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Everything we know Google is working on for the new year

arstechnica.com

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Re: Everything we know Google is working on for the new year

#41

Post by kbenson »

jodrellblank wrote: post #26
rev_bird wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm perpetually torn about this -- on the one hand, the way they want to serve relevant ads is by knowing everything about my life, even if I don't want them to. On the other hand, I'll get really relevant ads. That's kind of nice.

The limit of "really relevant ads" is automatically emptying your wallet and delivering things you "want". Even if you didn't want them until you saw the ad.

"want" is a superset of "useful/life enhancing" which is itself a superset of "need". We probably know our needs, and getting things we want but don't really help us may not be a good outcome, but discovering things that help us in our lives that we weren't aware of is definitely a good thing. I would like to see more of that.

Re: Everything we know Google is working on for the new year

#42

Post by sp332 »

foobarqux wrote: post #34
sp332 wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have a better idea. How about turning the tables and making a service that collects info about advertisers instead of users? Then let users browse your database of companies (and/or the products they're pushing) and actively search for what they went. Filters could be ecological stance of the company, color or style of the product, user reviews, published "expert" reviews, etc. Turn all that data over to the user a…

You can only search for what you already know about (and want to search for).

I already find tons of stuff I didn't know on Google! More, seriously, advertisers already "target" ads based on such loose parameters as age or location. Let me set my age as a filter if I want to, then you can show me those ads. Pinterest is starting to monetize people browsing semi-aimlessly through pages of tangentially-related items. This could just be a variation on that.

Re: Everything we know Google is working on for the new year

#43

Post by brymaster »

jmathes wrote: post #17
tracker1 wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Given their ad sales model, they're working on ways to serve you ads you're more likely to click on.

We try to show ads that people will click on AND THEN buy/use whatever's on the other end. This maximizes advertiser value, long-term Google profit, and user experience all at once. So we're trying to show you ads that you want to see, rather than ads that try to provoke you into clicking (like Buzzfeed articles)

> So we're trying to show you ads that you want to see, rather than ads that try to provoke you into clicking (like Buzzfeed articles)

Huh, really? Then why aren't you actually doing that?

http://imgur.com/a/KGsQh

Re: Everything we know Google is working on for the new year

#44

Post by on_and_off »

Pxtl wrote: post #28
nostromo wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

3) completely independent of Google+

I'm still confused why Google+ even exists as a separate component. I mean, I have a Google account. Why doesn't that just automatically include the Google+ infrastructure? Why do I have to enable a service even if I don't use it?

probably because of the back clash against automatic Google+ account creation.

Re: Everything we know Google is working on for the new year

#45

Post by divegeek »

sp332 wrote: post #42
foobarqux wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can only search for what you already know about (and want to search for).

I already find tons of stuff I didn't know on Google! More, seriously, advertisers already "target" ads based on such loose parameters as age or location. Let me set my age as a filter if I want to, then you can show me those ads. Pinterest is starting to monetize people browsing semi-aimlessly through pages of tangentially-related items. This could just be a variation on that.

Actually, with Google, advertisers don't target anyone, really. They have a few knobs to tweak, but mostly it's Google that does the targeting, based on much smarter (but not yet smart enough) algorithms.

Re: Everything we know Google is working on for the new year

#46

Post by xasos »

I'm especially excited for their Google X projects[1] - Google Glass 2, Google X Display, and self-driving cars.

If reports[2] are true that the self-driving car will start testing next month, I predict 2015 may be the year that autonomous vehicles go big. The true goals of Lyft and Uber will finally be accomplished. I hope there won't be much red tape getting these cars into action (although there probably will be).

[1] http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2014/12/google-tracker-2015-e...

[2] http://www.wired.com/2014/12/google-self-driving-car-prototy...

Re: Everything we know Google is working on for the new year

#48

Post by Zigurd »

Pxtl wrote: post #29
higherpurpose wrote: post #13

If Google wants to offer "Whatsapp competition" in 2015, it should have 2 things, that Hangouts doesn't right now: 1) fast (instant) performance 2) end-to-end encryption (I wouldn't mind if they used the same Axolotl protocol as TextSecure and Whatsapp) If it doesn't have any of those, I won't be using it.

And one thing Whatsapp does have right now: Support every platform. Not just Android 4 and iOS. You need to go right down to Android 2.3, Windows Phone, Symbian, Blackberry, Nintendo DS, PSP, etc. Even IE6.

This is why platform/ecosystem giants like Microsoft, Facebook, and Google cannot be, and should not try to be WhatsApp. By the time they get there, the battleground will have shifted out from under them.

Re: Everything we know Google is working on for the new year

#49

Post by ams6110 »

xasos wrote: post #46

I'm especially excited for their Google X projects[1] - Google Glass 2, Google X Display, and self-driving cars. If reports[2] are true that the self-driving car will start testing next month, I predict 2015 may be the year that autonomous vehicles go big. The true goals of Lyft and Uber will finally be accomplished. I hope there won't be much red tape getting these cars into action (although there probably will be).…

I think you're at least a decade, more likely two or three, on the optimistic side. But we'll see.

Re: Everything we know Google is working on for the new year

#50

Post by username223 »

laxatives wrote: post #21

I've always thought that the Google Ideas projects page was a bit frightening since many of projects are closely tied to defense. https://www.google.com/ideas/projects/

Google is another "great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity, relentlessly jamming its blood funnel into anything that smells like money." What do you expect?
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