News 塑造未來的數字世界

谷歌第四財季淨利潤增長6.7%
谷歌第四財政季度利潤增長6.7%﹐受該公司收入持續增加的提振。不過谷歌在維持目前廣告銷售額增速水平上仍面臨挑戰。

塑造未來的數字世界

英國《金融時報》 理查•沃特斯 報導

你從中得到的內容並不重要，關鍵是你輸入的資訊。

這就是Facebook最近推出的名稱平淡無奇的新“社交”搜索引擎——Graph Search的真正意義所在。Facebook這家可能比任何其他公司都瞭解你們的公司，現在希望大家能夠透露另一個非常有價值的資訊：你們想要什麼？

很長時間以來人們就普遍預期Facebook將進一步深入搜索領域，這是意料之中的。在人們的某項需求最強烈的時候，預測他們的需要和意圖，這其中的商業意義難以估量。在搜索引擎方面這點表現最為明顯。

媒體傳播機構實力媒體(ZenithOptimedia)對整個市場的評估顯示，需求預測方面全球當之無愧的領導者谷歌(Google)去年吸走了48.5%的全球線上廣告業務。這一比例甚至高於2011年，使得谷歌有望在今年或者明年吞噬整個英特網廣告業務的一半以上。

使用手機上網的人數越來越多，因而這其中的利害關係就更大了。至少從智慧手機方面來看，是否能夠傳遞相關、及時、有用的商業資訊，已經成為決定成敗的東西。馬克•紮克伯格(Mark Zuckerberg)在為Graph Search揭幕的時候沒有提到“移動”這個詞，這引起了人們的注意。但這不應抹殺他的真正意圖。Facebook最近將自己稱為以“移動為先”的公司，並致力於為世界提供一個更容易搜索的社交資料庫。

智慧手機現在的功能已經超越了任何其他技術：導航、個人助理、可靠的資訊提供者，它已經成為數位生活的遙控器。為這一新的平臺重新打造Facebook已經如火如荼地展開。目前為止，該公司的複雜PC服務已經轉變為一系列簡單化的移動應用程式，比如消息傳送和照片分享。

從自然語言方面看最近發佈的搜索服務：輸入單詞，Facebook就會試著推斷你的意思，然後回饋一些有用的東西。根據其自然結論，Facebook對未來的預想就是，你可以對著設備隨便說點什麼，然後它就將根據你周圍的社交圈子給出相關性最大的答案。語音啟動，自然語言查詢，聽上去是不是很熟悉？

蘋果(Apple)的Siri搶先一步展示了什麼是可能的，即使技術還沒有完全準備好。如果Facebook可以解決這個問題，那麼肯定不缺乏投資的廣告商。

不幸的是，說得容易做到難，這其中不僅涉及大量的技術挑戰。

一個問題就是Facebook擅長處理的搜索要求的範圍有限。或許你喜歡發佈對自己喜歡的電影或者餐館的評論，但沒有多少人會討論最喜歡的感冒藥或者他們認為最可靠的水管工。這種綜合性的欠缺是Google“網路起始頁”的地位將很難被複製的一個原因。另一個問題是，Facebook能從其唾手可得的資訊中挖到多少價值。就算其用戶再喜歡再偏愛它，Facebook社交網路的私人資料庫依然不能與整個網路相比。

或許你並不會僅僅因為一個朋友喜歡一家餐館你就會喜歡：有時候，Yelp上數千個志趣相投的陌生人的觀點確實是更好的嚮導。由於任何人都可以“跟隨”風尚引領者和意見領袖，其影響力就可以像在Twitter和Facebook上一樣迅速傳播。然而，作為一個社交中心，Facebook的吸引力很可能會吸收越來越多的這種用戶產生的內容。剩下的內容Google也將越來越難以染指。它與Yelp和Twitter這類公司在利用後者內容上的鬥爭就是證明。

Google直到現在才準備好推出其Google Plus社交網路。

新的搜索戰線已經拉開。從處理產品相關搜索多於任何其他公司的亞馬遜(Amazon)，到基於iPhone的蘋果Siri，再到現在的Facebook社交搜索，新的“參戰者”將借助各自的相對優勢開戰。

