words, words, words

I was thinking about personalization while walking around Oxford Circus tonight. This is a bit of a conundrum. Like Seth Godin, I think that yes, if I buy a plane ticket to Lusaka, I would want to know the best way to see Victoria Falls. However, at what point can you start to profile people based on their searches? Does Google have a moral obligation to “do no evil” and report “evildoers”? Where would that stop? With Phillip K. Dick and Precrime?

That said, Google seems to be greasing the wheels of acceptance testing with their personalized search features. In an Official Post on the Google Blog it seems like they are selling the idea of personalization.

Look at the way they are also writing about this:

Keep in mind that personalization is subtle—at first you may not notice any difference. But over time, as the search engine learns your preferences, you’ll see it. For example, I (Sep) am an avid Miami Dolphins fan (no joke). Searching for [dolphins] gives me info about my favorite football team, while a marine biologist colleague gets more information about her salt-water friends.

Nothing says, “Hey, I’m just one of the guys, trust me…” like talking about football. That’s one of the the reasons why whenever you are trying to sell a scary concept, it is always a good idea to tie your concept to a popular sporting team or a cute animal. Or hell, why not both! It… looks… like… Flipper… could… go… all… the…. way… !!!

Today is the day! National Gorilla Suit Day (NGSD) However, I didn’t know about it until I got to work. I am normally surrounded by monkeys, so today would have been a terrific day to don the appropriate attire.

:(|)

In Google’s never ending quest to free the world’s information, they are making it harder and harder to get lost. Instead of wandering into dark alleys and speakeasies you are now able to pinpoint with a startling degree of the nearest Subway Sandwich Shoppe. All this is thanks to Official Google Maps for Mobile. However, I do have to admit that I too use the program. London is confusing. Especially the “Ye Olde” bits.