28
2007
OthersOnline – Google For People
I recently received an email from Steinar Skipsnes letting me know about OthersOnline . This is is a new social service that matches people by their similar queries, as well as Web surfing habits and preferred interests. OthersOnline stands out from other social sites with its browser toolbar which enables the user to see who else is reading or interested in the topic or site that he’s currently looking at. For example, every time you search Google, you see the people who relate to those same keywords, plus their Web pages, and you can connect with them. A dropdown menu provides contact to their IM or email details, including a link to their profile. Contacts are split into global and local recommendations, based on the zip code in your profile. Friends can be added to a favorites list for easy contact at any time.
The Company positions itself as “Google for People”. Steinar writes me: “We bring you traffic. You know how businesses buy keywords on Google to promote themselves? Well, that’s what we’re doing for people/bloggers, only it’s free.”
OthersOnline will run contextual ads based on its users Web browsing history, and promises partnering companies a chance to build their brand by retaining contact even when users have clicked away from their site. See for more info.
Marshall Kirkpatrick writes:
“Will this work? I don’t know, but it’s interesting. Will strangers seek each other out based on common surfing habits? Will this turn into just another space for a large number of men to harrass a large number of women and and a small number of women with webcams to go nuts? If multiple people could communicate at the same time like a perma-IRC, if users could see who was on a page in real time or if other community discourse was possible then this might strike me as more likely to take off. But that’s just my take on it personally; there may be a simple beauty with enough safeguards to make this mass market viable.”
I agree with Marshall that it would be really cool if multiple people could communicate at the same time and especially if users could see who was on a page in real-time. However, I do know that OthersOnline is currently working on improving its service. Steinar tells me that they’ve got a couple of large deals lined up which will result in significant keyword-based exposure for their users, and a lot more new users.
I also spoke to Jordan Mitchell from the Company who told me another scoop: Soon OthersOnline will have reports that show you exactly how much exposure you’re getting from them. Think of it as your own personal ad campaign.
Here’s a screenshot of how it will look:
They are also currently working on improving their registration process to make it simpler and more intuitive. The reporting system and new registration process should be up in the next two weeks and they plan to officially launch their service in mid-September.
About the Author: Ayelet Noff
Ayelet Noff has years of experience in marketing companies from various industries. She has been involved in the social media world before the term social media even existed. Ayelet opened Blonde 2.0 back in 2006. Today, Blonde 2.0 is one of the leading social media agencies in the world. Ayelet holds an MBA degree from Tel Aviv University, and a BA in Politics from Brandeis University.
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Hi Ayelet, thx for the post and your thoughts/feedback. Our goal is two-fold:
— show you real people, online now, relevant to YOU, wherever you go.
— give blogger users free, targeted visibility to others.
We’ve been real quiet, and expect to release some new stuff for current users end of next week. Then we’ll spend a couple weeks tuning, and getting our distribution started so that users who sign up get some pretty cool targeted exposure, and reports that show them how much. The more they use our tools, the more exposure they get — and the more interesting/relevant the people they see in their Web browsing.
We can easily add the “see people on this page” functionality, but that’s a tough one actually. You need so many users before it actually adds value, and my hypothesis is that users care more about connecting around specific topics/memes (*across* the Web) than specific pages. For instance, right now I’m seeing other people who may never have been to your site, but are relevant to “others online, social media, widgets, contextual advertising”.
To enable these dynamic groupings of people, we’re doing a combination of explicit and implicit user profiling, and directly coupling value to that effort. Obviously some people may be concerned about this, so we’re giving users 100% control over their profile data and the ability to turn it off.
Lots and lots to do still, and we’re a small team, but just focusing on user value. Your feedback and everyone else’s is appreciated!
Jordan:
I believe you have a very interesting product and as I write in my post, the fact that you incorporate the browser toolbar, really makes you stand out from the rest. I do think that as more users join, benefits of using OthersOnline will of course increase along with it.
Please accept my resignation. I don’t care to belong to any club that will have me as a member.
- Groucho Marx
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