Forrester's Social Computing report

By Charlene Li

We just published a new report, "Social Computing: How Networks Erode Institutional Power, And What To Do About It" (available to clients only, but it's getting some good distribution as I'm getting pinged about it left and right). Here's the Executive Summary:

"Easy connections brought about by cheap devices, modular content, and shared computing resources are having a profound impact on our global economy and social structure. Individuals increasingly take cues from one another rather than from institutional sources like corporations, media outlets, religions, and political bodies. To thrive in an era of Social Computing, companies must abandon top-down management and communication tactics, weave communities into their products and services, use employees and partners as marketers, and become part of a living fabric of brand loyalists."

Forrester defines social computing as "A social structure in which technology puts power in communities, not institutions." We also believe that three tenets define social computing:

1) innovation will shift from top-down to bottom-up;
2) value will shift from ownership to experience; and
3) power will shift from institutions to communities?

Now, this sounds all simplistic and theoretical, but I think there's a great deal of power in the idea of social computing. With full respect to the definition of Web 2.0, I believe that the concept of social computing is the underpinning of much of the pain that companies are feeling around new technologies like blogging and RSS. But as I often stress, it's not about the technologies but about the new relationships that users will form. Technologies will come and go, but the power built on the relationships created by social computing will endure.

To fully appreciate the value of social computing, companies have to let go of control. That means letting customers control the brand if you're a marketer, and it means enabling new enterprise tools that IT can't easily control to attract and support employees with high social computing needs. In many ways, this is the source of the great distress that I routinely hear from corporate managers.

The goal of the report is to be the foundation piece for a key area of research for Forrester. So if you've had a chance to read the report, I'd love to hear what you think of it.

Social search panel with SDForum, Tues. Jan. 10th

By Charlene Li

I'll be moderating a panel at a SDForum Search SIG meeting this Tuesday (yes, tomorrow) on social search. This is a favorite topic of mine as it represents the intersection of two of my research areas, seach and social computing. I think it's also an important battleground in the next phase of search, especially because companies like Yahoo! and Microsoft are eons ahead of Google in terms of personalization and established relationships with consumers.

I hope you'll be able to join me and a very interesting panel as we explore how social search is transforming the user experience. Personally, I've been using all of the services from our panelists -- Del.icio.us, Digg, Kaboodle, and Wink -- and recently purchased a laptop sleeve (after weeks of online shopping) thanks to a tag on Wink. 

Aside: After his CES keynote, I asked Larry Page how Google felt about personalization -- it seems there's a love/hate relationship in the way Google uses registration and cookies -- they know it's necessary to provide a personalized experience but make it pretty cumbersome to do so. Larry gave a typical Google non-answer, but acknowledged that Yahoo! and Microsoft were significant competitors in this area (they have a bit of a head start).

SDForum Search SIG - Search Different: Tagging, Social Bookmarking and Sharing - Jan 10th @ Yahoo - Featuring Del.icio.us, Digg, Kaboodle & Wink

The session will focus on “alternate” search mechanisms that have been developed over the past 12 months such as bookmarking, tagging, rating, sharing and any combination thereof – generally in a social context. These concepts have grown to being at the core of many Web 2.0 companies, and offer a different way of finding or discovering “stuff” online – as a complement or alternative to traditional search engines.

As usual with Search SIG events, we will have a panel moderated by the host of the session, followed by demonstrations from presenting companies. Our host for the event will be Charlene Li, from Forrester Research and will be joined by 4 founders of exciting startups:

• Joshua Schachter - Del.icio.us (recently acquired by Yahoo)
• Kevin Rose - Digg
• Manish Chandra - Kaboodle
• Michael Tanne - Wink

This session will take place on Tue Jan 10th at Yahoo’s HQ (701 First Avenue, Building C, Room 4&5 in Sunnyvale, CA), and will promptly start at 7:15PM (registration from 6:45PM on).

