Health Energy Environment. YouTube Instagram Adobe. Kickstarter Tumblr Art Club. Film TV Games. Fortnite Game of Thrones Books. Comics Music. Filed under: Google Culture Internet Culture. Linkedin Reddit Pocket Flipboard Email. But to some, it was home. More From The Verge. Sign up for the newsletter Verge Deals Subscribe to get the best Verge-approved tech deals of the week. Just one more thing! Please confirm your subscription to Verge Deals via the verification email we just sent you.
Filed under: Google Apps Tech. Linkedin Reddit Pocket Flipboard Email. Next Up In Tech. Sign up for the newsletter Verge Deals Subscribe to get the best Verge-approved tech deals of the week. Just one more thing! Please confirm your subscription to Verge Deals via the verification email we just sent you.
Email required. By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Notice and European users agree to the data transfer policy. Loading comments But fast-forward to today, and what do we see once more? Yep, you guessed it: Google building systems designed to encourage you to stick within its own ecosystem when you want to share something instead of instinctively hopping over to a more traditional social service.
It's been happening on some level for quite a while, actually, though it was one recent launch that really made it click in my mind: Google's addition of a full-fledged social stream within its Maps apps for both Android and iOS.
Ahem :. The feed shows you the latest reviews, photos, and posts added to Google Maps by local experts and people you follow as well as food and drink merchants, and articles from publishers.
Oh, right: because it's essentially a social network — just a smaller, purpose-specific one that's masquerading as a mere feature. But that's just one tiny little niche area, right?
Maybe — but then you start thinking further, and you realize that Google's quietly been adding similar sorts of social elements into other areas as well. When you want to share photos or videos with someone, for instance, you don't have to post 'em over to whatever social or messaging service you typically use; instead, you can just share 'em directly with any number of other people as part of an " ongoing, private conversation " in the Google Photos app.
Heck, you can even like or comment on the stuff other people share! Yessiree, Bill: it's another small, purpose-specific social network — a place where you can share, interact, and communicate without having to venture away from the app you're already using. And the saga doesn't end there, either. The same basic thing can be said for the new version of Google Pay announced a few weeks ago — an app that's now "designed around your relationships with people and businesses," as Google explains it.
The product is "built around your relationships," as an executive in charge of the effort put it in one interview: "All your engagements pivot around people, groups, and businesses. To that end, the new Pay app actually includes threads in which you can communicate with individuals, groups, and even businesses whilst thinking about money-related matters.
So what is that, essentially? Let's all say it together now: a social network — a small, purpose-specific one, sure, but ultimately still a way to keep you within Google's universe when you have something to share or say.
There are other examples out there — including, on some level, the 7. And that part of the internet, whether it's within a Google service or somewhere out on this wild ol' web of ours, is where Google can enrich its profile of your interests and show you the ads that power its business.
If you're inside another service, you aren't a Google customer; you're a ghost. You just have to zoom out a little to see the forest for the trees and put the pieces together. This new version may not be getting the centralization, the unified branding, or the widespread attention its predecessor did — but in a way, that's kind of the brilliance of it. You don't have to build up a whole new network of connections and deliberately decide to visit its virtual home.
Instead, it comes to you, in a bunch of super-targeted, almost unnoticeable ways. Odds are, in fact, you won't even realize you're using it — which maybe, just maybe, is part of the point. Sign up for my weekly newsletter to get more practical tips, personal recommendations, and plain-English perspective on the news that matters. Contributing Editor JR Raphael serves up tasty morsels about the human side of technology. Hungry for more? Join him on Twitter or sign up for his weekly newsletter to get fresh tips and insight in your inbox every Friday.
Here are the latest Insider stories. More Insider Sign Out. Sign In Register. Sign Out Sign In Register. Latest Insider. Check out the latest Insider stories here.
More from the IDG Network. Microsoft Patch Alert: October The game-changing Google trend to watch in How Apple yes, Apple! Android Intelligence Analysis Android's underappreciated upgrade Is Android 12 about to pop Google's The 3 words that could spell trouble Google's 15 funniest flip-flops with The missing context around Google's Android 12's quietly important privacy What the hell is happening with Android This year's biggest Android upgrade Show More.
Don't look now, but Google's getting into social — again. Android Intelligence Analysis. Android's underappreciated upgrade advantage.
Is Android 12 about to pop Google's Bubbles? The 3 words that could spell trouble for Android apps on Google's 15 funniest flip-flops with Android, Chrome OS, The missing context around Google's Android privacy fallout.
0コメント