Welcome to Google Now!

Google Now a new feature in Jelly Bean designed to make it easier to search for certain kinds of information. But thanks to XDA-Developers, you can try out Google Now!

Here is how it is described:

Google Now gets you just the right information at just the right time. It tells you today’s weather before you start your day, how much traffic to expect before you leave for work, when the next train will arrive as you’re standing on the platform, or your favorite team’s score while they’re playing. And the best part? All of this happens automatically. Cards appear throughout the day at the moment you need them. Appointments, commute time to work and back, flight data, sports, and a frighteningly accurate voice search functionality are just some of the “cards” you can scroll through inside of Google Now to find just what you need.

The XDA forum thread has full instructions, but be careful: you’ll have to root your Android device, modify system files, and reboot your phone a couple of times, so it’s at least annoying. Browse the forum thread before you make any changes, and be aware that in some cases it has caused apps to force-close randomly.

But finally, what are Google Now and Siri aiming at?

Be Social like the Vice industries #PWES3

What can we learn about Social Media from alcohol, drugs and porn industries? Like, a lot. Here is a little consideration by Alekone at the #PWES3 Social Media event.

First of all, players in these markets can’t use the regular advertising on Google or Facebook, but they still have a lot of money to spend. So what do they do? Innovation.

In the Eighties VHS beat Betamax because the porn industry chose the former and not the latter. Some recent innovations by these industries are: video live streaming, mobile payments, on-demand video, live video chat, long tail marketing. Chris Anderson‘s Long Tail theory fits perfectly the porn industry: for instance, where else would you find Japanese girls licking door knobs?

More interesting things:

• Great numbers on these sites – Youporn makes 2% of Internet traffic by itself, Xvideos is the third most visited site in the world.
• Marketing strategies of drugs sites – Follow them on Twitter and get a free joint

Finally we have:

fewer marketing tools = more innovation.

More community engagement, more tailored contents, more micro-targeting.

Here is the complete presentation. All the presentations from #PWES3 are here. Let’s communicate like the vice industries do!

Local businesses on Google+

Where do we go tonight?

Nothing new here: it’s a little like Tripadvisor, or the Italian 2spaghi, but integrated in Google. Here we have Google+ Local, a way to “discover new businesses, rediscover places we love, and share them with their friends across the web“.

The original post is here.

So we have another way to find the finest and closest places. The businesses in G+Local can now be found across Google search, Maps, mobile and GooglePlus. Google also integrated this service with Zagat reviews, which are pretty much about the US.

Basic information about these businesses can still be managed in Google Places for Business. Moreover, reviews by friends will be available.

This market looks a bit crowded, why is G+ Local expected to be a success? Maybe GooglePlus will make it sink into oblivion as well.

New privacy policy on Google

On March, 2012, Google is changing its privacy policy.

All the information about you on all your Google profiles will be aggregated in order to create a unique experience through each Google platform. This will “improve” each one’s experience with Google Ads, as well.

Is there any way to avoid it? Apparently, just one:

Users won’t be able to opt out. If they don’t like the change, Google has said, they can avoid signing into their accounts or stop using Google products altogether.

You can check your Ads Preferences on this page and your Web History here. It’s a lot of stuff Google knows about you and it’s used to tailor the advertising messages for you.

How can we try and protect our privacy then? Here’s some advice from Forbes.

Google, myself and I

When you use Google and its many services, how do you identify yourself? According to Google blog, there are a few options: you can be unidentified, use a pseudonymous or be identified.

But there’s far more than that. As someone said, your online identity is determined not only by what you post, but also by what others post about you – whatever it is. When someone googles you, the SERPs are a mix of all this.

As far as June 2011 Google released an improved Dashboard page in order to manage as precisely as possible your web reputation.

Here you can manage the Alert service about you, edit your profile – here’s mine – and link all your profiles around the web.

So far so good, it’s all about you. But there are also some ways to influence SERPs: you can try and remove a page from the SERPs and manage your reputation in an effective way.

Moreover, from the Dashboard you can access and manage pretty much every existing Google service: Analytics, Calendar, Docs, Gmail, Groups, Maps, Picasa, Reader, Youtube, Chrome sync, Adwords, navigation history and so on.