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Google Acquires Dodgeball
kalki writes "Dodgeball.com, a service that uses mobile phones to help people meet up with friends who are in the same location, said on its website on Wednesday that it has been bought by Web search leader Google Inc. Also available on the official site is a Q&A about the deal." From the article: "As a two-person team, Alex and I have taken dodgeball about a far as we can alone. Since we finished grad school, we've been trying to figure out how to grow dodgeball and make it a better service along the way. We talked to a lot of different angel investors and venture capitalists, but no one really 'got' what we were doing - that is until we met Google."
Wait, so now google helps you search a crowd for a friend of yours? I can dig it.
Your sig(k) has been stolen. There is a puff of smoke!
"It's time for you to put your mouth where our balls are!"
We talked to a lot of different angel investors and venture capitalists, but no one really 'got' what we were doing - that is until we met Google."
I think what he's really saying is "We begged but no one offered us any money... until we met Google."
Trolling is a art,
...what the "???" is in
1.
2. ???
3. Profit!
It's "Get purchased by Google!"
Google is in a lot of things that seem really cool.
I am concerned, however, about the infrastructure of society being in the hands of a company.
That is exactly what Microsoft wants, in my opinion, and in that respect, Google and MS are identical.
That is why MS is watching Google so closely.
but, could there be a possibility of integrating this feature with google maps or google local eventually? Google local search of "what bar are my friends hanging out at tonight?" drop down some phone numbers, get a google map to where they are.
It's New York City, it's location based, and it's more than GPS...
Crap, do Sun and IBM know about this? They'll have to make a couple more purchases just to keep up with Google. Wake me up when there's only one fish left in the pond...
Great idea. Google has had tremendous success with it's prior engagement in social sites. Just look at Orkut.com
Yes, I was being sarcastic. I'm still trying to figure out why they made this move. It doesn't seem to fit into the "organizing the world" mantra?
Underholdning.info
One thing to watch is the post acquisition. Google's really didn't do much for Orkut. While Friendster continually builds a user base and adds features, Orkut remains slow and bug ridden.
www.lonseidman.com
Guess Google got tired of getting beaned all the time at recess so they just bought the whole darned game. EK
Mozy, free online backup service
--
that Google will know where I am, too?
I predict a new trend to start emerging: Think of a unique/different way in which 'searching' is in anyway involved and create a startup with full intentions of being bought by Google.
I remember reading a cartoon one of these days where basically before a job interview, the interviewer starts to mention all this "nasty" stuff about the interviewee because he checked the interviewee's Orkut and found all the groups where he belongs to, etc. I've also heard about people getting dumped because of Orkut. Many people have already closed their accounts because of this. If you are evil, you can find out A LOT about the person's life and do them harm.
Obviously dodgeball does not fall into this category, but it makes me think about all the services Google has planned. Obviously that overall they do more good than harm, but I can't help but think that some of this will be abused and used by organized crime, identity theft etc.
Think about it.
Now mix those three together. I wonder how far Google will go in integrating these services, and how much care they will take in preventing abuse. We'll just have to wait and see.
They don't use that technology at all. They know where you are because you have to text them to let them know where you are.
The service will however comb it's database and find complete strangers who have also text'd their friends saying "I'm at Club Suds" too, so then you can find other people who have reported being at the same bar you're at.
But no, they (Dodgeball) have no way of actually determining where you are.
Ah, interesting. If you've read Paul Graham's latest essay and last night's thread [1] on Slashdot, you'll find this paragraph from Paul'e essay rather interesting and timely:
5 06957
"What companies should do is go out and discover startups when they're young, before VCs have puffed them up into something that costs hundreds of millions to acquire."
[1] http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=149177&cid=12
[2] http://simpy.com/ - 1-man mini Google
Simpy
an opposing team?
As a two-person team, Alex and I have taken dodgeball about a far as we can alone.
If you don't know where your friends are -- they aren't your friends.
I'd say, if you've got so few friends you know where all of them are at any given moment, THEN you are a geek.
You fail to understand the power of marketting. These conversations happen using AIM on their Verizon phones. Teeny bopper 1 to Teeny bopper 2: Meet me at the mall after school, k? Teeny bopper 2 to Teeny bopper 1: Alright! Teeny bopper 1 to mom: Can you pick us up at the mall at 8? mom to Teeny bopper 1: Which entrance? Teeny bopper 1 to mom: Use dodgeball silly...
