Over the Labor Day weekend, Google fed the tech blogosphere a chewy piece of news — the equivalent to peanut butter — the Web couldn’t stop chattering about it. They’re planning on a new project aimed at the Web browser market. I might as well share my feedback on it since I was asked by a couple people this morning.
Google Blogoscoped, an independent blog focused on the Google company, posted a nice piece of news (effective PR for the Mt. View company) on the much-rumored Google Web Browser project. They detailed a list of upcoming features which sets the Google Browser Project, dubbed “Google Chrome,” unique from competitors like Mozilla Firefox or Microsoft Internet Explorer. Google themselves, enjoyed the PR reaction from the techochamber and has since embraced the feedback and officially announced plans for the Google Browser Project. If you’re interested, check out the Google Chrome comic that was posted.
Even with my critical perspective on Public Relations, I will admit that this was a great moment in PR for the largest company on the Web. Kudos, Google!
— Anyhow —
It’s not that Firefox doesn’t suffice or that they will realistically leave Internet Explorer in the dust. It’s clearly a decision made by their business development team, seeking to attract engaged users who love all-in-one software. (Somewhat like a prognosis of this company.)
Google’s decision to create a Web browser is for one reason: targeted advertising. It’s not just the on-going ads that matter to users; it’s the engagement of those ads. This is especially important and provides the right motive for Google to do so in light of their downward click-through-rate (CTR) trend.
Targeted advertising aside, one can ascertain that the fact that Google is seeking to improve their relationship with their users. From merely a intermediary destination to more functional primary destination. This will provide more opportunities to mature those relationships and engage users with more creative assets. Content is the only asset lacking; Google still aims to provide content by means of automated crawlers and place users in control of their editorial experience.
If I was Mozilla or Microsoft, I wouldn’t be all too threatened by Google Browser. In light of the upcoming consumer feature; privacy clouds Google’s dangers. If they can amplify and provide anonymous browsing and anonymity services built-in it may prevent concerned users from jumping on over. Google could rebut these concerns by placing Consumer Privacy at a very rung on their software’s features.
For now, I’m sticking with Firefox, but I may try it out just to see and perform deeper scientific analysis as to the browser’s functions and features. Before people jump to Google, I strongly recommend Firefox for reliability, privacy, speed and performance.
