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Google Sidewiki, a tool that allows people to comment directly on nearly any website, launched this past week to muted shrugs from the tech world and a nervous shudder by website and business owners alike. Sidewiki is a part of Google Toolbar, widely available for and in active use on Firefox and Internet Explorer browsers, and will be built directly into Google Chrome (it is not supported at this time).
If it’s handled well, Sidewiki could prove to be a very interesting and useful tool, from a user perspective. If handled badly, it will suffer a long and gruesome death (for both readers and abused websites).
The purpose of Sidewiki is to allow people who use Google Toolbar to easily find pertinent, user-created information on websites and businesses — information that is not under the influence of the website’s resident marketing genius (hence the nervous shudder). However, as some of the more prominent tech reviewers point out, not only has this been tried before (and failed), but users can already accomplish this kind of information sharing via multiple other services (blogs, forums, review sites, Twitter, etc.) The main difference in Sidewiki is that user comments and reviews, as well as some blog posts, are attached directly to the webpages themselves via an expanding sidebar. You can read through the items, add your own take, and share any comment instantly via email, Facebook, IM or Twitter. Comments can even be attached directly to specific content on the page and are indicated by handy little chat-style bubbles that just beg to be clicked on.
The first iterations of web annotation were hacked to pieces by business owners out of pure fear — that was about 10 years ago, when the web was still a backward and scary place — in today’s web, rapid transfer of user-coined Information is all the rage. With Google’s massive weight thrown behind It, and the hundreds of millions of Google Toolbar users that are about to get an upgrade, the timing may be just right for Sidewiki’s success, though it is bound to have some serious hurdles to overcome.
Spam Problems and Google’s Solution
There are a number of problems that Sidewiki will have to surmount before it can expect to rule the land of user comments. The biggest of these issues is spam. Does anyone remember Searchwiki? It is a very similar tool, also by Google, that was designed to allow users to comment on search results. Something about an open forum, though, brings out the worst in people — or at least attracts idiots. As a result, Searchwiki is commonly viewed as an useless abomination due to the extreme overabundance of spam on the service. Google assures us that this will not be the case with Sidewiki. This is a good thing. No one is too keen to have a stream of flaming comments and useless crap attached to their website in any way — and no one really wants to read that crap either.
Google’s approach with Sidewiki was to spend most of the development phase with a bunch of engineers working on a fancy new algorithm. This algorithm will attempt to weed out the useless and inane and float only the highest quality comments to the top of the list.
The algorithm works on three major Levels:
- Use of sophisticated language (sorry to the folks who have already made their list of sites to attack with “Lame” and You Suck *___* comments).
- User reputation — make sure your comments are useful or people will use the built in flagging service to bury them.
- User History — this is not just how long you have been commenting. Google also takes into account your Google Profile (do you have one, how long have you had it, are you active, etc.).
The higher you rank in the above, the better your comments will do overall. The most interesting thing here is the emphasis on Google Profile (your mysterious “Profile Rank is also taken into account in your comments’ viability). For me, that seemed to come out of nowhere, but it does add a bit of a check and balance to the system in that it brings with it some small sense of accountability. Not only do you have to be logged in to Google services to use Sidewiki (just to comment, not to read), but your comments are posted directly to your Google Profile for the world to see (this may have the added affect of getting more people to look past the inherent ugliness of Google Profiles and start using one).
Side note on the above: Don’t be fooled if you see your comment on the top of the list. As long as you are logged In, you will always see your comments first. Log out and you will see what others see.
General Use
Once you are logged in to Google Sidewiki, find yourself a page that already has a few comments (Google.com and Microsoft.com are no-brainers). Click on the little chat bubbles or the blue tab with the white >> on it and Sidewiki will open. You can resize the sidebar by clicking and dragging the right edge.
Scan through the comments, click on them and they will expand and offer you sharing and voting options. If there are enough comments, there will be a next button. If you click that you may see an example of the algorithm at work in a small message at the top that lets you know “these entries may be less useful” than the others. This is evidenced well by the image below in which someone comments “Really interesting” on Google’s homepage. Nothing racy, but definitely not enough content to make the cut. There is some question of the algorithm’s effectiveness though, as the comments below the one mentioned seem to be of higher quality — perhaps he had a higher profile rank? Only time will tell, I suppose.
In any case, to make your own comment, there is a Write New Entry button in the bottom left of the sidebar. Sometimes it is overlapping with a comment and hard to read — they are still working out the kinks, it seems. Another option is, with Sidewiki collapsed, look for the tiny little, square, pencil icon on the left of your page. Click it and you are on your way to writing your first entry.
