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February 04, 2005
Introducing the "google:" protocol
Is it just me or have you also noticed how people are increasingly inclined to tell you to "just Google it" rather that giving you the URL? I can remember when I used to sit in front of the TV and see the first URLs pop up in ads and shows. Now of course some URL is nearly constantly being shown. However, trying to remember the URL is not always easy and so it would seem that telling people to Google something instead of getting them to remember the URL is a lot easier. And it is far "stickier" than some long string.
So, wouldn't it make sense for companies to just put "google: iPod" or "google: tivo" in their ads instead of getting the customer to remember the URL? Obviously they would need to make sure that Google also returns their site as one of the top links - but the company would want that to be the case anyway.
And in fact, how about browsers respecting a href in a URL that looks like this: "google:tivo". Then you could use that tag in your text to point people to additional information on a particular subject. The browser would automatically take the search term and bring back related links. Contextual search. Much like Yahoo is doing with Y!Q. But simpler.
Of course the problem with that is the fact that Google isn't the only search engine around, so Yahoo would want a "yahoo:tivo" protocol as well. But there is a way around this one as well - especially for Google. They just need to bring out their own browser...oh wait a moment...that sounds familiar.
Posted by Matthew at February 4, 2005 08:48 AM
Comments
A nice idea ... but I think it would make more sense to use a generic search:foo protocol style. Leave it up to the end-user's configuration to pick the most appropriate method of searching. This might be Google, Yahoo, or perhaps even narrow specific instances like an OAI service or Google University Search.
Posted by: Andrew Savory at February 4, 2005 01:31 PM
You can already do google.com?q=searchTerm
I like Andrew's idea, search engine of your choice would be cool, although you could do that with a redirect service, someone make a website called favsearchengine.com and redirect you based on a cookie you have stored with them.
The problem with advertising google terms like that is that google results cannot and will not be controlled so there is no assurance that I won't be pointing my customers to my competitor if I tell them to google:myProduct
Posted by: Anonymous at February 4, 2005 07:31 PM
KDE's konqueror web browser (linux) already has a lot of these goodies built-in. gg:tivo for a google search, dict:something for a dictionary, etc.
Works like a charm. I wouldn't be surprised if you could define stuff like this in firefox, but I haven't checked yet.
Reinout
Posted by: Reinout van Rees at February 4, 2005 09:56 PM
Sounds like a reincarnation of RealNames (http://essaysfromexodus.scripting.com/realNamesMicrosoft) to me ... No more DNS, just register your company name with Google :-)
Posted by: Wolfgang Sommergut at February 4, 2005 11:16 PM
Not exactly a new idea. AOL has been doing that for years (with "AOL Keywords"). But Google could sell that to companies wanting the assurance to be the "I'm feeling lucky" result.
Posted by: padawan at February 4, 2005 11:26 PM