Category Archives: Google

Dec 21

Google Guru aka Google Answers to take on Yahoo! Answers?

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It seems that Google is recommencing its Google Guru service, a question-answer portal aka Yahoo! Answers where people ask each other questions on any topic, and get answers by sharing facts, opinions, and personal experiences.

Google Blogscoped reports that one of its readers has noticed a “Google Guru” description in his Google Account product page which was directed to http://guru.google.com/guru/, which does not exist anymore . It is accompanied by the text, “Ask questions and get answers from online users.” Link

Ask questions and get answers from online users
Well, don’t rush to Google product page because it may not show up there, the new link has been only appeared to some users for a specific time frame and then it mysteriously disappeared. Google is not marking any announcement of it now. Seems it’s still at R&D backyard.

Google, after a not so successful launch in some countries like Poland, Russia, Thailand in January 2007 has withdrawn the service and now after almost three years it seems it’s pulling it again. It’s active in Thailand but still carrying the “beta” tag even after running for three years.

Google Guru Thailand Print Screen

As of now, the social Q&A space is ruled by Yahoo! Answers, one of the areas where Yahoo! is dominating Google. I can’t help but wonder if Google’s possible acquisition of Aardvark has to anything with this. Aardvark, the social search service company was founded by some ex-Googlers. What it’s into? “Ask questions, get *live* answers from your network! Aardvark finds the perfect person to answer any question in real-time.” You get the strategic connect? However, Aardvark is much more than a Q&A proposition. We may see Google Guru hitting the market with more product benefits than Yahoo! Answers.

For businesses Google Guru may create great opportunities. People may build authority over their niche areas by answering questions and pushing their brand in yet another social platform.

Sep 05

Chrome: Google wants to be a big brother on web?

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Chrome-Google-While we’re transfixed by the presidential election, in the world of high tech another duel between two well-funded, take-no-quarter candidates has just emerged … and in the long run the impact on our daily lives may be nearly as great — and perhaps even sinister.

As you probably heard, on Monday — that is, on a national holiday, when business announcements are almost never made — Google rolled out Chrome, its new Web browser.

Why the odd timing? Hard to say. Google surely knows that just about anything it does these days is going to cause a news frenzy — and especially when it’s announcing its first thrust into a huge new market.

So, perhaps it hoped to temper this coverage to a degree, and drag it out for several days. Or perhaps Google was unsure about the product itself, and didn’t want to overhype it — and then face a potential backlash. Or, maybe Google just didn’t think Chrome was that important, saw a window between the two political conventions and rushed it out.

Google’s official explanation is that the Labor Day release of Chrome was an accident, and the Terms of Use attached to that product were simply a cut-and-paste from other Google products. We will leave it to the reader to decide if these are viable explanations from a multi-billion company regarding one of its biggest new products in years — and, if true, what it says about Google’s competence in handling some of your most sensitive information.