Your sig(k) has been stolen. There is a puff of smoke!
Strong words for an old-timer like you. You should know better. Did you buy that ID on eBay?
This is far from an egregious error. If it fails, it fails. If it succeeds, they reap the rewards. What are the chances of a business model such as this one failing? At this point, much lower than before. Apparently there were other idiots already using the service, but as soon as Google ties this system into their existing Hello, Picassa, and (possibly) future IM client, I believe potential is just oozing. There is no bigger gadget money-maker out there than cell phones. iPods are a distant second. And the high school/young college market is teeming with kids willing to pay for an inexpensive, unneeded service just like this. If it's free though, and it keeps them using Google services and so forth, how can this lose?
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I remember when personal computers were just finding a niche in business, and your choices were an x86 running DOS and a Mac. For us DOS guys, MS was this amazing Sorcerer's Tower in Redmond that kept coming up with newer, better office and personal apps. And we watched in awe as the graphics programs for Windows began to nose up on their Mac counterparts (if not their user base). MS was Great!
Then, somewhere along the line, circa early-mid 90's, somebody looked up and realized how pervasive they were. The Novell and WordPerfect satellites had been completely absorbed into the ever-burgeoning and hungry DeathStar they orbited, and even our phones, PDAs, TV set-top boxes, and browsers began to sport the Brand of the Beast. The backlash began, but the tide was unstem-able. We had become a Microsoft Nation, save for a few cells of Linux revolutionaries and a Mac sub-culture that, by its own choice, would not breed and so could not be counted upon in the long haul.
I am often reminded of the affection I and so many others had for MS 15 years ago, seeing it mirrored here daily in the gushing PR presented as "reporting" on the front page of slashdot. But MS brokered only tools, no matter how empowered those tools made us feel. Google brokers knowledge, and if we don't monitor their growth at least as cynically as we do that of Microsoft, we are fools.
You may be doing a lot more than just checking for their name on the internet. When google starts aggregating information from the internet, Orkut, blogger, gmail, and now dodgeball, under a "peopleranking" algorithm, it will be a very interesting world. Just think about how much power a neighborhood watch group equipped with camera phones can have by using those four services. Throw in google.maps (which I think will eventually use a livestream from Keyhole) and you are approaching Total Information Awareness for citizens. The more I think about it, the more I'd like to see them move their servers into international waters right away.
Maybe we'll find out when they're interviewed on ESPN "The Ocho". My guess is they'll have to carry all that money home in a pirate's chest.
May 12, 2005
Google, the company known primarily for its internet search engine, has announced today that it has acquired a dodgeball. Eric Schmidt, the CEO of the pioneering internet company, made the purchase at a silicon valley sporting goods superstore, Sports Authority, for the sum of $12.95.
"This acquisition will become a cornerstone of our future growth plans," said Schmidt. "In the coming weeks, this dodgeball will be hurled at tremendous speed within the executive offices. It is likely to knock phones, pen holders, and even some of those magnetic paper-clip boxes off of the desks of many employees. This should stir things up, and get our best people thinking either outside of the box, or about looking for another job. The combined one-two punch of increased thinking and lower payroll costs will propel Google forwards into the next century."
Sally Jones, an employee at Sports Authority, said that the transaction went smoothly. "Initially, when we met with Schmidt, we were concerned the acquisition would be a hostile takeover. However, he assured us that his plans for the dodgeball were based on growth and solid corporate fundamentals. The fact that his credit card was not declined was also assuring." Sally says that she recommended the purchase of an air pump to help inflate it, but that Schmidt declined, stating that the company's "[value] is already inflated."
The acquisition comes on the heels of rumours that Microsoft has plans to acquire a badminton set. A Microsoft spokesman was not available for comment.
Old people fall. Young people spring. Rich people summer and winter.
