently held at the Googleplex, the new offerings are supporting Google in 3 ways:
- Search Your own stuff (like Google Desktop Search, Web History)
- Traditional (Pull) Search
- Push Search (like recommendations, iGoogle/ personalized homepage)
We can’t help but love Google, but at the same time the reality of "Big Brother watching your web history" has probably never seemed more tangible than right now. What do you guys think?
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