A Search History Privacy Tale

Worth a read. This fellow has noticed a flaw in how security is - or is not - handled in Google's approach to personal search history.

Yes, I did give my permission for someone to log in to their Google account from my laptop. However, I reasonably expected Google to log him out after a while even if he did not log himself out. Then I realized that this is probably not a bug, but rather an architectural limitation. Google cannot tell when a person has finished using a particular computer or if in fact if that person actively uses multiple computers. For personalized search to work well, Google needs to capture all of a user’s search activity. While doing that aggressively, Google became a tool for compromising my privacy.

As a result, my search results are not only "owned" by someone else, I don't even have access to them.

• Posted by John Battelle at 9:27 PM
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Dog Bites Man. Google Crushes It.

Just landed. Everyone knows Google crushed it again. But the stock seems to be priced already for crushing performance, because it did not pop in after hours. In fact, it dipped.

Seeking Alpha has the transcript of the earnings call. It's really worth a read if you want to geek out - esp. Larry and Sergey's comments on search and advertising, and the Q&A from the analysts.

• Posted by John Battelle at 7:32 PM
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Thank God For 20% Time

Man, I wish I smoked weed like I used to in graduate school. I'd have a 24-hour party to watch the sunset across the globe on Google Earth. No, really. I mean....wow, man.

• Posted by John Battelle at 7:47 PM
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When Microsoft (and Yahoo) Are Sucking Wind, Is It Fun to Be Google?

When Live Search launched, I was happy to see how the company positioned search as in the early stages of development (sure, they quoted my book, so that helped). But since then, it's been mostly bad news for Live Search. A reader (thanks Michelle) pointed me to this Cnet story. In it, the author describes what most of us already know - that Microsoft has continued to lose search market share, and further, that some analysts believe that the Live brand has confused the public.

"Microsoft's Live branding has been tremendously confusing and has hurt the company, and it is very likely contributing to the situation they are in right now," said David Smith, an analyst at Gartner. "They've created another brand and have not differentiated it."

It's too early to pass "final judgment" on the strategy, Smith said. But now is the time for Microsoft to clearly explain its strategy, he said.

Now, whether or not you agree with this statement (and I have to say, I found the Live brand rather confusing myself when I first encountered it), when a story like this breaks, and folks start commenting on it, it's time to join the conversation. Microsoft is still Microsoft, and I agree with the analyst, the company needs to have a voice responding to this marketplace meme of lackluster performance. Or maybe, just maybe, the launch of Vista will obviate it all? I sure hope that's not the long term strategy.

I think in the end this has to do with the company's massive brand equity in Office and Windows. Consumers totally get what Microsoft means to them - it means the desktop, and it means the main desktop applications they all use (I can say they, I'm a Mac guy, remember?). But when a new brand is launched - "Live" - that trades off Windows ("Windows Live") and Office ("Office Live") but fail to do what those things do online, well, it's not going to work as a brand. Recall when I rather frankly suggested that Microsoft split into two companies? This is why.

I can't believe I am saying this (I was a total Mac partisan in the early 90s Mac vs. PC wars), but I really, really want Microsoft to succeed in search and in Ray Ozzie's vision for service-based applications. I also want Yahoo to shake off its funk, as I've written before. It strikes me as important to have as many innovators as possible in this field, as we are at a very critical moment in the development of this young industry. It's too early for one company to win, and I sense that the folks over at Google would agree with me.

• Posted by John Battelle at 6:58 PM
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While I Was Away...TellMe

TellMe has launched the first step in what may well be a very important new era in mobile search - Tellme by Mobile. TechCrunch covers it here. I got to play with this in early beta, and it is really impressive. A caveat - TellMe is an FM advertiser, and I agreed to give them my unvarnished input as part of TellMe's FM program (they have a feedback forum on the new product, a very good idea, here).

As I opined for three years, I've been waiting for a mobile app that finally uses voice to drive search on the go. This could be it. For now, it's just the equivalent of Yellow Pages 411, but if this works the implications are clear - the underlying voice recogniction technology paired with very smart structured search could be a killer app. It's a little odd getting used to a voice-command-based local search experience, and the system does not always work, but then again, neither does text-based search.

But here's why I think TellMe is well positioned - this java app is carrier independent. Let me say that again - carrier independent. Now that is a breakthrough.

Won't someone like Yahoo or Google just buy Tellme, and swallow it? Could be, but the price will be dear. The company has nine-figure revenues, is profitable, and has a very respected leader in Mike McCue, who I have stayed in touch with for over a decade. Mike has really stayed true to his original vision of voice-driven telephony (you most likely use his stuff if you call information, which I am sure you do). He's seen the ups and downs of the past ten years, and he's built an impressive set of IP assets, including a huge database of phonemes (basic word parts) and related associations. His company is clearly on an IPO track - another thing that makes it unique - and I for one am thrilled for him.

• Posted by John Battelle at 1:47 PM
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