Google Reader - The Borg is Watching
January 5th, 2007 by Michael Gray in Google, Grayhat SEO, SEOIf you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Read my top posts or learn more about Michael Gray. Want more frequent updates follow me on Twitter. Thanks for visiting!
The blogosphere is buzzing today about the new stats being published by the Google reader, however I’d like to take a slightly more cynical look at things.
First off let me say I tried the Google reader recently (see Feed Reader Suggestion) and thought it was an excellent product. I would use it myself if it weren’t for the latency issue. Mihai from the Google Reader team explained how that’s not really a workable option. If can ever get over my “me, me, me, I need it now issues” I would definitely use it, and have no problem recommending it for people who are a little more tech savvy.
Lots of people are discussing how the feed reader is now giving stats of what you are reading.
- Matt Cutts: New Reader Trends page
- Darren Rowse - Google Reader adds ‘Reader Trends’
- parislemon blog: Has Google Reader Just Taken the First Step Towards Digg With Trends?
So there’s some speculation Google may be building a digg killer, I think that’s like digging for gold in diamond mine. The real value is in user data. First off do you think Google is giving you the whole enchilada? Sure they are sharing the some of the good stuff but I bet there’s a whole lot of really really interesting stuff they are gathering behind the scenes and not sharing with the public. Do you think knowing that 5000 people are subscribed is a valuable piece of data? Do you think knowing that subscriptions are rising is valuable? Do you think knowing that 300 people “starred” and article is important? How about if you merge that data with linkage data. Could subscription rates be matched with link growth over the same period of time? Do you think it would be an indication of quality? Do you think that data could be merged with toolbar data? Do you think a Google account using a reader that has been around for a longer period of time and is actively used might carry more weight than a drone zombie account that gets logged into once a week or less?
Do I think that this user data plays a significant role in the current algo, absolutely not. Do I think it’s integrated in some way, absolutely. Do I see them “adjusting the knob” and giving it more weight over time “almost certainly”. Some people make their moves on where Google is today. Some of try to think 2 and 3 ply and figure where Google is likely to move next.
Sphere It
January 5th, 2007 at 7:48 am
Time to move the “Add to Google reader” button above the fold.
January 5th, 2007 at 11:05 am
I’m glad someone is paying attention to the implications of all these great new products that are just contributing to Google’s ever-growing omniscience.
When will somebody say “wait, Google has way too much information about way too many people.”
Do you have a predictive SEO post marinading somewhere entitled “Google privacy scandal”?
January 5th, 2007 at 11:47 am
This deserves a comment, good post…
I use Sage Reader and am learning Linux to break free from Windoze not because I am paranoid, but prefer independence and privacy.
I also always think back to website owners who know nothing about how things work. Because a “fish” swims in the same direction as other “fish” does it make the data they are consuming of more value? As you see with the manipulation of social media those who are the loudest are not always the brightest. They often offer useless, self promoting information which is of little value to anyone but themselves.
If I was smart enough to factor reader data into an algorithm it would be of very low value. Might just use it to find out who is gaming the system with “Top ten” attention getting Digg lists if you follow me…
Yes Google surely is a borg but robots are our friends and servants. If they do something we do not like we tweak their brains.
Maybe you could offer ways to make things more fair and balanced Michael?
January 5th, 2007 at 12:16 pm
Excellent post.
It will be interesting to see how sneaky spammers might game it as well. As Aaron Pratt mentioned, I think it will be of low value, but value none the less.
January 5th, 2007 at 12:30 pm
I wouldn’t doubt that the data is also being used to evaluate offering a robust feed distributor service like FeedBurner.
It would compliment their analytics service or whatever they are called now.
Also makes it easier for them to get their ads on feeds. Which might help them keep ads off Reader.
January 5th, 2007 at 1:27 pm
Interesting thoughts. I’ve blogged a few times that Yahoo should integrate their del.icio.us property into their search ranking algorithms. Their algorithm could look at not just quantity (number of times a URL is bookmarked via del.icio.us) but filter based on the quality of the user saving those URLs. Adding a human-powered dimension to their search results could create a better search engine than Google’s. What’s a better indication of the authority of a URL - quantity/quality of links to it (Google) or quantity/quality of bookmarks in del.icio.us (Yahoo)? What do you think, MG?
January 5th, 2007 at 4:56 pm
Michael…!?
Stop giving them ideas!