As to the agenda:

6:45-7:15pm - Registration / Food & Drink
7:15–7:20pm - A few words about the Search SIG
7:20-8:20pm - Act I: State of the Art of “Searching Different” through a panel discussion led by our moderator, Charlene Li
8:20-8:30pm - Intermission: Search Networking & Geeking Out
8:30-9:00pm - Act II: Product Demos from Del.icio.us, Digg, Kaboodle and Wink – and Q&A with the audience
9:00-9:15pm - Open Mike Geek: Announcements (30 seconds of fame & fortune)
9:16pm - You Don’t Have To Go Home, But You Can’t Stay Here

Attendance is free for SDForum members, and charge is $15 for non-members – paid at the door. You can register for the event on the SDForum website, where you will also find the latest information about the session.

The session will focus on “alternate” search mechanisms that have been developed over the past 12 months such as bookmarking, tagging, rating, sharing and any combination thereof – generally in a social context. These concepts have grown to being at the core of many Web 2.0 companies, and offer a different way of finding or discovering “stuff” online – as a complement or alternative to traditional search engines.

As usual with Search SIG events, we will have a panel moderated by the host of the session, followed by demonstrations from presenting companies. Our host for the event will be Charlene Li, from Forrester Research and will be joined by 4 founders of exciting startups:

• Joshua Schachter - Del.icio.us (recently acquired by Yahoo)
• Kevin Rose - Digg
• Manish Chandra - Kaboodle
• Michael Tanne - Wink

This session will take place on Tue Jan 10th at Yahoo’s HQ (701 First Avenue, Building C, Room 4&5 in Sunnyvale, CA), and will promptly start at 7:15PM (registration from 6:45PM on).

As to the agenda:

6:45-7:15pm - Registration / Food & Drink
7:15–7:20pm - A few words about the Search SIG
7:20-8:20pm - Act I: State of the Art of “Searching Different” through a panel discussion led by our moderator, Charlene Li
8:20-8:30pm - Intermission: Search Networking & Geeking Out
8:30-9:00pm - Act II: Product Demos from Del.icio.us, Digg, Kaboodle and Wink – and Q&A with the audience
9:00-9:15pm - Open Mike Geek: Announcements (30 seconds of fame & fortune)
9:16pm - You Don’t Have To Go Home, But You Can’t Stay Here

Attendance is free for SDForum members, and charge is $15 for non-members – paid at the door. You can register for the event on the SDForum website, where you will also find the latest information about the session.

CES wrap-up

By Charlene Li

Here’s a quick overview of some of the things I picked up after two days at CES.

-         A Tale Of Two Keynotes. I attended both the Yahoo! and Google keynotes and Friday and the contrast was obvious, starting from the music and ending with the celebrities. I have to say, I really enjoyed seeing Tom Cruise during the Yahoo! speech, but felt that it was fairly canned, especially Ellen DeGeneres’ “monologue” about the technical problems she had. The Yahoo! speakers were well rehearsed, but they were, well, rehearsed. In contrast, Larry Page was far from the most dynamic speaker, frequently checking his paper notes. But there was a down to earth quality of his presentation, and the fact that he took many questions from audience members brought a man of the people quality to the keynote. But by far the best part of the Google keynote was Robin Williams’ co-hosting of the Q&A (I thankfully escaped any ribbing when I asked a question!). You couldn’t have asked for better entertainment than the parody of our own questions.

-         Getting trampled. Just one other observation about the keynotes. Maybe it was the 9am start time, maybe it was the company, but the Yahoo! keynote wasn’t full and while the audience was attentive, it wasn’t energized. I was able to walk in, and have nobody else sitting next to me in the balcony. Contrast to the Google keynote, which was near mayhem outside the theater doors just before the start of the keynote. I showed up 15 minutes early, stood in the wrong line (with ticket holders instead of press) and proceeded to get pushed, shoved, and almost trampled by irate ticket holders who couldn’t get in because they had all shown up past the deadline. And there were about 200 more people without tickets hoping to get in anyway at the last minute. The result: I felt very fortunate to finally get in, but was pretty shaken from the mayhem. I knew that the Google keynote was the hottest ticket at CES, but didn’t anticipate just how aggressive people could be.