Here's a scenario for you. Me and a friend were out sportbike riding around MtBaker, we were into some twisties I was slightly behind my buddy. I look to the left and see a group of fellow Canadians at the side of the road it looks like there's a problem. I start flashing my hi beam and honking my horn but my partner is in Ducati World and sees nothing but the next corner to attack. So I turn around and figure he will notice sooner or l8tor and turn around. It turns out This fellow lost it in a corner, he was ok but his vfr was bent, we straightened the front end as best we could, then they headed back home and I continued on to hook back up with my partner. I checked the restaurant at the parking lot of the ski hill but while I was there my partner went by the other way. I never found him. by the time was able to get him on his phone he was back at the border and I was having lunch at the next tavern. If we could have stopped and located each other using this it would have been a better day.
Many a long talk since then I have had with the man in the moon; he had my confidence on the voyage. Joshua Slocum
Shutup, I'm eating this food and it tastes really good. How can something that tastes this good be bad for you?
Yes, they agree - that's why they've made lookups fast and convenient by denormalizing their database!
INSERT INTO dodgeball_friendlist (userid, friend1, friend2, friend3) VALUES (1,'joey','lisa','antonio');
lookups are FAST!
cyn, free software and *nix operating systems enthusiast.
This is going to be huge. Not only are you going to be near a freind, you will be near 3 shops that have ads with google. It may get annoying, but they have to pay for this somehow.
Religion and politics, without the flame. godgab.org
I really like Clusty.com because you can sort things by category, the way the old yahoo directory worked. So if you do a search for say "Paris" it will split the results into groups like "Paris Hilton", "Paris, France", "Paris Casino" etc... Unlike google where you have to either type in a specific phrase that would make the results clear, or wade through tons of useless results.
I have no problem with a Google empire. I would have had no problem with a Microsoft empire, if they hadn't built theirs Robber Baron style.
Google is, so far, the perfect example that you CAN be a successful company and NOT lie, steal, and cheat your way there.
For decades, I've had to deal with MBA types who revered Bill Gates, not because he was a good guy but because he was successful. They didn't care how he did it, they cared that he had done it.
Let Google take over; let them be so pervasive that you can't go anywhere without seeing their brand; AS LONG AS THEY REMAIN THE COMPANY THEY ARE NOW.
I'd rather spend the rest of my life dealing with business oriented types that realize it's possible to get ahead without being backstabbing, manipulative, lying, sacks of excrement than with the ones today that think their actions should only be guided by whether the potential profit outweighs the potential fees if they get caught.
It would make too much sense to just to call your friends mobile phone to find out where they are.
No sig for you!!
Not to be outdone, Microsoft today announced they have purchased a controlling interest in Duck Duck Goose.
All movements for social change begin as missions, evolve into businesses, and end up as rackets.
Google is going to become the premier marketing company in the future. They are really good at providing a service that people want or need, but at the same time, that service also helps them collect data on you. Is this a good or bad thing? I can't really tell yet. However, I just had a flash back to Minority Report where people are getting customer advertisements based on who they are.
Let's look at what google can know about you, if you use all of their services (present and future):
Think about it. I could easily forsee LCD screens on streets, in bars, at your restuarant table which display custom google ads. As soon as you pass by them, your bluetooth enabled phone broadcasts your cell phone number to the receiver which transmits to the Google Person Database. This database spiders out and looks up your most recent searches, your friends searches, other people who search like you, accesses your e-mail indexes, looks up what locations you visit on a regular basis, and gives you a custom advertisement which has the best probability to sell to the thousands of other people who have a similar demographic to you.
I'm starting to think of Google as marketing powerhouse with really smart technology, rather a technology powerhouse with really slick marketing.
I'm struggling to find the answer: What can't Google figure out or make damned good assumptions about you, based on your Google use?
That's the fallacy of pseudonymity on the web. Have you ever posted something using your pseudonym from your real IP address? Or used both your real identity and pseudonym while maintaining the same tracking cookie in your web browser? Or leaked personally identifiable semantic information by posting from the same brain (google stylometry)?
Once the two identities are linked by a single careless move (like those mentioned above), your pseudonym is compromised retroactively. You are now personally accountable for everything you thought was done anonymously. Don't think Google won't automate this in the future, if they aren't doing it already...
Did nobody notice the top line of the page? The poster of this story included a Session ID variable in the query string, and apparently dodgeball does a terrible job with security, because now we're all logged in as rekcah5. Wow. Hopefully Google helps out a bit.