Introducing Google Sidewiki
On the 23rd of September 2009 Google launched Google Sidewiki[1]. It allows your website visitors to leave comments on your website in real-time, giving them a voice to cast personal opinions – positive or negative – on your business operations and end products. New users who have the wiki enabled will be able to view any comments left by previous visitors, giving consumers’ opinions on your business, products and services more power than it has ever held before[2].
Sidewiki places consumer conversations right at the heart of any online marketing strategy and word of mouth could potentially become so loud that companies will have to monitor and respond to it constantly. Companies with unpopular products are expected to suffer the most, but positive posts could strengthen your brand and bring endorsements[3]. Whether you like the idea or not, you can’t prevent users from leaving feedback and as a website owner there is nothing you can do to get rid of any comments left on your site. As a page/site owner you have the right to respond and Sidewiki therefore allows you to claim the first comment (which appears at the top in Sidewiki) for yourself ( if you have verified ownership of your website through Google Webmaster Central). It therefore gives businesses a certain amount of damage control, but this could potentially become a necessary customer service activity in itself, resulting in additional overheads and frustrations in day-to-day activities. You are also able to ‘report abuse’ but since Google moderators can take up to 48 hours[4] to remove offensive comments the damage could already have been done by the time the commentary have been removed from your website.
It is not the first of its kind (e.g. Third Voice) but since it has been launched by the colossal Google, it might become the one that stays. Since Google is an undisputed leader in the online sphere it is critical to avoid the mistake of dismissing it[5] and businesses are being forced to take it seriously. It is expected that only IT savvy or technical people will initially use Sidewiki[6], but as it becomes a mainstream tool it could potentially have a huge impact on how you manage PR and run your business. Maybe you should have a look now to see what people say about your business, products and services.
How to get it and how it works
Google Sidewiki has been launched as a feature of Google Toolbar. It can be downloaded and installed from www.google.com/sidewiki and for it to work you have to enable the ‘enhanced’ version of the Toolbar[7]. Once enabled, Google Sidewiki appears as a browser sidebar from where you can read and write entries along the side of the page[8]. Entries are not shown in date order – instead Google uses an algorithm that promotes the most useful and high-quality entries at the top in the side bar.
You can identify pages which contain Sidewiki information from the bubble or the >> tab which appears where you are browsing a page. To make a comment you need to click on the Sidewiki button and enter your comment in the comment entry window which appears. If you need to change your comment you can use the ‘edit’ option at the bottom of the entry and deleting it is achieved from the same menu, this time selecting the ‘Delete’ option. You can leave comments on the page as a whole or you can highlight a particular part of the page and comment only on that phrase/text. Since each comment exists as a standalone URL you are able to share your comments in networks such as Twitter or Facebook[9].
The feature is integrated with Google Profiles, so you can find more information about the author and read other Sidewiki comments[10].
Is it good or bad?
I have found a few blogs/articles which argues the positives and negatives of the Sidewiki feature. Please refer to the following to follow the current debate:
- http://www.marketersboard.com/google-sidewiki-controversy/
- http://www.smh.com.au/technology/biz-tech/sidewiki-causes-a-pr-headache-20091113-idlp.html
- http://digihub.brisbanetimes.com.au/node/1354
References
[1] Sundar Pichai. (2009). Help and Learn from others as you browse the web: Google Sidewiki. Available: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/09/help-and-learn-from-others-as-you.html. Last accessed 25 November 2009.
[2] Unknown. (2009). Google Sidewiki: You can’t ignore your customers anymore!. Available: http://www.mdwebhosting.com.au/blog/?p=96. Last accessed 25 November 2009.
[3] Unknown. (2009). Google Sidewiki: You can’t ignore your customers anymore!. Available: http://www.mdwebhosting.com.au/blog/?p=96. Last accessed 25 November 2009.
[4] Sylvie Fortin. (2009). The Google Sidewiki Controversy. Available: http://www.marketersboard.com/google-sidewiki-controversy/. Last accessed 25 November 2009.
[5] Sylvie Fortin. (2009). The Google Sidewiki Controversy. Available: http://www.marketersboard.com/google-sidewiki-controversy/. Last accessed 25 November 2009.
[6] Unknown. (2009). Google Sidewiki: You can’t ignore your customers anymore!. Available: http://www.mdwebhosting.com.au/blog/?p=96. Last accessed 25 November 2009.
[7] Danny Sullivan . (2009). Google Sidewiki Allows Anyone To Comment About Any Site. Available: http://searchengineland.com/google-sidewiki-allows-anyone-to-comment-about-any-site-26420. Last accessed 25 November 2009.
[8] Sundar Pichai. (2009). Help and Learn from others as you browse the web: Google Sidewiki. Available: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/09/help-and-learn-from-others-as-you.html. Last accessed 25 November 2009.
[9] Danny Sullivan . (2009). Google Sidewiki Allows Anyone To Comment About Any Site. Available: http://searchengineland.com/google-sidewiki-allows-anyone-to-comment-about-any-site-26420. Last accessed 25 November 2009.
[10] Sundar Pichai. (2009). Help and Learn from others as you browse the web: Google Sidewiki. Available: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/09/help-and-learn-from-others-as-you.html. Last accessed 25 November 2009.
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