A final option is to select some text on the page (with Sidewiki open or closed). When you do this, the pencil icon will pop up in line with your selection, and when you click it, Sidewiki will let you know that you are writing an entry about what you selected. Once your comment is posted, you will see that the little chat bubble will indicate there is a comment near the section of the page where you selected the text. You also have the option to share your own comments via the social bookmarking tools. Go take a look at your Google Profile, as well, if you have one. You will see the comment listed there.
That’s it. Done. That’s all there is to it. Unless you want your comments to get noticed, of course. For that, as I mentioned above, you need to get out there and actually use Sidewiki on a fairly regular basis, especially as it gains in popularity.
NOTE: Some people have expressed privacy concerns regarding the use of Google Sidewiki. This is due to the fact that you must allow Google to access your usage information for Sidewiki to work (much like the Web History tool, also part of Google Toolbar). This is bound to bother a few people, especially in light of Google’s notoriously vague Privacy Policy. As with anything, you should take a moment to read the terms of use, and then decide for yourself.
Personally, I think Sidewiki has a good chance of making it, though it does have some competition in companies like Diigo, DotSpots, Fleck and Trailfire. As mentioned in this article on the Bluetoque Marketing Tips blog, websites owners and users alike may just have to suck it up and attempt to play nice with one another. This is just one more step to a potentially more useful and socially connected web, and even if Sidewiki flops, there will be another attempt at it from someone else at a later date.
What do you think of Google Sidewiki? Will you use it? Will the algorithm keep the spammers at bay? Let us know in the comments.
Ching Ya says:
I admit, the first time I heard of Google Sidewiki I was not enthusiast by it. Not only just from the case of Searchwiki, but the tendency of facing MORE spams. It’s good that Google has decided to take up the challenge, based on the user reputations, profile history etc to judge how a comment is displayed; however it’s always hard to determine and spammers still lurking around in Twitter eventhough preventive steps are taken, creating more fake accounts.. It’s a never ending story.
Obviously it’s another social networking tool that requires time to prove its actual benefits. Whether such convenience will bring greater exposures or more headaches in maintaining a website.. we’ll see.
@wchingya
Social/Blogging Tracker
September 30, 2009 — 3:28 am
Bobby says:
Hi Ching Ya,
I think many people out there have the same standoffish feeling as you when it comes to Sidewiki — either from the spam or perceived privacy issues. Google has its work cut out for it, but if they manage to make it stick, there will definitely be some long term implications in how both users and businesses view and use the web.
September 30, 2009 — 3:47 am
A says:
See this link and then rethink what the hell you are saying about sidewiki.
Open your damn eyes.
http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/Toolbar/thread?tid=65cd1ca77affd341&hl=en&fid=65cd1ca77affd341000474c549416254
September 30, 2009 — 4:00 am
Bobby says:
Hi again!
You left the exact same comment on the Bluetoque Marketing post on Sidewiki mentioned above. l wrote that article too. :)
For the benefit of the readers here, I will summarize what my response was on the Bluetoque site, and tailor it more toward the content of the 40tech article, which is more about a user approach to Sidewiki as opposed to a website owner:
Essentially, I believe that as a business owner, your concerns are valid. There are, as I mentioned in the article, definite reasons to be concerned about Sidewiki, especially if it takes off and Google’s new algorithm is less than up to the task it is supposed to be. No one here is jumping up and down for joy and trying to be a Sidewiki evangelist at this point. It should be recognised, however that Sidewiki is being presented to the world as a useful service and that some significant time and effort has gone in to trying to make it so.
The simple fact is that the idea of web annotation has been around for a long while and will likely remain so even after Sidewiki is a forgotten wisp on the wings of memory (yes that is what I said: forgotten wisp, wings of memory :P) . It is best to understand that reality, and a smart decision for business owners to put some energy into mitigating the potential damage that might come from widespread use of the service. I cover ways to do just that on the Bluetoque Marketing post (linked in the article above).
As a user, I find the concept of Sidewiki intriguing and potentially useful if the inherent spam problem is dealt with effectively. As a business and website owner, I am a bit trepidatious about it as the comments are always floating there, right next to my webpages — and that could prove to be problematic in the public relations department. However, businesses can find similar issues with Twitter, Facebook, Friendfeed, or any number of frequently used, real time or delayed time web services, including blogs. As long as the services or articles are are indexed into search results, users will find that information and will try to make an informed decision. As they should.
