Monday, 5 October 2009
Google Hijacks Your Home Page With SideWiki
If you were still clinging to the idea that your website homepage was your own sacred, protected patch of internet real estate, you won’t be pleased by Google’s recent launch of SideWiki.
SideWiki allows anyone to comment on your website by downloading and installing the Google browser Toolbar. Comments won’t actually appear on your website (i.e. the content of your website won’t be changed) but they will be visible to anyone using the Google Toolbar. Google describes the service as follows:
We’re launching Google Sidewiki, which allows you to contribute helpful information next to any webpage. Google Sidewiki appears as a browser sidebar, where you can read and write entries along the side of the page.
In one swift move, Google has effectively taken control of your website and handed it over to the masses of website visitors (well the ones with Google Toolbar installed on their browsers). I think there are a couple of potential dangers that come with the launch of this tool:
1. People can blast your brand where it counts….on your website
Drawn out rants are disturbing enough when they take place on industry forums, blogs and social media networks, but having a disgruntled customer slagging off your brand on your HOME PAGE is a whole other kind of scary. Google hasn’t really been too clear about how they might sensor or block negative comments as the Daily Mail found out when this comment was left on the site via SideWiki.
2. Backdoor access for Ads & Spammers
So Google now controls a window on your website, right next to your product and your service. Wouldn’t it be handy for them to run ads along side your site for say, your competitors? Although this hasn’t happened YET I wouldn’t put this past Google and their undying quest to boost advertising revenue. If Google don’t do this themselves, I’m sure we’ll see a surge of spammers taking advantage of this space to push their erectile dysfunction medicine and international Lotteries.
3. Stealing your voice
We should have all learned by now that our websites can’t exist in a vacuum. People can blog about us, mention us on Twitter, discuss our products and services on forums or even create a fanpage about us on Facebook. The fact is that people are talking about us whether we like it or not. For brands that haven’t developed a social media strategy or established their own voice online, SideWiki threatens to make this lack of involvement in the conversation painfully obvious.
Despite the potential problem SideWiki poses to marketers, it won’t be visible to all users for the time being, in fact, some people are convinced this tool will be a failure like similar tools that have passed before it, only time will tell. However, even if it is short-lived, SideWiki should be the wakeup call for us to start joining in the online conversation. Let’s build a social media presence, let’s build a blog and actually engage with our audience. We really don’t have anymore excuses to put this off, better the conversation happen with than without you.
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