Google adds comment feature “SideWiki” to every Web site
Google is launching a new feature allowing users to post comments on any Web site in the world. The firm believes it can make SideWiki into a genuinely useful conversation tool, though it’s not clear if or how it will make money from the tool.
Google does already offer a form of Web site commenting on its search results. Users who are logged in to a Google account can give a thumbs up or down to say how relevant results are, as well as leave a comment about each site which appears in the results. However, this tool is so underused that in the few occasions where there is a “debate” going on, it’s normally made up of political comments or spam.
The difference with SideWiki is that the comments appear on the site itself – or rather beside it. The tool will be built into the Google Toolbar (a plug-in feature for both Internet Explorer and Firefox) and, when switched on, will redraw the page so that the site you are visiting is shunted over to leave enough room for SideWiki.
With such a tool clearly open to misuse and general wackiness, Google is taking a couple of steps to try to keep things under control and useful. As part of the Google Toolbar, it can only be used by somebody with a registered Google account and all comments will be posted with the relevant user name; no anonymous comments are allowed.
The site will also arrange the results in an order based on the reputation of the commenter, taking into account how many previous comments they’ve made and how other users rated their comments. The firm says some other, undisclosed, factors will affect the results. It wouldn’t be surprising to learn this includes how closely the content of the comment matches the topic of the page itself.
At the moment Google has announced any plans for making money from the feature. That could be a tricky task as simply building adverts into the SideWiki box would likely enrage Web site owners who felt their content was being commercially exploited.
This isn’t the first time a firm has offered a comments feature for all Web sites; several services have already been launched which do a similar thing through the equivalent of a virtual Post-It note. However, with such a huge potential audience, SideWiki might be the first to attract enough users that it becomes established enough to grow further.
Related Posts:
