{"id":26694,"date":"2012-01-18T15:49:57","date_gmt":"2012-01-18T20:49:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/countingpips.com\/fx\/2012\/01\/18\/is-google-search-plus-your-world-really-that-bad-of-an-idea\/"},"modified":"2012-01-18T15:49:57","modified_gmt":"2012-01-18T20:49:57","slug":"is-google-search-plus-your-world-really-that-bad-of-an-idea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/fx\/2012\/01\/18\/is-google-search-plus-your-world-really-that-bad-of-an-idea\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Google Search Plus Your World Really That Bad of An Idea?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Is Google Search Plus Your World Really That Bad of An Idea?<\/a><\/p>\n

by Jeannette Di Louie<\/a>, Investment U<\/em> Research<\/p>\n

Wednesday, January 18, 2011<\/p>\n

\u201cGoogle May Have Just Made the Worst Mistake in its History This Week,\u201d a Business Insider<\/em> headline speculated on Friday.<\/p>\n

And Forbes<\/em> echoed similar sentiments, firmly stating with one of its own that \u201cGoogle CEO Larry Page Just Made His First Big Mistake.\u201d<\/p>\n

But perhaps the most shocking headline of all concerning the reigning search champ\u2019s alleged error was Gizmodo\u2019s<\/em>, which read: \u201cGoogle Just Made Bing the Best Search Engine.\u201d<\/p>\n

That forceful declaration demands two immediate responses: \u201cReally?\u201d and \u201cHow bad could it have been?\u201d<\/p>\n

Now don\u2019t get me wrong \u2013 because I actually prefer Microsoft\u2019s<\/strong> (Nasdaq: MSFT<\/a>) Bing over Google<\/strong> (Nasdaq: GOOG<\/a>). But that doesn\u2019t mean I have any illusions that Bing is anywhere close to being as powerful or as popular as Google.<\/p>\n

Yet Bing did get a boost with Google\u2019s announcement last week concerning its newest innovation. With Google Search Plus Your World (SPYW), the company managed to tick off prominent techies \u2013 like Gizmodo\u2019s<\/em> Mat Honan and Business Insider\u2019s<\/em> Matt Rosoff \u2013 enough to allegedly leave Google for good.<\/p>\n

Google Search Plus Your World in a Nutshell<\/strong><\/p>\n

When it comes down to it, Google SPYW is really just an attempt at self-promotion.<\/p>\n

Last year, Google launched a social media site called Google+ in an attempt to beat out Facebook<\/a>. And since that\u2019s no easy task, the search engine went a step further and came up with SPYW.<\/p>\n

Search Plus automatically draws from information posted on Google+, generating query results based off of that data. So if John Smith logs into his Google account and then conducts a general internet search for one of his Plus buddies, he\u2019s much more likely to get relevant results than otherwise.<\/p>\n

This is \u201cpotentially groundbreaking\u201d technology, as Wired<\/em> Senior Writer Steven Levy points out. \u201cIf Google is able to leverage the knowledge it accumulates about you, it can deliver much better search results.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the downside, that capability doesn\u2019t extend much further than Google+. John\u2019s Facebook, for example, might as well not exist according to Google+.<\/p>\n

The company says it\u2019s looking into changing that, but it has some other kinks to work out, as Levy also points out:<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cWith SPYW, the search experience deeply becomes intertwined with Google\u2019s social networking product. You see it in the search box, where the Google+ identity becomes the way to identify a person whose name is in a query. You see it in the search results, where Google+ content is overwhelmingly displayed compared to other social material from Google\u2019s competitors. You see it in a \u2018People and Pages\u2019 list \u2013 suggestions for connections on Google+ \u2013that appears in the same column as Google\u2019s ads.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

In other words, SPYW is obnoxious in its self-promotion. Though, admittedly, anybody who doesn\u2019t like the feature can simply turn it off and go back to a regular Google experience<\/a>. And anybody who doesn\u2019t have a Google account doesn\u2019t have to worry about it at all.<\/p>\n

So Did Google Mess Up or Not?<\/strong><\/p>\n

When everything is said and done, Google SPYW may very well have been far too bold a move to promote a still largely insignificant service. Then again, it might be the kick that Google+ needs.<\/p>\n

At this point, it\u2019s far too early to say one way or the other.<\/p>\n

While Rosoff makes a good point in saying, \u201cIn tech\u2026You lose when you make your customers angry,\u201d and people don\u2019t seem to be very happy with SPYW so far. But that\u2019s mostly techies and not the main public.<\/p>\n

Right now, a lot of assumptions are being made over a product that hasn\u2019t really<\/em> hit the market yet. And Google has the benefit of already having a loyal following<\/a> that all but laugh at other search engine attempts.<\/p>\n

Knowing that, don\u2019t buy or sell into the hype. Just keep an eye (only one is necessary for the time being) on the situation and see what happens.<\/p>\n

Good Investing,<\/p>\n

Jeannette Di Louie<\/p>\n

\n<\/img><\/a> <\/img><\/a> <\/img><\/a> <\/img><\/a> <\/img><\/a>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

Article by Investment U<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Is Google Search Plus Your World Really That Bad of An Idea? by Jeannette Di Louie, Investment U Research Wednesday, January 18, 2011 \u201cGoogle May Have Just Made the Worst Mistake in its History This Week,\u201d a Business Insider headline speculated on Friday. And Forbes echoed similar sentiments, firmly stating with one of its own … <\/p>\n

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