Search giant Google has been doing more than search for some time now, but just what are they working toward? Could they be preparing to launch the killer app that will define this AJAX-rich Web 2.0 movement that I keep hearing about? Let the speculation begin.
First, let's look at Google's popular services and try to tie them together.
The services
- Google Calendar – Social scheduling application.
- Gmail Talk – A robust and nearly limitless email and chat service.
- Google Groups – Discussion groups.
- Google News – Automatically sorted news.
- Google Page Creator – Website design tool.
- Personalized Search / Search History
- Blogger
- Google Reader
This is a very impressive list. But you must admit that some of the services don't stand on there own so well.
Picture, if you will, an online social application, similar to MySpace, or Facebook, or even Google's own Orkut. Most of these have a private messaging feature similar to a scaled-back email client, a profile feature, a blog function, and a calendar function.
Now, picture an online social application not centered around a profile but centered around Gmail. Centering it around an email client would make users more active than simply centering it around a profile.
With Google Calendar integration coming to Gmail and Google Talk totally integrated into Gmail, when can safely assume that Gmail will be the center of this evolving application. Now, could Blogger be integrated into Gmail?
Each Blogger user has a profile tied to a username which is of course tied to an email address, so links to a contacts blog and profile could be added to the Gmail Talk "quick contacts" section next to the person's name, email address, and online status. Bring Google Reader into Gmail and make it easy for users to add the RSS feeds of people who are on your "friends" list to the Reader, and we have knocked out two of the services on our list.
Next, let's look at Google Calendar. Fully integrate this with our Gmail Talk-Blog-Reader application, and allow users to schedule parties, meetings, and appointments and easily invite other users to add them to their individual calendars. Dates from RSS feeds could have a "Add to Calendar" button next to them. Instant messages exchanged about upcoming events could prompt you to add them to your calendar.
Next up, Google Groups. This integration is pretty obvious. Allow users to see what groups his or her contacts are involved in.
One element that has been missing will need to be introduced now. A universal profile to tie all of these things together. Let's pretend that Google Page Creator provides this functionality. On a person's Google Page, you will be able to see what groups they are in, information about them, Calendar events that they want you to see, and more.
Now let's play with one of Google's favorite projects, Google News. Imagine a Google News similar to Digg, where users can bookmark stories and there friends can see what they've bookmarked from there Google Page or via a RSS feed inside of the new Gmail. It is all starting to come together.
Personalized search / search history could be another part of the person's Google Page. Of course, you wouldn't want all of the searches you make to be seen, would you?
I see these social applications as the future of the internet, and Google's slate of services could definetly combine to be a Web 2.0 killer.