-         Convergence? Didn’t see it. This show was supposed to be about “convergence” but darn if I couldn’t find it at the show. I haven’t been to CES since 1995, primarily because my research focus is on media and marketing – you know, the stuff that convergence is supposed to bring to devices. The Yahoo! and Google keynotes gave me the excuse to come to Las Vegas and indulge my gadget-loving side, but there was little convergence happening outside of Yahoo’s announcements. The only other interesting example was TiVo’s current online offerings, available on the Series 2 machines (I just ordered one so I’m eager to try it out). TiVo’s CEO Tom Rogers eagerly discussed with a group of reporters its anticipated high definition product (scheduled to be introduced mid-year) which will take advantage of its broadband connection to provide even more online services. While I anticipate more devices to integrate online services, it will be deals like the one between TiVo and Yahoo! that will be core to making such convergence services work for consumers.

-         My favorite gadget. I heard about this one when a TV crew picked me out while I was noshing my lunch outside the main hall with some Forrester colleagues. Interestingly, they wanted to interview me and not my other (male) colleagues because I was a woman. The device: the Connect Io Intelligent Oven that turns on by the Internet or cell phone (and can keep food cool before it turns on). What, were you expecting me to pick a cell phone or HDTV? As a working mom, I thought this was just the coolest thing – I can throw the frozen pizza in the oven in the morning, ping it to preheat and cook the pizza when I pick up my kids, and have pizza on the table in 5 minutes. Now, I just need an applicance that will wash, peel, and cook the veggies for me too!

-         Pedal power in Las Vegas. I rented a bike to get around (photo proof is below) and it totally made the CES experience enjoyable. (My collegue Josh Bernoff did the same). I was able to get from my hotel on the Strip (Harrah’s) to the convention center in 10 minutes – and that includes abiding by all traffic lights. Racking the bike is easy – there are stands right outside Central Hall (Sands is a bit trickier – the only rack I could find was in the back in the service entrance). And visiting other hotels around town is easy – simply check the back in at the Bell Desk. Las Vegas Cyclery makes it easy by dropping off/picking up the bike from your hotel. Only other recommendations: bring your own helmet and wear reflective clothing.

Google Pack's real innovation is Updater

By Charlene Li

On Friday at CES, Google unveiled Google Pack (along with the new Google Video Store – for more details on the video announcement, check out my colleague Josh Bernoff’s blog post). Besides downloading a whole suite of useful security, communication, and entertainment utilities, Pack also happens to make available all of Google’s applications, from Toolbar to Picasa.

What’s interesting to me about Pack is that it’s an innovation on an existing practice – the bundling of third-party software by ISPs like AOL, Earthlink, MSN, and Yahoo!. But in this case, Google is offering Pack free and unbundled from any ISP service, all in the name of improving the user experience.

But the real beauty behind Pack is Updater, the little program that automatically installs and updates the software. (In fact, it’s installing Pack right now as I’m writing this post I Word and posting it via TypePad – the computer hangs every once in a while, which is annoying, but for the most part, I see no degradation in my PC’s performance.) Once installed on the PC, Google has a direct conduit to the user’s desktop, which will be extremely valuable in pushing its own applications (current and future). Think of it as the next front in the portal/search wars to tie in user loyalty.

I believe that this opens up some interesting opportunities. First, software makers will be clamoring to be included in Pack, but will have to first get through Google’s review. In addition, companies like Dell may be interested in including Updater on new PCs to make that initial install of software much easier. Lastly, I fully expect AOL, Yahoo!, and Microsoft (which has Windows Updater already) to jump into the fray. After all, they already have existing relationships with third-party software providers that they can turn to.

But most significantly, I believe this changes the nature of the relationship between Google and the user. As I mentioned at the end of my last post, I believe that Google has up to this point been regarded more as a utility (albeit, a really, really useful one) than as the lynchpin of an online experience. But with Pack and Updater specifically, the user now not only becomes dependent on Google to smooth the experience, but also places a great deal of trust in Google to do the right thing – everything from choosing the right software to include to making sure that updates are bug-free.

