It is well know that one of the many perks working at Google is to have 20% of your time available to work on projects that may very likely be outside your job requirements. With almost 20,000 Google employees (per Wikipedia) that 20% translates into millions of hours of innovation time per year. With the talent at Google that brainpower turns into really interesting ideas (not all work out of course) and needs somewhere to live and be tested. I am a strong believer in taking risks and learning from your mistakes and without the bold ideas from their engineers, Google would probably not be what they are today.
Are you interested in checking out those ideas that may translate into the next big Google launch? For those of you who don’t spend all day (and night) online like many of us Sitewire employees you may not be aware that anyone can participate in trying out these ideas and that R&D home is called Google Labs.
Google Labs was launched in May 2002 and since then has posted many exciting projects such as Google Docs and with the help from Google engineers such as Henry Rowley who worked on Google Image Swirl Google Labs is a site you should monitor closely. You can learn more about Google Labs at Google Labs FAQ or check out those Google Lab experiments that graduated.
Below are 3 Google Labs experiments you should consider checking out:
Google Squared
A trend with search engines is displaying search results in different ways such as with images rather than just text; however, when a search engine starts packing results with too many options it can decrease the effectiveness of getting to results you want quickly. Few people would argue that Google.com doesn’t already provide a great search experience; however, Google Squared, launched in June 2009, is potentially a way to improve search results by collecting facts from the web and presenting them in an organized collection, similar to a spreadsheet. What I predict is Google.com will continue to leverage lessons learned from Google Squared to test out enhancements to Google.com results. Give it a try at http://www.google.com/squared
Google Goggles
Google Goggles is different than the Gmail Goggles tool that saves you from potential embarrassment after a few too many cocktails and almost sending off that email on Gmail. Google Goggles allows you to use a picture taken on your mobile phone as a search query. You can learn more about Google Goggles from Sitewire’s mobile expert Sean Bartlett in his January blog post. Keep in mind as with all Google Labs projects they are all works in progress so expect bugs. Give it a try at http://www.google.com/mobile/goggles
Aardvark
This one just showed up in Google Labs but one I have been using for the past year. Aardvark reminds me of a project that did not make it in Google Labs called Google Answers. Aardvark was recently (Feb. 2010) acquired by Google. Aardvark is really cool and quickly and easily allows you to tap into the knowledge and experience of your friends and extended network of contacts. I use it with my instant messenger, Twitter, and email. I can ask a question to Aardvark who then immediately sends it out to those that added my topic to their interest level. The beauty of this tool is unlike other social tools like Facebook you don’t need to build up a network before you can get answers. I found it interesting that Google immediately placed Aardvark into Google Labs. I will be watching this closely to see how Google leverages Aardvark. Give it a try at http://www.vark.com
If there is another project in Google Labs that you recommend we check out please post it in the comments area below:
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This article is from Jay Feitlinger
Jay spends an inordinate (some would say insane) amount of time talking, listening and learning about current and future opportunities in the interactive space. He’s passionate about leveraging online marketing and social media to help businesses connect with their consumers.
Jay has written 4 posts.
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
nice jay i hope you keep what you keep on doing. Just look at what you have already done for the world, you changed how the internet life works and still change it everyday.