Seeking More User Data, Google Targets Egomaniacs

Obsessed with yourself, much? Ever curious about what the online masses have to say about you? Google is well aware of your egomania and, with a new product release called Google Me, is using it against you.

Before we get into details, let's take a moment to acknowledge that most, if not all of us, have Googled ourselves. I admit it. I regularly scan the Web to find out who is mad at me and how I'm ranking in comparison to other Nicole Ferraros out there.

People search hasn't been a strong point for Google. Self-obsessed Web users are always complaining that their search results may portray them unfavorably and/or turn up the wrong person with the same name. Rude!

Google Me offers the chance to change that by giving people the opportunity to determine what others find when they search for them... sort of.

I say "sort of" for a couple of reasons. First off, in order to beef up one's Google presence, Google is asking people to create Google Profiles. A Google Profile is essentially a spot where Web users can list some information about themselves and links to their other online presences. (See mine here.)

Google's new push for people to create Profiles is being seen as an attempt for Google to steal thunder from sites like LinkedIn, where people typically go to search for basic information: job titles, contact information, etc.

Further, once you create that Profile, a search for your name will place the Profile at the bottom of the page, not the top. So the searcher will be privy to a string of other search results before even getting to your Profile with your desired information. (Defeating the purpose much?)

That is... of course... if your Profile actually shows up. Google will only display four Profiles for one name on the main page. If you have a common name, like... Bob Smith, you will have to compete with all the other Googleable Bob Smiths out there for the top four slots. And how do you do that? Why, by giving Google more data, of course!

Yes, that's the catch: The more data you provide in your Profile, the more likely it is to show up. And that's why the name of this game is Evil.

Here's what else is irritating: A Google Profile is a Web page and therefore has a URL. Rather than giving users the opportunity to create their own URL names, users either are stuck with a loooong string of numbers or a "vanity URL" -- better known as their personal Gmail address.

We can stop short and bow down at Google for giving us the tools to bolster our Web presence... or we can dig a little deeper and recognize the sneakery here. In order to boost that presence, you need a Google Profile. In order to make that Profile visible, you need to provide more information about yourself.

In the end it's up to the user to decide whether shining up their Web presence is worth forking over more data to Google. My cynical guess is that most interested users will consider that an acceptable tradeoff. I'd love to be proven wrong.

? Nicole Ferraro, Site Editor, Internet Evolution