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Google News Launches Facebook Application

Posted by Zonk on from the so-...-goobook-huh dept.

NewsCloud writes "Eight days after Google CEO Eric Schmidt told Zeitgeist conference attendees that social networks account for an 'enormous proportion [of Internet usage]...it's a very real phenomenon,' Google News has launched its own Facebook application. Says Google News: 'This experimental application enables users to create custom sections or select from a set of pre-defined topics, then browse and share stories with their friends on Facebook. We are trying a couple things differently with this application, and it is still in beta, but we think that it adds value to the Facebook experience and to users' overall news experience.' Check out Google News on Facebook (requires registration) — or view screenshots."

15 of 82 comments (clear)

  1. Still in beta by r_jensen11 · · Score: 5, Funny

    We are trying a couple things differently with this application, and it is still in beta, but...

    What of Google's isn't in beta?

    1. Re:Still in beta by chinkuone · · Score: 5, Funny

      Would you rather have Excel 2007 ?

    2. Re:Still in beta by suv4x4 · · Score: 4, Interesting

      > We are trying a couple things differently with this application, and it is still in beta, but...

      What of Google's isn't in beta?

      They lack direction. Their direction used to be better search, now it's just "more ad clicks in more places". The rest of their portfolio appears truly random to me, which it may very well be, as it consists mostly of "20% off time" projects left in the labs, or as early beta, or late beta.

      Looks like the 20% time has side effects. Microsoft has been bashed here regularly for its strategy of entering in all markets it possibly can and observing "what sticks", but now Google is in the same situation, even more so.

      Some random Google projects, which were abandoned while stuck in perpetual beta status:

      Google Gears (the page say "early beta")
      Google Video (looks like they recycled some of the tech in YouTube and left the rest stagnate)
      Google Talk (what happened to this thing? They virtually abandoned it, and there are some known issues still not fixed in it)
      Google Pack (they did an update some time ago, that rips off the look of Vista gadgets, and seems it staled)
      Google Accelerator (the ill-received internet accelerator that will cache your password protected pages and share them out).
      Google Product Search (former Froogle, now seems quite downplayed, and no development is happening in it. Of course, it's "beta")
      Orkut, Picassa, Blogger, SketchUp: what's going on with those, they just bought them /except Orkut/ and sit on them, no development or updates.

      Also I always wondered why they work on various improvements in the Labs, like Google Suggest, only to then never push them on the main site (oddly enough the Google search field in Firefox uses Google Suggest).

    3. Re:Still in beta by hpavc · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Talk is abandoned? News to many people I am sure that use it constantly.

      --
      members are seeing something, your seeing an ad
    4. Re:Still in beta by suv4x4 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Talk is abandoned? News to many people I am sure that use it constantly.

      Right, many people. Approximately 44 thousand. That's less than 1% of the market compared to ICQ/MSN/Yahoo/AIM.
      There are over 14 million people that use Windows 98 constantly as of yet too, do you take this as a sign MS is very enthusiastic about their Win98 support?

      Google Talk still has audio issue on certain machines (confirmed on two of my machines, where Skype worked great), and a bunch of other bugs, like "100% CPU stalling" bug during long conversations. Guess if Google cared, they'd smooth those up by now.

      Look at what Google Talk users do:

      Google Talk also has several "hacks" or things you can use to enhance your communicational experience. They include making your words italic and bold. Also, many users have found out a way to log in with multiple logins by changing the target of the shortcut.

      Huh? Why should people hack Talk to emulate text formatting and multiple profiles.

    5. Re:Still in beta by jmauro · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Orkut is actually quite popular with people overseas taking the place of MySpace and Facebook. It's got a huge Brazillian and Indian userbase. In the US it's way behind it's competetors.

    6. Re:Still in beta by smookumy · · Score: 4, Funny

      Google Talk isn't ready yet. And it won't be ready until it has a list of useless tabs on the side of the contact list, print ads at the bottom of the contact list and chats, and the ability to both violently shake the chat window and fill the chat with just the most obnoxious emoticons.

    7. Re:Still in beta by mrdaveb · · Score: 3, Funny

      Yeah, Orkut is now a big success. There are about a Brazilian people using it

      --
      Homme petit d'homme petit, s'attend, n'avale
    8. Re:Still in beta by colourmyeyes · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I am in grad school, and at least at my school, gtalk is the chat client; it's what AIM was in undergrad a few years ago. Everyone uses it because everyone has a gmail account - if you can check your email somewhere, you can send someone an instant message - no additional browser windows, no proxy issues.

      Just my experience, but it has almost entirely replaced AIM for me. Google was smart to build chat into gmail.

      --
      My grandmother used anecdotal evidence all the time, and she lived to be 120 years old.
  2. Re:Depends by Deltaspectre · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Search and advertising ;)

    --
    My UID is prime... is yours?
  3. Orkut? by jmauro · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Will this application be compatable with Orkut? Google's own social networking/Facebook site?

  4. Re:Can someone explain by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    As you add friends, you get to see your friend's lists of friends. It's all about the e-stalking.

  5. Epic 2015 by Troed · · Score: 3, Interesting

    ... following the path predicted by many, and nicely depicted in this short flash movie called "Epic 2015". We're indeed seeing the death of news as we know it. How does it feel to become a tiny part of the global consciousness?

    --
    it's in my head
    1. Re:Epic 2015 by Aladrin · · Score: 3, Insightful

      "The death of X as we know it" isn't always a bad thing. Here's a few things that had that happen:

      Entertainment
      Construction
      Travel
      Communication
      Mathemetics
      Geography

      All of these things are done -way- different than 100 years ago. Very few aspects of any of them could be considered worse off. Why is 'news' not the same? We used to be restricted to gossip, then the reach of the local printed paper, then the reach of the radio and television... Now the internet lets everyone communicate with everyone and self-style journalists (bloggers) can disseminate information with little or no cost to themselves. China has proven how hard it is to censor the internet and exactly how free information really is.

      --
      "If you make people think they're thinking, they'll love you; But if you really make them think, they'll hate you." - DM
  6. Makes my eyes hurt by Aminion · · Score: 4, Insightful

    [rant]

    As a new Facebook user, I'm surprised by the mess and disorganization that applications on Facebook cause. Reading other peoples' profiles is like participating in psychological experiments with lots of graphics and widgets competing for your attention. And don't get me started on regurgitated content such as "Only great minds can read this This is weird, but interesting!", vampire fights, yes or no apps, etc.

    Here's hoping that Google application implementation won't suck.

    [/rant]