Google’s been busy lately. Just today they announced the soon to be released Real Time Search, Google Goggles, and on Friday they announced Personalized search
Real Time Search
This should be an interesting addition to the interesting tools that Google has released. I will be able to discover more people from social media sites as well as from blogs that are talking about the topic that I am researching at the very moment that I am researching them. This encompasses my use of Twitter and rss feeds to a different degree. I am kind of excited about seeing this in action. One feature that I hope they have or add later is highlighting based on whether I’m currently subscribed to the blog displayed (since I use Google Reader) or if I can link my Twitter account to the real-time searches and have highlighting from people that already follow (if you can’t tell I’m a big fan of contextual highlighting).
Google Goggles
In short: awesome. The longer version starts with the short version. As soon as I started taking pictures of random things around my desk today I realized that this is a big deal. Even if the application itself doesn’t become commonplace it definitely sets the bar for future applications that attempt to identify and offer more information about objects in images. Goggles is already getting started on the correct foot though. Right now you can take pictures of pretty much any piece of art or logo and you’ll get relevant search results. However there are a few cool things to add as well. I took a picture of Kenny G and the search results that returned were for Kenny G. That sold me on the concept.
The other part of the application is the augmented reality part where you can show your camera at a business and if that business has a map search result on Google then you’ll be able to see what business you’re looking at and click on the name to get more details from Google search about the shop. This is better for restaurants and small shops instead of office buildings.  That feature works very well also, and gives you results within 2 miles* on your screen. *My best guess
Personalized Search
This one came out on Friday and apparently is already live (which is cool that it’s seamless). I enjoy my anonymity when it comes to my searching habits, but I also know that I’m just one person and Google has no specific interest in my individual searching habits and therefore by providing me the opportunity to get more relevant search results I will gladly let them keep my web history. Besides… it’s kind of fun to look back on it. November 30th I apparently was really interested in something regarding Music Man. REALLY interested since I did over 30 searches (I was looking for words in the play used).
However the big deal about this release is that it also offers offline users the ability to get personalized search. This works via an anonymous cookie in your browser that keeps your web history. Â For both logged on and off users however you can opt out. Instructions are in the video.
All in all I’m very excited about these releases. I usually participate in pretty much every Google beta that I can. Yes, I’m a bit of a Google fanboy, but I still have standards. If the application doesn’t interest me, I don’t go beyond using it for 5 minutes.
