An informal arrangement to provide MySpace users with search results, this week firmed up into a formal partnership…Google again pulls-off a major coup and becomes the media partner for myspace.
For a moment I had the temerity to think that one of the biggest threats to search engines, including Google, would be the huge social media communities such as Myspace.
This theory depended on those communities developing their own ways to monetise their traffic beyond simply adopting a search engine’s advertising platform such as Google Adsense. In doing so these huge communities would develop user interaction that reduced our need for search ‘engines’, bypassing the mega search properties altogether.
‘Algorithmic’ search can be a sterile and unrewarding experience for many users. Browsing through a Google results page is not the fun it used to be when it was one of the only ways to find new sources for our attention. New, media rich experiences now surround us, including video and image search and fast evolving trust networks. Monolithic search platforms, which depend on technical algorithms for filtering vast quantities of information that have little or no social interaction or comment, are quickly having to share their users with more immersive experiences, often mashed-up with a community’s views and experiences. This democratisation of content leads to a different interactive experience that search engines have so far failed to deliver.
Myspace is a great move for Google, not unexpected, but significant nonetheless.