I do think that you had an extremely important idea in your post to google, though: It would be fantastic if there were a service like Google Alerts that allowed website owners to be notified when someone posts a comment (or a comment that contains certain keywords) on the Sidewiki associated to their website. It would be only fair, I think, and would go a long way to giving business owners a fighting chance to deal with any fallout from Sidewiki.
Once again, thanks for your comment, and please feel free to disagree and start a dialogue. We appreciate and encourage an intelligent exchange of ideas here! :D
September 30, 2009 — 5:20 am
Kosmo @ The Casual Observer says:
“I do think that you had an extremely important idea in your post to google, though: It would be fantastic if there were a service like Google Alerts that allowed website owners to be notified when someone posts a comment (or a comment that contains certain keywords) on the Sidewiki associated to their website.”
Yeah, especially since Google definitely has the ability to do this. They already have a web owner verification process that they use for other services (upload an HTML file with specific text in it, include a certain meta tag, etc).
Oh, joy, more spam about Tehran and great deals on prescription drugs …
.-= Kosmo @ The Casual ObserverĀ“s last blog ..The Case of Roman Polanski =-.
September 30, 2009 — 9:50 am
Bobby Travis says:
*nods at Kosmo* For certain. In fact, if you want to take advantage of the Site-Owner gets the top comment on the site option they offer, you have to have verified with Webmaster Central.
September 30, 2009 — 2:36 pm
Evan Kline says:
I am very concerned about Sidewiki. I think it is good intentioned, but not thought out. The biggest problem isn’t from what we traditionally view as spam, but from outright attempts to flame competitors. For example, let’s say Joe’s Tire Shop is new in town, and doing a good job. The huge tire shop down the street has tons of employees, many of whom create Google accounts, and then post Sidewiki comments from home about how Joe’s Tire Shop ripped them off, etc. The same good be done against any business, even something like Bluetoque Marketing. I imagine that would be hard for any filter to catch if done intelligently.
The latest episode of This Week in Google really summarized well my concerns with Sidewiki:
– it bifurcates comments between a site’s built-in system, and Sidewiki. Given the power of Google, this could really kill off site commenting if Sidewiki catches on. We might need to invent a new word – “comment-jacking.”
– hate speech / flames by competitors, as indicated above. Website owners lose the ability to be responsible for the content that appears on their sites (or at least that ability is greatly reduced – I understand that owners may have some trivial abilities on their own sites).
– let’s hope Google doesn’t ever try to monetize this by serving ads, in essence stealing our content. I think there is already legal precedent against this, so I’m not too worried about this.
The big difference between this and other efforts is that this is Google, which has WAY more clout than other companies that tried this. With it being built into Chrome, this could be VERY dangerous if Chrome every gains market share.
Frankly, I’m hoping this is like other Google efforts, where they eventually let it die off.
September 30, 2009 — 9:22 am
Bobby Travis says:
I agree with much of what you say, Evan. All the more reason, I think, to start early and get your own comment reputation scores up if at all possible. I think what is going to ultimately determine the success or failure of Sidewiki will be the effectiveness of its algorithm. I am — and I think they are too — considering competitor slamming to be part of the blanket “spam” term. However, as Search Engine Optimizers have proven time and again, no algorithm is perfect. It will only be a matter of time before people figure out how to spike their comment rankings and Google will have to adjust its algorithm. If the algorithm can’t take care of the stuff that people are so vocally worried about, the Sidewiki service will probably crash and burn. If it does work, by some miracle, it will be a useful user service. Time will tell, and hopefully tell quickly to eliminate the big question mark.
All that aside, in both of my articles, as I was attempting an impartial take, I didn’t actually mention the thing about Sidewiki that bothers me most: The fact that it almost forces you to become involved in order to rank high enough to be able to manage your own brand. I advise that people do it, yes, but only because it is the best course of action to manage this new anomaly. I am not a fan of being forced to do anything. The good thing is, if you are brand and reputation focused, you are likely doing a lot of what you need to do anyway.
It will be interesting to see what happens with site comments, for certain. There are Twitter tools developing, though, like Tweetboard (www.tweetboard.com) for example, that may morph into site commenting tools as well though. I have installed the beta (or is it alpha?) on Bluetoque Marketing’s site and it has some serious potential.
I hope you are right about a legal precedent against ads — especially because in some of their services that are meant to promote your business or site, you can often find ads served that are actually for competitors. Another algorithmic issue, I’m thinking…
September 30, 2009 — 2:29 pm