One thing I think that will ensure that Google maintains that user trust is to increase the scope of the software being offered, and to be more transparent about why it decided to include one software option over the other. In a post-CES speech press conference, Larry Page couldn’t give a definitive reason why Pack decided to include only RealNetwork’s RealPlayer – but he did say that Google was open to including multiple software types in an area like media players to enable consumer choices. I would love to see iTunes and Internet Explorer included – I have to use IE for work-related applications – but I wonder just how open Google would be to including competitors products. In the end, if Google is truly committed to improving the end user’s experience, it would strike deals with the most popular and useful applications, regardless of whether it comes from a competitor or not.

Yahoo! Go shows how to connect the Internet to devices

Yahoo! announced its new Yahoo! Go suite, which consists of Yahoo! Go Mobile, Yahoo! Go TV, and Yahoo! Go Desktop. I think it’s significant because Yahoo! shows how a traditional Internet content and service provider can link to devices like phones and TVs. Here’s a quick overview and specific highlights:

-         The Yahoo! Go concept: Anything that you can access on Yahoo! through your browser will also be available on your desktop (outside of your browser), on your phone, and on your TV.

-         Yahoo! Go Mobile is a really nice connection between your phone and your Yahoo service. Snap a photo and have it appear on Yahoo! Photos (Finally! An easy way to get photos off of my camera phone). A phone number you enter on Yahoo! Addresses shows up on your phone’s address book. I personally LOVE this idea of a universal contact list, especially as I am prone to losing my cell phone!

-         Yahoo! Go Desktop is a repositioning of Yahoo! Widgets (a.k.a. Konfabulator) to puts individual services directly on the desktop. Yahoo! also announced Dashboard, which is very similar to Google Sidebar and MSN’s Dashboard (available only to MSN ISP customers). One key improvement: the user can see activities from people on their buddy lists, for example, a new post on Yahoo! 360 or Web page tagged via Yahoo! My Web. This is similar to the connectivity within Windows Live which taps into Messenger to show “gleams” of activity by your buddies.

-         Yahoo! Go TV which puts music playlists and Yahoo’s video search on the TV. It’s great especially for showing a slideshow of your Yahoo! Photos on the big screen. I didn’t find this rendition that compelling (nice, just not compelling). But tucked away in the corner of the demonstrations was a concept screen that showed how content like RSS feeds and Yahoo! entertainment content could be integrated on to the television. For example, if you’re watching a football game, go and check your sports feeds. If you’re watching a movie, go and get more information about the star, what other movies they are in, or even purchase the DVD on Yahoo! shopping (see the screenshots I’ve uploaded below -- note that one of the screenshots includes an in-line add for a Howard Stern show.) The compelling idea is that you can customize the television experience with content from the Web.   

A few thoughts on these announcements:

-         Compared to the reported announcements (via WSJ) from Google later today, Yahoo!’s Go announcements have a strong connection to consumer electronics and will have a much bigger impact over time than either Google Video or Google Pack. This is because it sets off a race among phone and device makers to tap into the Yahoo!’s large user base. But it’s also worrying because the investment that service providers have made in their own services is now to tie in users becomes less important if the user can take their services with them from phone to phone, provider to provider. I believe that device manufacturers will be more willing than their provider counterparts to let users choose between Yahoo!, Microsoft, and Google mobile solutions – or mix and match as they please.

-         Go Mobile in particular expands Yahoo’s reach beyond the desktop – Yahoo! stated that there are 2 billion mobile phone users around the world, compared to 900 million Internet users). To this point, Yahoo! allows for the first time new sign-ups to a Yahoo! account via Go Mobile.

-         Yahoo!’s promise to keep the platform open will be closely watched. At the conclusion of his speech, Terry Semel said “Personally, I believe that walled gardens are a thing of the past.” But what Yahoo! is doing is in many ways constructing a different kind of walled garden, albeit, one where Yahoo! serves as the gateway to the world of Internet content. For example, Yahoo! Go Mobile will allows users to access non-Yahoo! email accounts, as long as they are POP enabled. But this has to be set up via Yahoo! Mail and in this case, through Yahoo!’s paid Mail Plus service.

