There are a number of “wishes” I have for the future of Google. While I would like to rank number one for all my important keywords and phrases, I would be willing to settle for Google recognizing at least some of my wishes that will benefit the search community as a whole.
Google started out as a darling, a startup that was all hearted, and today it’s a “hated” brand. Why the fall from grace? Somehow, Google is the victim of the too big, too powerful, too successful affliction that attacks companies that achieve a level of success few companies dream of. Now that’s not to say I’m giving them a pass, they have room for improvement and I really don’t hate them. I think there are many areas that could be improved.
I sat down and wrote an open letter to Google about my wishes and dreams for its future:
Dear Google,
Please consider the following for areas of improvement.
1. Usenet and RSS.
Please, I’m begging you (crawling if it helps) create RSS feeds for Google Groups keyword searches. Think of the value, you could scour the Usenet for company or product names using RSS feeds. This would be an extremely easy way for companies (and Google users) to keep up with what is being said on Usenet and in forums on specific topics.
2.Privacy Policy.
Please clarify Google’s privacy policy and tell me EXACTLY how you are going to use the aggregated data it collects. While most of us realize that personal information collected is of little value, aggregated data is extremely valuable. Google is an extremely powerful company, and this collective data gives them a huge advantage when it comes to negotiating acquisitions or determining trends. Many of us respect Google, its size and power, but we don’t necessarily want to contribute to Google’s further growth. Implement a way for customers who want to pay a fee to opt out of having their data added or tracked.
3. Protect your customers.
For God’s sake, don’t make it so easy for people to scam software companies. Why do you suggest cracks or serials in the Google Suggest tool? Help us protect your customers’ intellectual property!
[http://labs.google.com/suggest]
4. Stop tracking everything I do!
I connect to Writely (now Google Docs) and feel like I’m being stalked, you monitor search, you monitor tracking via analytics, you monitor advertising via Google Adwords, you monitor publisher money via Google AdSense and now they have connected many of the accounts together. Give users a bit of privacy or the ability to easily manage multiple logins.
5. Tell me how much I earn!
Clearly tell publishers what percentage range they can expect to receive when they run AdSense on their content websites. Now, I understand that it can vary from publisher to publisher, but it reveals a range. Or at least consider adopting a model similar to Amazon’s, where the percentage of revenue earned by publishers is based on their volume.
6. Google alert via RSS.
The current Google Alerts system is from the 1990s (figuratively speaking), offer an option to receive Google Alerts via RSS feeds. I know you can set up a Google News search using RSS, it seems silly that it’s not available through Google Alerts.
http://www.google.com/alerts
7. Faster blog indexing.
Google is all about search, right? Why are they so slow in indexing blogs? In fact, Google’s blog search performs much worse than many blog-specific search engines. Search should be Google’s strength instead of a weakness. Even the breadth of blogs searched, and related blogs listed in Google’s blog search are scant. Definitely room for improvement in this area.
http://blogsearch.google.com
8. Same rules.
I wish the rules were the same for all AdSense publishers, regardless of the revenue they generate. In talking to publishers, it’s clear that there is a different set of standards, depending on the revenue produced or the traffic a website receives. Keep the playing field level, if someone is using a subversive tactic they should have been penalized regardless of income from it.
9. Fight second generation fraud.
What is second generation fraud? Scammers bid high for AdWords, what they pay for keywords or phrases is irrelevant, because the credit card they use is fraudulent. They make legitimate affiliate sales through the website and profit from their “free” traffic. Google should help connect the dots on these sites and ban the websites from their organic index.
10. Drop DMOZ.
Remove Google Dmoz directory listings or pay DMOZ staff with reputable publishers who can keep up. Dmoz listings are hopelessly out of date and do not reflect current websites.
11. Protect copyrights/trademarks.
Google seems to change its mind on the subject of allowing competitors to bid on brand words in their AdWords accounts. The current policy seems to be that competitors can’t use a trademark in the ad, but competitors can still bid on trademarked terms. A company the size of Google should have more respect for brands. I really wish Google would stand firm on the issue of trademarks and prevent competitors from bidding on the terms.
12. Bury the litter box.
Throw out the litter box or the aging delay, or get rid of both. Face it, valuable websites are created every day. The Internet is fluid and valuable websites should not be penalized for their youth. The sandbox and delayed aging may deter spam sites, but there must be a better way.
13. Let me be anonymous!
Why do you need my personal information? Does it really matter in the grand scheme of everything Google does? Why do you require my personal information?
14. Stop putting corporate America at a disadvantage.
Canadian and non-US companies can set up literally hundreds of AdSense publisher accounts, but US companies are tracked by tax ID numbers, so they can only have one account.
15. Put less weight on Wikipedia.
Let’s face it, ANYONE can edit Wikipedia. Information read on Wikipedia can be accurate one day and wrong the next. Wikipedia is a good resource, but it is not a reliable indicator of information. Do not use Wikipedia links to indicate the value of a site. Wikipedia uses the same model as Dmoz, which has languished, volunteers can’t do much.
16. Make an RSS search engine.
Why hasn’t Google done this? I’m baffled. The blog search engine is not an RSS search engine, consider the power of being able to search ALL RSS feeds. There are a number of small RSS search engine portals available, but there is no clear leader, this is where Google could and should be.
17. Stop buying companies.
Stop buying, Google is already big enough. Finish all the things that Google has started. Keep in mind that while files on the Internet can last forever, it is rare for companies to retain power and influence for an extended period of time. Remember Infoseek or Altavista? Focus on your strengths.
While my Google wish list may seem trivial, these are all things Google could do to win back my goodwill.