Google Goggles
While marketing executives continue to struggle with what to do about Web 2.0, they face a possible new conundrum just announced by Google. An industry observer made this comment, “This is certainly a rebuke to anyone who believes that Google is through innovating.”
The comment was prompted by Google’s announcement of these developments: 1) the inclusion of real-time information in Google search results; 2) Google Goggles, an experimental image recognition system by which users can submit search queries using snapshots of objects; 3) a “What’s Nearby?’ location-based search capability in Google Maps; 4) Japanese language support for the iPhone and Android voice search apps; and 5) a plan to provide in-conversation voice translation across langages.
Imagine scanning a picture of an automobile that interests you and instantly receiving information on where it is in the inventory at local dealers, the price, special offers, and consumer reports. Location-based search will be able to provide information about whether requested products are in-stock at shops willing to share inventory data with Google. The possible marketing innovations and challenges seem almost infinite.
For observers who have been wondering what Google will do with the hoard of money it has stashed away (estimates range up to $15 billion), these announcements provide clues. It is clear that Google is deepening its commitment to new modes of search: search by voice, search by location, and search by sight.
Google VP of Engineeringt Vic Gundotra, speaking at an event titled “Searchology” at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California, proclaimed that computing has changed thanks to cloud computing technology, precurser of a new cloud-powered era.