Sue H. Tracking Friends with Google

There is a new mobile device from Google called Google Latitude which tracks a user's movements through location-based technology. Once downloaded onto a mobile device the application will display the user's location on a map, allowing friends and family to know your every movement. Latitude is an opt-in only feature--meaning permission is required before your whereabouts are revealed. Along with location, friends can share other info by updating a status line or changing their picture. Google has incorporated several privacy settings--locations can be manually entered or completely hidden from other people. Users can also adjust the level of geographic info they are willing to share--exact street location for a close friend, city-level information for a boss or associate. Latitude users can also allow their location to automatically update every several minutes while they are moving. A Friends list appears with the map-- users can send text messages or call friends directly from the list, or even find local restaurants and theaters by utlizing a search box.

Mark - Search History

Being able to use a search engine opens up doors to anything imaginable. Almost anything you type into the Google or Yahoo search bar has some result. The internet search tool is something that we did not have 20 years ago, and today, I could not picture my life without it. In John Battelle's book, he discusses how Piper Jaffray estimated that internet users conducted about 550 million searches per day in 2003. That's only per day! Not to mention that Battelle then goes on to say that the search rate is growing at a 30% increase per year! I could not imagine what that total number would be over the course of a few years. There is just so much information available at our finger tips, and the fact that search has become part of our daily lives shows how this tool has given us the ability to find information on almost anything that we can think of, making the internet a main source of knowledge and information for its users.

One great way to track your viewers if you have a site or blog, is to use Google Analytics. This site provides information about where viewers are viewing from, what part of the site they search, any many other things. This can help improve site visability and help the creator see where adjustments need to be made throughout the site.

More on Google Analytics

Kristin- How far will search go?

While reading John Battelle's book The Search it really got me to thinking about how far search has come in the past ten years and where it will be in say another 25. I really enjoyed reading this book because the author really gets you thinking about how much our world already has changed because of search and how much more it is going to change within our lifetime. The part that really struck me was his vision of being able to walk into a grocery store, scanning an item's UPC on ur cell phone, having your phone pull up information on the item, and having the consumer be able to compare prices and read reviews on the item all within seconds. This made me really start to think about the endless possibility advertisers have and how specific and targeted their marketing is getting to each individual consumer. While the whole idea is quite thrilling to think about it can also be a little scary. When is it simply too much or pushing the line?

Krista - Search / Google

Google is introducing new software, "Latitude" that can track where users are via Google maps. It has the ability to pinpoint where the user is within a mile or city. Google promised not to keep any information about its user's whereabouts, only the last location tracked. A version is being created for PC's. The article seems to position this feature as something parents might use to monitor where their kids are. "Analysts believe knowing a person's location eventually will unleash new marketing opportunities."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29012946/

Kerry- Google

When looking at Google as a search I came to the conclusion that it has a lot to offer someone who is in need of a search engine. It seems as though Google is keeping up with the change in technology these days.

One of the interesting things that Google has is a site that lets you explore the earth. You get a 3-D image of the Earth and you could also get a close up on your house! They added a new feature to Google Earth where you could now view the oceans. Google also implemented a teaching tools so it could be used in the classroom. Google really knows how to pick their target market for this website. Check it out!

http://earth.google.com/

Drew-Search for a Search Engine

Have you ever hunted for a hunter? or painted a painter? What about searching for a search engine? After learning a great deal about Google with the book and case study I started to think about the competition between search engines. I have always used Yahoo with my email and homepage but Google has done much better since their emergence. So I searched Google, using Yahoo. This was the first result:

You could go to Google. Or you could stay here and get straight to your answers.

Hmm..Thank you, I think.
The results for searching Yahoo on Google were vastly different. Nothing tried to redirect me to Google. Any and all of the resources of Yahoo were available in the search. This could make for some good discussion as there may be some very logical reasons for these findings but it is nothing short of interesting.
-Drew

Amy: Blog 3/Google

Google provides an invaluable search tool, it's true; but at what cost? Is it really oay that one company has access to all persoanl information, all academic interests as well as perosnal interests, and to the contents of your computer as well (through Google desktop search tool). Is there any way for someone to "turn over a new leaf?" or more seriously, change identity thorugh the witness protection program? Can't Goolge figure out who even those people really are? And what are the alternatives? We either trust Google or we join those who are tryong to rein-in Google.

Google-Watch.org has the following choices:

Google v. copyright Big Broother is well-connected Creepy Gmail Rotten cookie Mozilla evades taxes Subpoena silliness Noncommercial links get buried How bloggers game Google Google must be stopped Spooks on board PageRank sucks googling Valerie
Printing more billions Google ♥ Wikipedia Our letter to Playboy Privacy at Google Drug problem Personal search: Holy Grail or crock? Google's China censorship High time for opt-in Is Google God? Your search terms end up in logs That's a lot to worry about. Google collects and maintains a storehouse of information about each of our computers with the ability to trace everything back to that computer, and so to each of us. Google Watch asks all of us to consider these questions at the heart of their concerns: Questions: Why was Google the first engine to use "maximum" cookies that expire in 2038? Why generate unique cookie ID numbers at all? Why is it that the only data retention policy Google appears to have, is to collect everything that can be collected about the searcher, and store it indefinitely? How does this help Google improve its engine? How can anyone at Google guarantee the future of all this data? Wouldn't Google better serve the public interest by retaining only the data it needs, and only for as long as needed, and then purge it on a regular schedule? Why does Google have to keep all this information about each of us? I think it's because they can; and because they can, they do; and since they do, they might as well play around with it to see what new things they can come up with by using it in different ways. At the heart of this accumulation of information, then, is a creative instinct that asks: "here we have it, what can we do with it." And because they have it, they needed a tag line like "Do no Evil" to remind Google employees that they have this info to play with, not destroy with. In the end, they could do either -- and that's what unnerves me.