14 DAY TRIAL // Google is launching a new feature for its browser Toolbar called Sidewiki, which will allow users to add comments on any website. While the idea isn't exactly new, with Google's weight behind it, it may actually catch on. While in the face of it the feature may seem interesting but not exactly crucial, it may be part of a larger paradigm shift, as content discovery is moving away from algorithm-based search and more towards human intervention.
“What if everyone, from a local expert to a renowned doctor, had an easy way of sharing their insights with you about any page on the web? What if you could add your own insights for others who are passing through? Now you can. Today, 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,” Sundar Pichai, VP product management, and Michal Cierniak, engineering lead for Google Sidewiki, wrote.
The idea is simple enough and one that has potential. Allowing users to comment on every page and website opens up a ton of possibilities for discussion, but also for finding the better quality content. With users able to speak their mind without too much control from the website owner, positive and negative comments may be seen with more trust, but, at the same time, the system could potentially be abused.
Google has set up several means of combating this. For one, website owners will have the option to post the first comment, which will always be on top. Secondly, the comments will be sorted using a special algorithm setup, rather than just listing them in the order they came in, and Google has spent a lot of time on developing it.
Sidewiki is incorporated in the Google Toolbar for Internet Explorer and Firefox and will eventually make its way into Google Chrome, where it will be supported natively. As the name implies, the feature pops up as a sidebar whenever comments are available, with the most relevant results on top and users can also add their own comments using the system.
Google Toolbar with Sidewiki for Internet Explorer can be downloaded here. Google Toolbar with Sidewiki for Mozilla Firefox can be downloaded here.