Couple of bits of Google
product news this weekend. Firstly, at last some tangible
evidence of an online presentations app from Google, one of the missing pieces so far
in the much-anticipated Google Office suite.
The ‘Google Operating System’ blog dug into some file notes from Google that reveal the
code-name of the tool is Presently (a play on Writely, the name of the online word
processor bought by Google). This will be an online version of Powerpoint, but no other product details are known at this point.
In other news Google is ramping up its
personalization efforts. Now when you’re signed in to Google, you’ll “have access to
a personalized Google – one that combines personalized search results and a personalized
homepage.” Google’s best-known blogger, Matt Cutts, mentions this in his latest post – as well
as linking to external analysis on the personalization theme.
I actually came across it
myself the other day, via Google Accounts. At the time I wasn’t sure whether this
message in the Google Accounts Help was new or not:
“What does it mean for Google to be more personalized with Google Accounts?
When you’re signed in to Google Accounts, you’ll now get more relevant, useful search
results, recommendations and other personalized features. For example, if you use Google
Bookmarks or Google Search History, you’ll get more targeted web search results and
recommendations for videos or gadgets.”
Although there’s nothing spectacularly new in all this, it looks like Google is beginning to integrate its various personalization efforts more. Remember when we did a
poll asking which “Search 2.0” approaches stand the best chance to beat Google? Well
Personalized Search ended up getting the most votes! So looks like Google is
covering the search 2.0 attack with a full court press.
