Tag Archives: google

Google Updates +1 Button – Now Actually Does Something

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The Google +1 Button

The Google +1 button was rolled out quite a long time before the launch of Google+. In March the +1 button appeared on the search engine results page. You could click it … and it would turn blue. Awesome.

After a couple of clicks you would feel a little bit like a laboratory rat who needs to press a button in its cage to receive food or any other reward, except there’s no reward.

So after some time, in June Google made it possible to embed this button on your website. So the button was now doing nothing on an ever increasing number of places on the web. Later Google optimized the button so it would do nothing three times faster. That’s some high quality engineering for you.

Now the next phase in the social experiment in which we are all part has apparently started, because the button now shares whichever page you click it on on Google+. You can select what circles you want to share it with and can write some explanatory remarks. You basically get the standard sharing window you also see on Google+. Try it out with the live example below (and thanks for sharing).





If you just click the button once it will be stored on your +1 tab on your profile. You can see mine here. You need to go to your own profile and click Edit profile and select “Show this tab on your profile” to make this available. If you also want to share it in your stream you also need to click “Share on Google+” in the pop-up below the button. Google Plus Sharing Window

Google +1 button bookmarklet

If a website has not yet added the +1 button to its pages, you can add it yourself. By saving a piece of code in a bookmark you can have the +1 button appear over any website. This is called a bookmarklet, a bookmark that doesn’t go to a page but summons some other function. It’s not hard to create the +1 button bookmarklet. I have tested it in Google Chrome and Firefox, but it will probably also work in other browsers. Just click and hold the link below and drag it to your bookmarks or bookmarks bar. Google +1

The button on the bookmarks bar of Chrome

After you click on a page a pop-up will appear in the top right with the +1 button.

First Thoughts on Google+, the Social Network

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Google has revealed some information about its latest try to get into the social game and be a worthy competitor for Facebook. Even though Google is a much larger company with a lot more profit than Facebook, its main fear should be that all activity of users will take place behind the closed walls of Facebook. This way all this activity will not be visible to Google search users.

There’s a lot that can be said about Google and its efforts to set up social media services or features. From Orkut to Wave and Buzz the results have varied from mediocre to miserable failure. Now Google has presented Google+, a place where multiple social features come together. Some highlights:

  • Circles: smaller groups of people (family, friends, work, etc.) so you can just share information with this list.
  • Activity stream: which supposedly looks very much like Facebook
  • Sparks: Search the social activities
  • Instant Upload: have your photos on your Android or iPhone sent to Google+, ready to share with people
  • Hangout: video chatting for up to 10 people. Set up a chat and have other people drop in and watch Youtube videos

You can find more details on the Google+ website: http://www.google.com/+/ Wired has an excellent piece by Steven Levy who has walked around the + project for the past year an has more about the motivation of the project. The next quote is from this piece.

Vic Gundotra, Social VP of Google:“We’re transforming Google itself into a social destination at a level and scale that we’ve never attempted — orders of magnitude more investment, in terms of people, than any previous project.”

My thoughts

  • I have been waiting for a central hub for Google’s social tools. It’s nice that you try to bake in some social components in other services such as Gmail and Reader, but I think it is very confusing if you don’t have a central overview.
  • The circles are very smart. This is something Facebook really lacks. It makes it very easy to be in control of what you share and with whom. Big lesson learned from Buzz I think.
  • What is the connection with other social tools and Google services? Will the photo part integrate with Picasa? How does Buzz fit into this? Will they stop development of it or will it be incorporated (I say incorporate for people who want that). Hangout looks a lot like Gtalk, what’s the connection there? How will Reader Shared items and the +1 button work with Google+? It would be a real strong point if Google would use + to create some order in the chaos and have a clear social proposition for users.
  • Some services in + have a lot of potential to replace current success stories, especially with mobile integration (which is a big part in + I think). Send updates to people in a circle from your phone. Check in when you are visiting a location or ask your friends for recommendations (using the sparks). If Hangout works on your phone, no need to call regularly any more.

As always it’s now about execution and getting users. I have signed up to get a beta account so I’m very curious how this will continue. It looks like a more serious and better executed effort than the previous attempts and I expect it will get the support an effort it deserves.

Source: Wired Marketingfacts

Google Talk

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Een tijdje geleden ben ik op zoek gegaan naar een alternatief voor de Gmail Notifier. Een klein programmaatje dat je vertelt of je nieuwe mail hebt. Helaas waren de mensen van Google te hard bezig met spelen in de ballenbak van hun campus om het programma te verbeteren en had het de onhandigheid dat je iedere keer als het opgestart werd op OK moest drukken.

En dat al drie jaar lang. Maar nu was daar dan Google Talk of Gtalk. Het programma is gemaakt om contact te houden met anderen die ook een google account hebben. Die kunnen dan met je chatten als ze ook Google Talk hebben of in hun Gmail inbox. Daar heb je namelijk ook een chatbox. Extra voordeel is echter dat je het ook te horen krijgt als je een nieuw mailtje binnen krijgt. Handig, non?

Nog een extra feature is dat twitter kan samenwerken met Google Talk. Ik heb het nog niet uitgeprobeerd, maar je zou je twitter berichten binnen moeten krijgen als je twitter@twitter.com toevoegt als contactpersoon en je twitter account hiervoor instelt.