To put all of these announcements in perspective, I had an interesting discussion with Cammie Dunaway, Yahoo!’s CMO. She said, “Users don’t have an emotional bond with Google. But they have one with us.” To some degree, I agree with her on this. Google has a strong brand and has built a great deal of trust and goodwill thanks to its great search experience. But I don’t have my have my life on Google – it’s actually on Yahoo!. (Disclosure: My photos are on Yahoo! and Flickr, tags are on del.icio.us, personal email (and domain) are on Yahoo!, and I use Yahoo! Local and Maps regularly.) This could change as Google and Microsoft increase and improve their services, but it will take a lot to tear me away from my established habits. Having Yahoo! now also available on my devices potentially increases that stickiness.

My colleague Josh Bernoff, who is here at CES with me, used a car analogy to illustrate this. Yahoo! is like a tricked out Lincoln Navigator – it has everything you could ever want, from the DVD player and is comfortable to boot. You practically live in that car. Google’s car representation would be the Prius, which is environmental – its users have an emotional attachment to it for a completely different reason.

So here’s my question to you, dear blog readers. Do you have an emotional attachment to Google, or any other portal/search service? To what degree can Yahoo!, Google, Microsoft, AOL, et. al. develop that bond with you? Or is it not about emotional attachments and all about utility. Would love to get your perspective, either in comments or directly via email.  

Quick thoughts on the Google/AOL Deal

By Charlene Li

I'm on my way out the door for a few weeks of vacation (and I don't plan to blog or check work email!) but wanted to share a few quick thoughts about the supposed Google/AOL search deal.

- The deal doesn't change the overall industry much, with the exception that AOL now has the sweet deal of selling into Google directly. It's pretty much continuation of the status quo and AOL went with the safe, proven incumbent.

- I had a chance to talk with Sergey Brin at the Google Holiday dinner on Tuesday and he (as well as other executives) were tight lipped about any negotiations (surprise surprise). As the WSJ pointed out, Google charged into the talks once they got wind that Microsoft was trying to woo AOL away. I'm not surprised that Google upped the stakes by making an investment in AOL -- what's amazing to me is they thought it was worth $1 billion. I think losing AOL wasn't so much a financial issue as it was one of ego -- there was no way Google was going to let Microsoft beat it at anything as high profile as a major partnership.

- It appears the MSFT/AOL deal fell apart because they were TOO similar and had too many conflicts that couldn't be worked out. As I noted in a previous post, the deal made a great deal of sense on paper but any cooperation on the content front would have been a nightmare. Google/AOL is much cleaner and synergistic, as Google is happy to direct traffic to AOL content.

- Speaking of content, it’s not clear what AOL is getting in terms of preferred placement on Google search results. This is extremely important, as it will be the first time Google gives any sort of preferential treatment to content because of a business development deal, or, even worse in this case, because of an investment in the company. It brings up tremendous conflict of interest issues – is that AOL Madonna video in the search results because it’s the most relevant result or because it’s part of the AOL deal?

- And don’t count MSFT out yet because they (apparently) lost this deal. adCenter has a lot going for it and will be the foundation for the new Windows Live and Office Live offerings. The AOL deal would have been a tremendous validation of the product, but in the end, its performance will speak for itself.

Happy holidays, and I’ll catch you in the new year.

Yahoo! buys del.icio.us, puts tagging on the map

By Charlene Li

Yahoo! announced that it will purchase del.icio.us (posts by Yahoo! and del.icio.us give the details).

For those of you in the know, del.icio.us is a social bookmarking service that allows its users to “tag” Web pages with short notes and save them on a centralized service. I’ve been using del.icio.us off and on for the past few months and just this morning set up a linkblog for this blog. Little did I know…

The acquisition by Yahoo! is significant for much the same reason why it bought other social computing darlings, Flickr and Konfabulator – Yahoo! is laying the groundwork for its users to add, personalize, and contribute their content and votes to the Web.

