The Google Information Ecosystem

Google started out as a search engine, and have since expanded, through product development and acquisitions, to include services in every link of the information chain. I call this collection of services the Google Information Ecosystem, and I wanted to present this visually; an explanation of the category abbreviations is below. Without further ado, I present to you:

An illustration of how Google web services interconnect with each other, providing them with a presence in every link of the information ecosystem.

Google’s Information Services

As you can see above, I’ve grouped everything into the following categories:

Internal Information Creation: These are the services through which Google hosts or enables the creation of content. Content under Google’s control can be analyzed much … [Read the rest »]

Quick! Distraction!

posted in: Site-related | 0

I’m crafting a visualization and brief post for Monday, in the meantime I present you with an amusing distraction and a challenge.


From i can has cheezburger?, the best LOLcat ever.

Your challenge: Identify which web company/service the cat is, and which one the mouse is.… [Read the rest »]

Social Strategist and Follow-ups

Today is Independence Day in the U.S., and since it’s still too early for me to try and out-do Monday’s entry about web platforms, this entry is mainly site business and past entry updates(still worth reading for some brief, interesting news).

Site News

You may have noticed the redesign I did a couple of weeks ago, it’s just an initial effort to make things look a bit better. I’m planning on doubling the width of the sidebar, thus making the entries area narrower, which I think will make the text look a little more readable, and give me room … [Read the rest »]

Building the Future’s Foundations: Platforms of the Web

Without the Internet, there would be no Google. And without the physical world, there would be no Internet. These overwhelmingly obvious statements are the basis of a very simple principle: that everything is built on top of something else. To build something, whether it’s a school, a website, or a virtual house, there must be a platform for it to be built on.

For most of human history, we’ve only had one platform to build on, the ground we walk on. The past few decades have given us a digital platform, the Internet, on which we’ve built things that wouldn’t … [Read the rest »]

Better Know a Genius – Bill Gates, Susan Decker, and John Chambers.

posted in: Occasional Links | 0

‘Companies’ do not exist. There are legal documents, there are buildings, and most importantly, there are people. Those who are trying to predict the fortunes of corporations should not be working with the impressions a slogan and logo give them, but instead be paying attention to who is making the decisions behind the logo, and the people that influence them. While I’m finishing up one of the best articles I’ve written so far(make sure you’re “subscribed”:http://feeds.feedburner.com/SocialStrategistAtom to receive it!), I hope you’ll take the time to learn more about three people who have already accomplished great things: Bill Gates, Susan … [Read the rest »]

5 Things Yahoo! is Doing that You Haven’t Heard About

While everyone else is talking about Yang taking over(good idea) and the possibility of acquiring MySpace for 25% of Yahoo!(bad idea), I thought I’d point out five other things Yahoo! is up to, some big, some small, that have been flying under the radar. Without further ado…

1. Yahoo! is integrating with Facebook. Unlike various fan-made Flickr applications, Yahoo! has announced an official Facebook app for its Upcoming.org events service. It’s competing with both Attendio and Going.com’s services/Facebook Apps. If traffic numbers for the services themselves are a determining factor, Upcoming.org will be the eventual winner. Though the appeal … [Read the rest »]

YouTube & Adobe Partnership: It Happened!

In March I wrote a proposal for a “partnership between YouTube and Adobe”:http://jayneely.com/2007/03/28/a-profitable-partnership-how-youtube-can-re-revolutionize-personal-publishing, suggesting that by providing video editing tools to YouTube users, YouTube could help generate more of a community around content creation. I was catching up on my tech news from the weekend today when I saw this TechCrunch story: “YouTube Remixer: Edit Videos Online at YouTube”:http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/06/16/youtube-remixer-edit-videos-online-at-youtube/. Powered by… you guessed it, Adobe Premiere Express. Even though the implementation isn’t exactly what I had imagined, I still feel like flashing lights and throwing confetti in a Colbert-style “I was right!” moment.

Adding captions and transitions obviously isn’t going … [Read the rest »]

Service Suicide: YouTube, Soapbox, Daily Motion, et al

What’s the best way to kill your incredibly popular service? Is it:
a) Fight with your users?
b) Eliminate most of your content producers?
c) Increase your legal liability?[I am not a lawyer, none of this is legal advice.] d) All of the above?

It seems that I can’t stop hearing about Audible Magic. First they were trying to filter P2P networks, in what may or may not be a violation of wiretap laws, and now every video sharing site that’s ever heard the word “copyright” is hoping this software will keep the “big”:http://www.viacom.com/ “bad”:http://www.universalstudios.com/ “wolves”:http://mpaa.org/ off their back. But … [Read the rest »]

Me.dium Funding, Photos, Studies, and Patents

posted in: Occasional Links | 0

“Me.dium gets new funding, should use it to start over”:http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/medium_collaborative_browsing.php – I tried Me.dium twice when it was in beta, and both times ended up uninstalling it. There simply wasn’t enough value to it. Part of this was that there weren’t enough people using it(as of now, “20,000 *registered* users”:http://gigaom.com/2007/06/11/medium-raises-immense-amount-of-funding/, according to co-founder David Mandell), and there was no easy way of finding where everyone was. The other part is that I don’t think Me.dium is the best solution for any of the problems they’re trying to solve:
* “You and your friend are trying to accomplish a common task”. … [Read the rest »]

Small Loans, Big Bucks: The World of Social Lending – Updated 9/29/07

In an increasing number of countries across the world, social lending is being hailed as an alternative to ‘traditional’ bank small business and personal loans. These services connect individual lenders with individual borrowers, creating a peer-to-peer loan service that is streamlined, efficient, legally formatted, profitable, and most importantly, helpful. Social lending sites provide an opportunity for financial assistance or gain to those who would otherwise not have the opportunity.

An Overview of Services

Zopa was the first social lending site to launch, serving the United Kingdom since 2005 and now planning on extending its services to the U.S. Zopa’s basic … [Read the rest »]

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