Google has released a new service called Google Co-op…
Basically, it allows you to brand and target searching. Searching based on topics and customized search results and branding.
Example: rubyinside.com Ruby Search
How cool is that? Well… let me explain what I think will happen with this.
Step 1: Google builds giant search engine / indexing system. Provides good results for search queries but not perfect.
Step 2: In search of perfection, Google decides to offload topical search and data statistics onto users, thus entering Co-op.
Step 3: User creates a search focused on Ruby sites and what he/she thinks is important… organizes the search results… all the data being collected by Google.
Step 4: Google takes ALL of this data, from topical search results and trends from Co-ops and integrates it into it’s larger search mechanism…
Step 5: Google now provides improved search results as a benefit from letting users create more important data for their indexes.
See what I’m talking about? Think about it in this way… I can provide an answer to you for any question, but it might not be right. I provide a room for you to sit down with an expert who will provide better answers, but I will be there listening… Now when someone else asks a similar question, I can respond with the knowledge I gained from the other experts.
Brilliant
Yeah, I think you’re right on with this assessment. Getting your users to provide content is the brilliant innovation of web 2.0, but learning from what they provide to improve your own services is a great way for google to take it to next level.
I’m a bit uncomfortable with their ability to spin a research project as nothing more than a beneficial new program for the user, but I suppose it’s alright—as long as they’re clear about what data they’re collecting, and they’re actually providing a helpful service.
Actually, this whole thing reminds me of their image labeler game, except in this case google is less forthcoming about the ways that they’re benefiting from the users’ contributions. It’s interesting to see how web companies are motivating people to contribute free work, and I feel like there must be more important real-world ways to apply their approaches. How can we turn altruism into a competitive game in the real world, not just on the web, so that maybe we could solve world hunger, instead of just improving image search? I’ll have to mull this over some more . . .