A very significant point is that del.icio.us will be working closely with Yahoo! Search. This is important because tagging will key to creating better search. Today, search relevance is determined by the number of links between pages – the more links you have to a page, the more relevant you are. Tagging is another way of doing this – you can see it in action today on start-up tagging engines like Wink and Raw Sugar. Tags on Web pages provide an additional level of relevancy to that page, and Yahoo! will be in a prime position to leverage it.

But tagging in of itself isn’t enough – it’s also the reputation of the taggers that’s important. And here is where the rest of Yahoo! formidable assets come to play – with 191 million registered users, social networking in the form of Y! 360, and personalized Web experiments with MyWeb, Yahoo! has the suite to actually pull off a really cool social and personalized search service.

The key: making del.icio.us and tagging accessible to users. It took me a while to “get” del.icio.us, (and the URL still isn’t easy for me to type!) The key problem is this is not an interface that my mother – or for that matter, most of my techie friends – understands. (Dave Taylor put together a good primer on “What’s so cool about del.icio.us?” that’s a good intro – check out the last question where Dave asks Jeremy Zawodny if Yahoo! will buy del.icio.us).

For this reason, I’m thrilled that Yahoo! purchased del.icio.us and hopefully, will integrate it into its other services quickly. I’m also optimistic about the impact that social bookmarking and tagging will have on the search industry…look for Microsoft and Google to launch their own variations soon as well. But Yahoo!, with its millions of registered users AND an enthusiastic del.icio.us community (check on the comments on the announcement – they are universally ecstatic), Yahoo! will be setting the pace in this area.

I’m also including a few thoughts from my colleague, Chloe Stromberg, who is an active del.icio.us user and resident social computing guru:

Other media companies are still mulling over their position with social media, meanwhile Yahoo has quickly and assertively snapped up another key player in the social computing space.  This means that 1) the ingredient technologies that make up social media (RSS, tagging, search, etc) will work more seamlessly together; and 2) that social computing is being taken to the masses by a company that knows UI, marketing, and has a trusted relationship with valuable consumers.

For marketers, Yahoo’s decisive acquisitions in the social marketing space mean that social marketing is destined to move out of the experimental stage and become a more stable part of the marketing mix.

Another interesting point here is about timing -- the speed of technology adoption.  Social marketing technologies have their roots in the birth of the Internet (we’ve mentioned Firefly, PointCast, etc).  It may be that after *10 years*, consumers are actually catching on, and really getting some of the principles of what the Internet can do that other communication forms can’t.  This is like 3rd wave social computing, personalization, customization -- and Yahoo has been involved all along.  It’s just, finally, this time, it may be ready for prime time.

Yahoo! Answers life’s questions

By Charlene Li

Yahoo! Answers launched today at answers.yahoo.com. The service allows users to 1) ask questions; 2) answer them; and 3) discover and browse through all of the answered questions that others have posed.

Here are a few great examples of the helpful (and the esoteric) Q&A taking place.

-         What’s the best microphone or headset for recording a podcast?

-         Where is a good place to live in or near San Jose, CA?

-         Why doesn’t Hello Kitty have a mouth?

The service is free, and even more importantly, is really easy to use. Questions are grouped into categories, there’s a search to find more answers, and best of all, there’s a reputation/feedback system built in.

Compare this to Google Answers or specialty sites like Guru.com – both of these sites are paid services, which makes it a lot more cumbersome to use and also raises the stakes for both the asker and the answerer. By keeping it free, Yahoo! keeps it light but also pretty darn useful. Also, the universe expands tremendously with Yahoo’s service – Google says it has something like 500 pre-vetted answerers while Guru.com serves as an intro to freelancers.

How will Yahoo! benefit? Well, I don’t think they were leaving much money on the table by foregoing the ability to charge. In fact, there’s probably quite a bit more opportunity in the form of advertising, especially since advertisers could potentially buy ad inventory in specific categories or target ads by specific keywords.

Two other ways Yahoo! benefits: 1) It encourages users to become active, participating Yahoo! community members; and 2) it creates new content that can be indexed and searched by Yahoo! (as well as other search engines).

One key area to watch: local advice. This has the potential of causing a huge dent in start-ups like Insider’s Guide or Judy’s Book, primarily because it’s so easy to use and doesn’t require forming a formal social network. I fully expect Yahoo! to integrate Answers into Yahoo! Local in the near future.

