Google Me Guess

Social middle tier (a Social Layer)

So far, there has been little news about Google me, the most important of which is the information released by Eric Schmidt at the Zeitgeist conference this September 14.

(Eric Schmidt) told reporters on Tuesday the Internet search leader intends into work in "layers" of social Sites, rather than unveil a flashy product.

"We ' re trying to take Google's core products and add a social component." If you are about it, it ' s obvious. With your permission, knowing the Who your friends are, we can provide more tailored recommendations. Search quality can get better. "

Eric Schmidt's position on Google me is to add a "social layer" to Google's core offerings (a social layer).

How do you understand this "social layer" (a social layer)? "Social" is needless to say, in the previous article has introduced Google's understanding of "social". The interesting thing about this "middle tier" is that Eric Schmidt mentioned that people no longer need a Facebook cloning site. Positioned as a "middle tier" description, Google me is primarily an internal integration of Google's core apps, adding social elements, serving existing customers, rather than throwing a Facebook clone, starting with the first step to attracting new users.

In fact, Google launched a "middle tier" early on, just without the "social" function.

October 29, 2009, Google launched Google Social search, by the way also Social search data sources Social Circle pushed to the front desk. Social Circle internally captures contact data on applications such as Gmail,greader,google Buzz,google Profile,picasa, while the outside mainly uses contact data from Twitter and friendfeed. As an extension of social circles, the open "friend of Friends" data social circle will also be used. The public content generated by all these indexed contacts, called Social content, is the main source of Google Social search data. Between Google's main app and Google Social search, Social Circle played the role of "middle tier", but the "middle tier" was purely, just a showcase, without providing a typical SNS site's interaction and social interface.

Facebook Open Graph claims to collect "social data" that users are active on the Internet, and it is clear that the "social data" that is collected by the open Graph,google Social Circle is too small for Google's own products, There are also data purchased from Twitter, plus free data from websites such as Flickr,linkedin,friendfeed, which has been bought by Facebook. If Facebook insists on not opening its own data, Google's social search will face problems. Google me is a big part of how to break Facebook's monopoly on social data and hit Facebook's challenges and build a more powerful "social data" collection platform.

In addition to providing data for social search, Google me, of course, has the role of integrating existing Google products, adding social elements to the core of Google products and improving the user experience. In fact, Google's existing applications have a lot of "social" functions, but also try to become "middle tier", but these applications either do not have a good integration of existing products, or for various reasons, users do not buy, not popular. For example, Igoogle,friend connect,google Buzz and Google profile. Take Google profile as an example:

A Google profile are simply how your present yourself on Google all to other Google users. It allows you appear on the Google and tell others a bit more about who you are. With a Google profiles, you can easily share your Web content on one of the location ... You can also allow people for more easily by enabling profiles to is your by searched name. Simply Set your existing profile to show your full name publicly.

Google profile eventually became a page for each of the Google users to show each other, and if you set it to public, Google profile can be used as a "personal business card", but this static "personal homepage" style of social networking in the "Facebook Age" It's clear that Google is in dire need of a social platform to keep up with the trend.

Compete with Facebook Open graph

Although Google has an absolute advantage in the search advertising business, in the display of advertising business, such as Jiang Teacher (@horse) in the "Beast of the general Google display ads" in the article that "... This is basically a war, for other media, it is a survival, for Google, it directly determines the next 35 years of earnings. ”

So another important task for Google me is to compete with Facebook open graph, in addition to strategically positioned as a platform for collecting user "social data" to open up new display advertising space by excavating user's network behavior data (Like,share, etc.) At the same time in martial arts and weapons also to compete. Facebook Open Graph has social Plugins, and open graph Protocol and Graph Api,google are sure to launch a series of protocols and interfaces to make it easier to spread and add value to the social functions of Google me. Before Google has to promote open Social, do not know if Google me will continue open Social, or will it be a first time?

In addition, whether the existing friend connect will be replaced by Google me because of functional duplication, or integrated into Google me, is also worth watching.

Finally, in the promotion of social products, Google will certainly learn the lesson of Google Buzz, not to automatically add users ' Gmail contacts to the Google me contact, should take the current popular "recommendation", such as Twitter's " Suggestions for you. "

Summing up, the upcoming Google Me will be important for Google's future product layout: Provide a "social middle tier" internally, integrate Google's existing core offerings, add social elements to these products, and boost user experience with Google products To fight against Facebook's monopoly of network "social data" through open graph, and to compete with Facebook in the display advertising business. Google me is not a innovative product, for Google, its positioning is a strategic product.

Source: KD Submission, original link.