Google Goggles Fills the World with Hyperlinks
This week, Google rolled out its latest game changing (and perhaps life changing) technology: Google Goggles. Google Goggles lets you take a snapshot with your Android phone of a book, a business card or even a storefront and get automatic web results for whatever you’re looking at. For example, you could take a picture of a book cover at Barnes and Noble and Google Goggles will instantly give you reviews, price comparisons and more information. Or you can take a photo of a restaurant and find its menu, hours and phone number.
As Google admits in its introductory video hosted on the Google Mobile Blog, Google Goggles is still very much in its infancy. But the potential is staggering.
The implications for search marketing and businesses alone runs too deep for this blog to even begin to scratch the surface of. But what’s important to us (and you) is how it changes the entire way we interact with the web, our phones and the world.
On the Internet, every picture, link, banner and widget is a hyperlink to somewhere else – whether it’s an advertiser’s website, a privacy disclosure or a portal to further, relevant information. For those with Android phones, such as the HTC Droid Eris and the Samsung Moment, Google Goggles adds this infinite depth of hypertextuality to every setting. Imagine being in Times Square, with every flashing sign leading to more information, exclusive deals or hidden Easter Eggs for the keenly attentive. Or in a rainforest, where every leaf or flower bud is linked to an encyclopedia entry.
Granted, this isn’t the first time we’ve been able to do picture searches or zap business cards via smartphone. The Amazon Remembers feature of the Amazon app, available for BlackBerry phones and AT&T’s iPhone, takes your snapshots and search its catalogue for similar items. WorldCard Mobile, an app for Windows Mobile phones like the Samsung Omnia II intelligently scans business cards. Plus, GPS-enabled phones like the Garmin nuviFone already adeptly points you in the direction of local businesses and points of interest (see also: Foursquare).
But what makes Google Goggle’s so exciting is that the fact that, well, Google is just so dang good at making things awesome. They’re already standing astride the market as the crown prince of search and are proving heavy competition for the mobile OS market with Android (it’s hard to imagine that Steve Jobs is sleeping easy these days).
Our advice: try out Google Goggles, if you have an Android phone. If you don’t, it might be time to consider making the switch.
Related posts:
- Google Testing New Augmented Reality Ads
- Google Goggles: An Explanation of Augmented Reality
- Google’s Picture Search Application Is Being Tested as a Marketing Tool
- iPhone and Android: How to Use Google’s “Near Me Now”
- The New Droid 2 Launches With Google Voice Actions
- Apple Removes All Google Branding from Its iPhone OS 4 Search
- Apple vs Google
- Google Quick Search Box: 20 Cool Things You Didn’t Know Your Android Phone Could Do
- Google’s Cellphones: Android And The Nexus One
- Will Google Enter The Mobile Marketplace?
Tags: Android, google goggles, picture search