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Brett_Tabke - 3:51 pm on Jan 25, 2005 (gmt 0)
While only Google can tell us if that is true, I think we can explore one other alternative that fits better into Googles long term search goals. [blogs.forrester.com...] q: So how can Google and others find quality "non standard" content? A spider today can't execute Javascript, but there is no telling what it will do in a few months. If Google can mind meld GoogleBot to FireFox (GoogleFox, or FireBot?)1 they might be able to increase the relevance of searches and find new content to mine. Right now, Google is data rich but still data hungry. They have mountains of data to sift through from: Toolbar Data: We all know just how much data is shuffled back to google.
The question of Google hiring programmers that worked on the FireFox browser, has generated many stories around the web. Ideas ranging from the thought of Google building a browser, to working on a full blown operating system have been suggested. (video files often hide where spiders can't find them, such as behind Flash animations, in frames, or behind JavaScript)
a: By using browser code itself to bust that stuff hiding behind frames and javascript.
Search Data: Not only simple search engine usage data, but referral data, keyword data, search path data, gfx data, browser data, usage data...etc.
What this all points too, is that Google is amassing information on the overall search experience of web users. Only the major ISP's (such as AOL or MSN), or those involved in the the big Router and Proxy operations (MCI/ATT/Cisco) can even begin to compare the depth of data sets that Google has available. They also have the huge computer farms to crunch that data in spectacularly speedy fashion. What sets Google apart from those sites such as AOL, is that Google knows about the web as a whole. The crawling and indexing of the web presents a composite picture of the web those big ISP's can't see.
We can only try to imagine the decisions and analysis that could come out of that data. This fact, is the single most under rated and under appreciated aspect of Google biz operations today. This fact along, justifies the $200+ valuations we are seeing.
What we also know about Google, is that they have a ravenous appetite for data. Most of that data from the User experience side of the equation, comes via the venerable browser.
Ultimately, what Google is building is a leading edge insight into the human experience of Cyberspace. No one else can compare to the mass of data Google has available for synthesis. Thus, by combing their current indexer/bot with a Browser html rendering engine, they can get at some of that content they are currently barred from getting.
Q: 1 share of google stock?
A: $204 today.
Q: Knowing how, when, where, and why people surf?
A: Priceless.
1 you heard it here first folks ;)