A lot of Web 2.0 is about aggregation. There’s just so much out there; users want a lot, but need to find new, more interesting, more ‘fun’ ways to sift through the mind-boggling mass of information. Search is just one aspect – you’ve got to have the information rated, perhaps tagged, then you have to facilitate sharing and recommendations.
Syndicated content is now consumed at impressive rates, and feed readers have been around for a while, saving users time and effort. Diverse sites and sources can be monitored, and the user can access almost real-time updates in one place. Free web-based readers are now multiplying like rabbits…
Speaking of 2.0 features, though, Rojo clearly stands up and takes a bow – it’s ‘Mojo’ rating feature is cool and appealing, it’s tagging is efficient, it offers a contacts feature allowing you to share information among your contacts, and it also lets you recommend feeds. Another thing about Rojo – it’s the fastest updated, beating the other services by almost half a day; and it’s very easy to see what’s hot right now on Rojo.
Features wise, Rojo and Bloglines are quite the cups that runneth over. Google Reader is the fastest off the blocks, closely followed by FeedLounge – which is the only one here that isn’t free by the way; they charge something like $5/month. If you look at Techcrunch, there’s also info about some newer players - Attensa, and Gritwire, sure to be bristling with 2.0 gizmos.
Users will soon be taking the next steps into super-selectivity, going beyond mere recommendations and community. Feedrinse is a case in point, enabling you to be much more picky about what you read. Feed readers will have to keep this in mind as the way to go.
Thursday, April 06, 2006
Google Talks Money
Move over Yahoo Finance? Google Finance launched last week, albeit a Beta version. They say it’s different, ‘offering an easier way to search for stocks, mutual funds, public and private companies’. The add-ons include company news and info, some good-looking flash charts that allow interactivity in changing things like timelines, and front-page Ajax for that quick market-view switcheroo.
The first reaction has, as first reactions usually go with Google initiatives, been positive, with many initial users liking the clean, simple interface, the charts and so on. The Groups section, coming up soon, is what’s really interesting: stocks will be talked about here, their relative merits dissected, with paid moderators. This is, clearly, the first time that Google will be publishing content under its own flag, on its own site. As John Battelle says on his searchblog, “This marks a rolling shift at Google - the company is getting into publishing, whether or not it wants to admit it.” ‘Portal’ behaviour this is, and one wonders if the old ‘eyeballs’ game will crop up again.
Forrester Research analyst Charlene Li was clear that “most mainstream financial site users will stick with their current sources for now, primarily because it's simply a pain to have to re-enter your detailed portfolio information again.” And Google Finance is still quite a far cry from being as useful to the online stock tracker as Yahoo; more features/analytics/research will no doubt be added soon. As a service, however, Google will now be more potent for sure.
The new content-focus is what we take away most from here – and with the kind of search expertise on tap at Google, specific info-sites on just about anything could be just another launch away.
The first reaction has, as first reactions usually go with Google initiatives, been positive, with many initial users liking the clean, simple interface, the charts and so on. The Groups section, coming up soon, is what’s really interesting: stocks will be talked about here, their relative merits dissected, with paid moderators. This is, clearly, the first time that Google will be publishing content under its own flag, on its own site. As John Battelle says on his searchblog, “This marks a rolling shift at Google - the company is getting into publishing, whether or not it wants to admit it.” ‘Portal’ behaviour this is, and one wonders if the old ‘eyeballs’ game will crop up again.
Forrester Research analyst Charlene Li was clear that “most mainstream financial site users will stick with their current sources for now, primarily because it's simply a pain to have to re-enter your detailed portfolio information again.” And Google Finance is still quite a far cry from being as useful to the online stock tracker as Yahoo; more features/analytics/research will no doubt be added soon. As a service, however, Google will now be more potent for sure.
The new content-focus is what we take away most from here – and with the kind of search expertise on tap at Google, specific info-sites on just about anything could be just another launch away.
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