Google Voice Actions Video and Screen Shots [Boomtown]
If Google (GOOG) changes the way it answers search queries, or overhauls its contracts with Demand, or even decides to compete with Demand, it could torpedo the company.
Chief executive Eric Schmidt would not comment on the service this week but said "the world doesn't need a copy" of Facebook. The world might not need that, but what Google needs is a copy of the most advertiser-friendly parts of that and, as the Zynga investment shows, Google is keen to move in on one of the web's hottest - and most profitable - growing markets of casual gaming. As WSJ says, a Google offering would also be good news for developers worrying over over-dependence on Facebook.
It's not just developers that should be concerned with "over-dependence" on Facebook.
Google has made a small tweak to its real-time search tools, which scours Twitter, Friendfeed and public Facebook status updates. Now when you search for any keyword and refine your search results to either "recent" or "updates," the search engine will also extract the most cited links for that particular keyword.
The Nielsen Co., one of the research groups that tracks the space, said Tuesday that Bing's share of U.S. searches crept up to 12.5 percent from 10.9 percent in January. Yahoo's share slipped to 14.1 percent from 14.5 percent, and Google's decreased to 65.2 from 66.3, Nielsen said.
None of the major engines are focusing on how to monetize real-time search results, at least not yet. Casey mentioned that at Google there is a “solid separation between church and state,” i.e., product development and monetization.
Monetization is an angle that one real-time search startup, OneRiot, has tackled with some success. In the following conference session, Tobias Peggs, General Manager at OneRiot, explained how with RiotWise, OneRiot is showing ads from the Huffington Post for articles that match real-time search queries. OneRiot also has a wide distribution network, saying that 97% of search volume comes through partner sites via its API.