這場戰爭以及智慧手機硬體和作業系統之間競爭的結果，將決定未來數字世界的模樣。

本文作者理查•沃特斯是英國《金融時報》美國西海岸主編

譯者/王慧玲

Google Still in a Struggle With Mobile New York Times But a closer look at the results shows that while Google continues to be a moneymaking machine, its most lucrative business, search on desktop computers, is slowing, while Google has not yet figured out how to make equivalent profits on mobile devices. See all stories on this topic »
Google's fourth-quarter results shine after ad rate decline slows Reuters SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Revenue from Google Inc's core Internet business outpaced many analysts' expectations during the crucial holiday quarter and advertising rates fell less than in previous periods, pushing its shares up more than 4 percent. See all stories on this topic »
Google Stems Ad-Price Dip in Quarter Wall Street Journal Google had been recently beset by concerns over the slowing revenue growth from ads on its Web-search engine, YouTube video site and other sites. A growing percentage of Google searches have migrated to mobile devices while advertisers have ramped ... See all stories on this topic » Wall Street Journal
Google Ad Bleeding Slows as Larry Page Dismisses Mobile Fears Wired Investors like what they're hearing from Google, despite a sickly-sounding Larry Page. The Google CEO argued on Tuesday's earnings call that mobile won't hinder his company's core ad business because distinctions between devices are becoming moot. See all stories on this topic » Wired
Motorola's $353M Q4 loss weighs on Google results CNET The results were affected by Google's decision in December to sell the home set-top box portion of Motorola to Arris Group for $2.35 billion in cash and stock. As a result of the planned sale, Google moved the results to its discontinued business section. See all stories on this topic »
Search Marketing: Routing Around Google's Privacy Policy Forbes Google has provided users with some of the most useful tools on the Web and continues to lead innovation in all aspects of the Internet from storage to search. Some of the most successful businesses have been built on the back of Google data, leading ... See all stories on this topic »
Google Has Prescription for Mobile Wall Street Journal Perhaps the best sign of the strength of Google's business is what hasn't happened to it. Other Internet businesses have come down with a bad case of the mobile flu as computing has transitioned from PCs to mobile devices. That is because advertisers ... See all stories on this topic » Wall Street Journal
Google Reports Uptick in Fourth-Quarter, Shares Rise In Late Trading (LIVE) Forbes Google released it's fourth-quarter results, announcing profit that beat analysts estimates even as it caused some confusion after noting that analysts estimates might not have been adjusted to take into account the sale of its Motorola Home division ... See all stories on this topic »
Google Fiber 'not a hobby,' could expand, tech giant's execs say Los Angeles Times Google Fiber, the Internet search giant's super-fast Internet experiment in Kansas City, Mo., that operates at a speed 100 times faster than a typical broadband connection, could be coming to a city near you. During Google's fourth-quarter earnings ... See all stories on this topic »
Keystone Cops Subpoena Google For Facebook's Data Huffington Post (blog) Email privacy is a tangled subject: the Electronic Communication Privacy Act (ECPA) governing when the police or FBI can read your messages was written in 1986, the Justice Department is loathe to release details on how often it is used, and the ... See all stories on this topic » Google, Facebook, Amazon may be subject to French taxes CNET (blog) The proposed tax rates would be based on the number of users each tech company tracks. Google makes more than $30 billion per year in advertising revenue, according to the New York Times. Two billion of this is earned in France. Since Google isn't a ... See all stories on this topic » Google's Sergey Brin spotted wearing Google Glass in New York Los Angeles Times Who was that man wearing super high-tech, $1,500 smart glasses on the New York City subway? According to a tweet by a guy who got a picture of the mystery glasses-wearer, it was none other than Google co-founder Sergey Brin, wearing a prototype of ... See all stories on this topic » Brin wears his Google glasses on NYC subway: Um, why? CNET ... wears his Google glasses on NYC subway: Um, why? Looking for all the world like a jewel thief, Google's co-founder is spotted on New York's most pristine mode of public transportation wearing the future on his nose. Chris Matyszczyk. by Chris ... See all stories on this topic » Live blog: Google reports fourth-quarter earnings, 1 pm Tuesday San Jose Mercury News ... 04:04:11 PM PST. January 22, 2013 12:23 AM GMTUpdated: 01/21/2013 04:23:53 PM PST. Join Mercury News staff writer Dan Nakaso as the Mountain View tech giant Google announces its quarterly earnings after the markets close at 1 p.m. Tuesday. See all stories on this topic » Life As A Google Maps Editor: Screening Thousands Of Corrections And Making ... Huffington Post Volmar is a program director on Google's Ground Truth team, which has been an essential part of Google's efforts to create a comprehensive, detailed and accurate map of the world. To build Google Maps, Google relies not only on satellite imagery, data ... See all stories on this topic » Google blunts attrition, becomes great place to work San Jose Mercury News A few years ago, Google's human resources department noticed a problem: A lot of women were leaving the company. Like the majority of Silicon Valley software firms, Google is staffed mostly by men, and executives have long made it a priority to ... See all stories on this topic » Google co-founder Brin spotted wearing Google Glasses on NYC subway CBS News Google co-founder Sergey Brin was spotted riding the subway in New York City, wearing a pair of the company's augmented-reality glasses. New York City resident and augmented reality enthusiast Noah Zerkin tweeted out a photo of Brin wearing the ... See all stories on this topic » Google search for Pokemon X brings up links to hardcore porn websites Mirror.co.uk Children hunting for web clips of the latest in a popular computer game series are being directed to porn. A Google search for videos of Pokemon X brings up two links to a hardcore website. Furious consumers blasted makers Nintendo, which will release ... See all stories on this topic » Google Removes 'Make Me Asian' App After Protests of Racism Mashable "Make Me Asian," an app that allowed users to slant their eyes and don a rice paddy hat, received much backlash over its stereotypical depictions. On Thursday, Google pulled the app from its Play Store after thousands signed an online petition calling ... See all stories on this topic » Is Google the New "Think Different?" Forbes Google Play is a response to iTunes. Chromebooks are ultra-affordable. Apple created the smartphone craze almost six years ago with a look and feel that has remained true to its original design. Although the form factor has evolved, it still sports the ... See all stories on this topic »