Brands take note. Google Sidewiki broadening the conversation

Oct
22

Brands take note. Google Sidewiki broadening the conversation

Hat tip to Jeremiah Owyang for presenting this last weekend at Blogworld 2009; thank you.

During my time at HP, I remember several discussions about launching a printer blog to engage with consumers. This didn’t go over well with some because at that time, HP was struggling with giving up control of brand messages. Since then, they have done an extremely good job embracing social media and have launched some really cool and innovative programs.

We all know that many brands still struggle with this concept of giving up some control of the brand; and are scared to death about allowing comments on their blogs/communities in fear of negative comments.

Problem solved, or unsolved depending on how you look at it. Welcome Google Sidewiki!

Google Sidewiki allows anyone to leave a comment on any webpage out on the social web. It does require users to download a plugin and comments are stored to the left of a web page using an iframe. Here is a screen shot of Apple’s website; notice the comment from me on the upper left. Google also allows users to share the comment via Twitter, Facebook, email, a bookmark; and the comment will also show up on the user’s Google profile. Google Sidewiki is new and but widespread adoption of this product is probably just right around the corner.

Here is a screen shot of the Nationwide Insurance web site. Notice the comment with the green background. This is because Nationwide has claimed their webpage and have added some relevant content for sidewiki users. Any brand can claim their webpage and whatever they decide to write will be at the top of the wiki. Until then, anything goes; with one caveat. Google Sidewiki also allows users to vote up/down a comment based on how helpful the comment was to the readers.

Google Sidewiki should not be perceived as a threat to brands. It really is just another opportunity for brands to engage on the social web. Something else to consider which I just thought of is how these conversations will manipulate (or not) the search engine rankings for web sites; AND whether or not these comments will ever get indexed and start appearing in the results. Uh oh.

Author: Michael Brito

Michael Brito is a Vice President of Social Media at Edelman Digital. All thoughts and opinions on this blog are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of his employer or clients; neither past or present. Feel free to follow him on Twitter or subscribe to this blog.

Aaron Lewis

Thanks for the post Michael! Your title is very fitting, brands do need to take notice, and fast. The commenting dilemma the enterprise continues to struggle with is, in a sense, quickly becoming irrelevant. Communities are going to make the decision for those unwilling to fully engage - taking those conversations off-domain if necessary.

Molly O'Toole

I can see why Google Sidewiki would be perceived as a threat to brands. It is a risk because people can write negative things about their brand, but this is how the world communicates today. Social media is a growing tool in building relationships. People are spending more time on websites such as twitter, facebook and YouTube. This generation of people are more comfortable with conversations through the internet instead of in person. When seeking certain types of information people still go to a company website, but it would not be a bad idea to also shift information to other venues where people are spending most of their online time. Social media is becoming more popular in the professional world. People advertise themselves and products in the market world. I feel like a challenge with social media is that posts don't have to be perfect. Soon we are all going to look back and wonder what life was like without social media, and then something new will be created.

Wes Unruh

I've been playing with google sidewiki for a few days, and I really like where it's headed. I've seen previous attempts (http://trailfire.com/ comes to mind) but this looks like it might get the best adoption rate over time, making it that much more valuable.

Brian R

I surely understand why many webmasters don't like SideWiki and fear that competitors will use it to add comments to your site that will be as helpful as the comments that graffiti artists add to bathroom walls.

You should monitor the SideWiki comments on your own site(s) closely and act promptly on negative comments. There are now tools available that can monitor SideWiki comments for you, and alert you when new comments are posted.

http://www.updatepatrol.com/monitor-sidewiki-co...