Windows Live Local debuts – get ready for cool bird’s eye views

By Charlene Li

I just got out of a briefing with Erik Jorgensen, GM of Microsoft’s new Search & Mapping group. MSFT announced that it will launch Windows Live Local at local.live.com tomorrow (slated to go live at 9am PST). I’ve included a few screenshots  to MSFT provided, but you’ll be able to try it out soon enough.

A key and much anticipated feature will be the bird’s eye view, which is in addition to satellite (which MSFT calls Aerial) views and regular road maps. The screenshots I’ve included are for the Coit Tower in San Francisco – you can see that there’s a great deal more detail in the bird’s eye view. (Note: this feature will be available to only about 25% of the US population).

Why is that bird’s eye view important? Here’s one example – I recently had to find an apartment building in a large complex – the street address only took me to the corner of the complex. Satellite maps from Google didn’t provide enough resolution, and also showed me the tops of very similar-looking buidings.

I ended up driving around the 40+ apartment buildings looking for one specific place – with an irate kid in the back seat. The person I was visiting could have browsed to the bird’s eye view of her apartment, label it with a “pushpin” on the service, and then send it to me as a link via email.

There are a few other improvements over Virtual Earth (virtualearth.com will redirect to local.live.com). A key one is full integration of directions into the service. Right click on any location – even without typing in the address – and you’ll get direction to/from that place. Another interesting feature that’s not in the official press release is the ability to share mapping within MSN Messenger. When you invite someone into the service, you can both interact within the map and local search. Trying to find a good place for lunch? Do a search for “sushi”, agree on a place, and then use the bird’s eye view to agree on a specific meeting place.

How does this service compare to the Google and Yahoo! mapping and local services? Google has road and satellite imagery and Yahoo! has only road maps. Yahoo! has more user-generated content that aids decision making while Google has more robust Web spidering – Windows Live Local is still behind in those areas. But for certain circumstances, I can foresee myself switching over to this new service to utilize the bird’s eye view – it’s much more than nice-to-have eye candy. The question will be if people will stay and switch their mapping and local preferences over to Microsoft…I suspect that this new offering is a definite step in that direction.

Update: I pulled the press release as I didn't realize that it hadn't crossed the wire. When it does, I'll post it again.

Update: Here's the press release.

New Windows Live Local Service Delivers State-of-the-Art Advances for
Web-Based Mapping and Local Search

Service offers unique bird’s-eye exploration of U.S. cities with
one-of-a-kind tools.

REDMOND, Wash. — Dec. 8, 2005 — Microsoft Corp. today introduced a beta
version of Windows Live™ Local, an online local search and mapping service
that combines unique bird’s-eye imagery with advanced driving directions,
Yellow Pages and other local search tools. Powered by Virtual Earth™ mapping
and location platform, these features give users useful new ways to map and
find directions to various locations and better visualize their surroundings
from multiple aerial vantage points.

“We believe Windows Live Local sets a new standard for what people can do
with maps, directions and local search,” said Christopher Payne, corporate
vice president of MSN Search at Microsoft. “The combination of immersive
aerial imagery, customizable map annotations, innovative driving directions
and the ability to share local search information with others gives users an
incredibly powerful and easy way to find what they want and get where they
want to go.”

The new service, located at http://local.live.com, contains a range of new
capabilities that will be exciting to search and mapping users. The most
visible of these features is a new 45-degree bird’s-eye view of major U.S.
cities such as New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston, Seattle and Las
Vegas. Covering about a quarter of the U.S., these bird’s-eye images are
captured by Pictometry International Corp. via low-flying airplanes and then
integrated with road and satellite maps to simulate 360-degree panoramas
that can be viewed from four compass directions. On-screen navigational
tools and preview tiles enable navigation between directional views or
zooming in closer to a destination. Now people will be able to experience
what it’s like to be there, whether they are evaluating a new house to buy,
choosing the exact location to meet someone, or just taking a virtual
vacation. Over the next couple of years, Microsoft plans to continuously
update bird’s-eye, aerial, and road map data and imagery as well as local
listings and information.

