Close
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Logo
Logo
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Applications
    • Applications
    • Cloud
    • IT Management

    Google Launching Social Search Soon, Challenging Aardvark, ChaCha, Mahalo

    By
    Clint Boulton
    -
    October 21, 2009
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin

      A key Google search executive unveiled Google Social Search at the Web 2.0 Summit Oct. 21, attempting to upstage significant announcements from search challenger Microsoft Bing.

      Marissa Mayer, vice president of search products and user experience at Google, got permission to make a surprise announcement this afternoon at the show here, mere hours after Microsoft executives announced that Bing would be surfacing search results with Twitter tweets and Facebook status updates in real time.

      Mayer did a me, too play. When she took the stage, she told the audience that Google would also begin enabling users to search Twitter tweets in the coming months before demonstrating Social Search.

      In a demonstration, Mayer showed how in planning a trip to New Zealand, she was able to find content about the country written by people in her social network who have been there. The content, which included travel logs and photos, was at the bottom of the search results page. She also showed how users can find restaurant reviews written by friends in the service.

      “We think this is great from a precision and relevance standpoint,” Mayer said. “We’re really excited to be able to offer this type of service to our users.”

      To use Social Service, users must be signed into Google via their Google Account, Google Contacts and must have a Google Profile, where users list the various social networks they are members of, including FriendFeed and Twitter.

      The service then cross-references information about users from those networks with their Gmail accounts, determining who users are connected to.

      The service is opt-in, so users will have to click a button to use the service when it launches from Google Labs in a few weeks, Mayer said. Danny Sullivan has more details here on Search Engine Land.

      The emergence of Google Social Search could pose quite a quandary for the litany of social search engines. This includes newly minted startup Aardvark, as well as old-school vendor Eurekster and others such as Mahalo and the dozens of others that litter the market.

      Google already has millions of users for its general search engine. If even a fraction of these millions begin using Google Social Search, it might not leave much room for the challengers. What the play does show, is that Google has been quite conscientious about the impact the rise of Facebook and Twitter have for the social networking space.

      With Google Social Search, the company is aiming for a Reese’s peanut butter cup of search and social, two worlds that could mesh quite nicely together, if only users take a bite.

      Clint Boulton

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Big Data and Analytics

      Alteryx’s Suresh Vittal on the Democratization of...

      James Maguire - May 31, 2022 0
      I spoke with Suresh Vittal, Chief Product Officer at Alteryx, about the industry mega-shift toward making data analytics tools accessible to a company’s complete...
      Read more
      Cybersecurity

      Visa’s Michael Jabbara on Cybersecurity and Digital...

      James Maguire - May 17, 2022 0
      I spoke with Michael Jabbara, VP and Global Head of Fraud Services at Visa, about the cybersecurity technology used to ensure the safe transfer...
      Read more
      Cloud

      IGEL CEO Jed Ayres on Edge and...

      James Maguire - June 14, 2022 0
      I spoke with Jed Ayres, CEO of IGEL, about the endpoint sector, and an open source OS for the cloud; we also spoke about...
      Read more
      Applications

      Cisco’s Thimaya Subaiya on Customer Experience in...

      James Maguire - May 10, 2022 0
      I spoke with Thimaya Subaiya, SVP and GM of Global Customer Experience at Cisco, about the factors that create good customer experience – and...
      Read more
      Big Data and Analytics

      GoodData CEO Roman Stanek on Business Intelligence...

      James Maguire - May 4, 2022 0
      I spoke with Roman Stanek, CEO of GoodData, about business intelligence, data as a service, and the frustration that many executives have with data...
      Read more
      Logo

      eWeek has the latest technology news and analysis, buying guides, and product reviews for IT professionals and technology buyers. The site’s focus is on innovative solutions and covering in-depth technical content. eWeek stays on the cutting edge of technology news and IT trends through interviews and expert analysis. Gain insight from top innovators and thought leaders in the fields of IT, business, enterprise software, startups, and more.

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Advertisers

      Advertise with TechnologyAdvice on eWeek and our other IT-focused platforms.

      Advertise with Us

      Menu

      • About eWeek
      • Subscribe to our Newsletter
      • Latest News

      Our Brands

      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms
      • About
      • Contact
      • Advertise
      • Sitemap
      • California – Do Not Sell My Information

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      © 2022 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×