Last month, Google introduced Sidewiki, a feature of the Google Toolbar that allows users to comment on any page on the web. The comments could only be viewed by others who have the toolbar and the feature installed. That was until now.
Google has now introduced a Sidewiki bookmarklet that can be used to read and write Sidewiki entries with Google Chrome, Safari, and other browsers. The bookmarklet is just a shortcut that goes in the bookmarks bar of you browser, and when you click it, it opens up a window showing Sidewiki entries for whatever page you’re on.
When using Sidewiki, an expandable window can be viewed on the left-hand side of the webpage. When expanded, you can see the comments that have been written or contribute your own.
Upon introducing Sidewiki, Google said it uses “multiple signals” based on the “quality of the entry,” what they know about the author, and other user-contributed signals like voting and flagging. They say they want to only keep the most relevant entries appearing in the sidebar. Search Engine Land’s Danny Sullivan says Google gave him a few other factors like:
– Use of sophisticated language
– User’s reputation
– User’s history
Users’ Google Profiles are said to play a direct role in whether or not comments appear. Google ranks profiles in a PageRank-like manor, so the higher you profile is ranked, the more likely your comments are able to appear.
Related Articles:
> Google Turning the Web Into an Exclusive Social Network?
