Google exec: 'Twitter-like service' more interesting with more data |
Register here for our next TechFlash Live networking event, March 23, featuring an expert panel discussing the future of online advertising.
Google exec: 'Twitter-like service' more interesting with more data
Brian Bershad in Seattle this morning.
The essence of Google's product strategy is to "follow the data," said the company's Seattle site director, Brian Bershad, during a presentation about the future of search at a Technology Alliance event this morning. Apart from the Web, he cited well-known examples including photos, instant messages, news, books, email and video, along with Google's related products in each of those areas.
That made me think of all the data pouring into Twitter these days, and Google CEO Eric Schmidt's recent comments about the increasingly popular broadcast messaging service. As noted by Reuters, real-time Twitter search "could become particularly valuable to advertisers and corporations going forward, and could potentially represent a threat to Google’s search dominance."
During the Q&A session this morning, I asked Bershad if there might be an opportunity for Google to come in and make a better Twitter search.
"There's relatively little data in Twitter" compared with the rest of the Web, Bershad said. "I think if you could take a Twitter-like service and combine it with a lot of other data sources about the users, you might be able to come up with something more interesting."
Hypothetically speaking, of course, what kinds of data might a "Twitter-like service" benefit from? Bershad cited, as an example, the possibility of adding data from the recently launched Google Latitude geolocation service, which lets people broadcast their location to selected friends on mobile phones.
Before we set off a new round of speculation about potential Google product plans, Bershad was quick to add that it's "still pretty early to pontificate" on the idea of combining data in that way.
(Post updated to make it clear that Bershad was speaking about the amount of data in Twitter as compared to the Web as a whole.)
TechFlash Team
Recent Sponsor Posts
Seattle University Software Engineering
Chinwe Okeke (MSE’08) pursued her graduate degree while working as a developer and technical analyst for the Boeing Company. She picked the SU-MSE program for small class sizes and real world learning opportunities offered through the academic service-learning and capstone projects.
The MSE program at Seattle University is geared for working professionals with classes offered in the evenings. The program builds upon the computing experience of its students and offers courses in a variety of technical and management areas of software engineering, with an emphasis on teamwork and a disciplined approach to problem solving.
Marchex is one of Seattle’s largest ad technology companies with 300+ employees providing call and click based performance marketing products, and managing over $100m in ad budget for tens of thousands of advertisers. Our customers range from local businesses to the Fortune 500.
Our talented and creative product engineering group is hiring.
If you are an innovative software design engineer interested in solving difficult problems at scale, across a wide array of technologies from Lucene to Hadoop to Asterisk and SIP then we’d love to hear from you!
Apply now.
Technology Tax Planning – Did You Take The Deduction?
Technology companies require professional advisors who can assist in all aspects of the business. The BDO Technology Practice provides a full range of services tailored to help address the changing needs of domestic and international companies. In addition to core audit and tax services, BDO professionals can assist technology companies with:
· Revenue recognition
· Business combination accounting
· R&D tax credits
· Compensation and benefits
· Business valuations
Backed by 38 national offices and an international network in 110 countries, we have the domestic and global footprint to serve growing technology companies. Contact sphilpott@bdo.com (audit partner), mreeves@bdo.com (audit partner), psmith@bdo.com (tax partner), tzambito@bdovaluation.us.com (valuation), tfiscus@bdo.com, Director, 206.624.2020
Job Listings
- Software Development Engineer - Display Advertising
- Business Services Company
- Director Enterprise Architecture - IT
- Starbucks Coffee Company
- Senior Program Manager - External - 713665
- Microsoft Corporation
- Quality Improvement Specialist
- HCR ManorCare
- Senior Software Development Engineer - eXtreme Computing Group - 708427
- Microsoft Corporation
TechFlash Archive
- March 2010 (185)
- January 2010 (235)
- November 2009 (249)
- September 2009 (278)
- July 2009 (276)
- May 2009 (212)
- March 2009 (286)
- January 2009 (260)
- November 2008 (205)
- September 2008 (6)
- February 2010 (243)
- December 2009 (230)
- October 2009 (305)
- August 2009 (239)
- June 2009 (253)
- April 2009 (254)
- February 2009 (262)
- December 2008 (204)
- October 2008 (122)
