You put Blogger in my Google! You put Google in my Blogger!
posted February 17, 2003 at 12:47 pm ET
Our spies have been hard at work here at kottke.org, drudging up the latest news, gossip, and graphical user interfaces related to the Google/Pyra deal. Here's an early peek at what Blogger could look like now that Google has its multicolored mitts on it:
The inclusion of the "I'm feeling lucky" button in the interface has already turned the so-called "blogosphere" upside down, creating a schism between the "luckbloggers" and the "luckisfortheshallowthestrongcreatetheirownluckbloggers". More information on this important conflict as it unfolds.
OK, I'm outta here for the night. Tomorrow is going to be a double-whammy. I think you're all going to be surprised who the Blogger Of The Year is. Well, I guess not everyone. Heh. It was a race to the finish. Something to behold. But, as with the other honorees, you guys made the right choice. Hack The Planet, Black Hole Brain, Suck, Mark Pilgrim, Google and.. tune in tomorrow, about 7AM Pacific to find out who you all chose for BOTY.
OK, I'm outta here for the night. Tomorrow is going to be a double-whammy. I think you're all going to be surprised who the Blogger
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Wednesday, February 19, 2003
Dave Winer and Teoma
Dave Winer's a "with it" guy. He gets what the web should be. He wrote about Teoma being a possible replacement for Google when talking about Google's next steps.
Teoma has some features that you can't find in Google. The have a search refinements, which Google is sorely lacking. It helps you drill down to find information using terms and search ideas you may not have realized.
The problem with Teoma is two fold. 1) They don't have a very large index. 2) You have to pay to be included. The first problem isn't a big deal as Teoma is growing ... the second is a killer. The reason why Google rules is that it is all inclusive. You don't have to pay to be in and the Googlebot will pay a visit to your site the minute it finds a link. Your barrier for getting into the index, thus making the search service more valuable, is extremely low.
The service Google should be concerned about is alltheweb. They have a large index and will include your site for free. They also index images, videos, mp3 files, ftp files and news. This is the Google challenger ... not Teoma.
posted by Patrick Grote at 11:17 AM
Google don't blink
Here's one for the history books. "For all intents and purposes, Google owns the Web, by virtue of its superior and highly popular search engine." I don't agree. Teoma appears to be as good a search engine as Google. Here's how the Web works. If Google starts claiming that they own the Web, and tries to foreclose, Microsoft will buy Teoma and give something away that Google charges money for. Then John Doerr will be forced to decide if he is willing to wage a cash battle with Microsoft. He will blink. Google will be history.
If I had to bet, I'd bet that Google is smarter. They're not going to make the same mistake Netscape made -- declaring victory. Instead, they will be humble, and self-deprecating, and set expectations low. (They may have a problem because everyone sees them looming so large.) They will figure out what the users want and give it to them. They may try to act like a platform vendor, and if they do, they will have a historic chance to do it right, one that neither Apple or Microsoft or the W3C has managed. (Or dead ones like Personal Software, Lotus, Borland, General Magic.)
BTW, anyone who believes that Google actually owns the Web should remember that Microsoft owns the browser. Google is a good search engine and blogging tool. We don't know how they will connect them yet. I bet they don't either.
Note to Teoma. If you want to compete with Google, you must have image search.
Adam asks if Teoma should have an XML-RPC API, and the answer is of course. And it should go further than the Google API. Of course the Google API should go further than the Google API too.