Taking the Guesswork Out of Getting There

The new Windows Live Local service also gives users some great new ways to
identify where they want to go and map the best route to get there. First,
users will be able to point to anyplace on the map that interests them and
immediately calculate directions to it. Now, even if the user doesn’t know
the address or name of a place — such as a park, shopping mall, parking
garage or other spot that is hard to identify by address or name — he or she
can simply point, click and get directions to that location. In addition,
the new service provides a range of new driving direction capabilities,
including step-by-step directions using bird’s-eye or satellite views,
identification of construction areas along a specific route, and several
innovative print options such as print-only directions, the addition of
notes to printed directions, and thumbnail pictures of each turn in the
route. An updated version of Location Finder is also available in Windows
Live Local to help people using a Wi-Fi-enabled laptop, Tablet PC or desktop
PC to easily position their current location as a starting point to their
search experience. The degree of accuracy is often within a few hundred feet
of a user’s actual location.

Additional Ways to Share; More Bird’s-Eye Views Planned

Today’s launch also offers users the ability to customize their maps by
adding their own user-created Pushpins, which can be annotated with useful
information about a location such as which corner of an intersection to
meet, the baseball field and time “Johnny’s” game will start, or the camping
site selected for the annual summer trip. Pushpins can be used to create
itineraries for a set of activities and in all cases can be easily shared
with others through e-mail, Web logs, MSN® Spaces or instant messages sent
with MSN Messenger.

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in
software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize
their full potential.

Google roundtable at Siliconvalley.com

This week I'm participating in an online discussion forum about all things Google with an illustrous group of panelists. It should be an interesting week! Here's a list of the people participating:

- Stephen Arnold is a technology consultant and author of six books, among them "The Google Legacy: How Google's Internet Search is Transforming Application Software" and "The Enterprise Search Report."

- John Battelle is one of the co-founders of Wired magazine and the founder and former chairman of Standard Media International, publisher of The Industry Standard and TheStandard.com. He is a columnist for Business 2.0 and the author of "The Search: How Google and Its Rivals Rewrote the Rules of Business and Transformed Our Culture."

- Michael Bazeley is the Internet reporter for the San Jose Mercury News and co-author of its Silicon Beat Web log.

- Nicholas Carr is an acclaimed business writer and speaker whose work centers on strategy, innovation, and technology. His 2004 book "Does IT Matter?" set off a worldwide debate about the role of computers in business, as did his follow up essay "The End of Corporate Computing." He is a former executive editor of the Harvard Business Review.

- Cindy Cohn is the legal director for the Electronic Frontier Foundation as well as its general counsel.

- Doug Edwards was Director of Consumer Marketing and Brand Management for Google from 1999 to 2005. 

- Paul Ford is an associate editor of Harper's magazine and author of its Weekly Review. In July 2002, he wrote "August 2009: How Google beat Amazon and Ebay to the Semantic Web," an extraordinarily prescient discussion of Google and its future.

- Gautam Godhwani is CEO of Simply Hired, a vertical search engine company. In his previous work, he co-founded the India Community Center in the Bay Area and was CEO and co-founder of AtWeb, an Internet company acquired by Netscape/AOL in 1998.- Charlene Li is a principal analyst at Forrester Research, where she examines the ways new technology will affect how companies deliver information, content and advertising, as well as how these changes will affect the businesses that provide these services.

- Om Malik is a senior writer at Business 2.0 magazine, with prior stints at Red Herring, Forbes, and Hambrecht & Quist Asia Pacific.

- Matt Mullenweg is the lead developer of WordPress, a semantic personal publishing platform.

- Gary Price is a librarian and information research consultant, editor of ResourceShelf and news editor at Search Engine Watch.

- Rich Skrenta is CEO and founder of Topix.net, a targeted news service and author of "The Secret Source of Google's Power," a seminal essay on the mythical Google operating system.

- David Vise is a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter for The Washington Post, where his beat focuses on Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, and Time Warner/AOL. He is the author of “The Google Story.”