As predicted and often blogged about over the last few years, Google officially announced it is ready to take on the browser market. For years, it’s been Internet Explorer or (IE) and Mozilla Firefox or (FF) as the main 2 contenders and to be honest, the latest version of FF has been a disappointment for me. Firefox 3 has crashed on more than one occasion and this could be attributed to plug-ins but, the error windows do not give an indication, it simply asks me if I want to report the error.
This promises to change tomorrow when Google releases its Google Chrome browser to over 100 countries. They have posted a “Google Chrome Comic” which tries to “dumb-down” the thinking and technology aspects of this new, application centric web browser which was home-cooked in the Google Labs kitchen. What I take from reading the comic is that all of the horse power was centralized around Google Gears and Google Apps; which makes sense because, the more you use Google’s products the more likely you are to click on their ads. Win/Win for Google.
After I have a chance to actually use the browser, I will post what I think about it. Google Chrome BETA Launch is scheduled for tomorrow.
I found this interview with Matt Cutts very interesting. Even after all of the backlash about Goolge’s section 508 compliance, it seems as though the debate about “hidden text” on a website is a confirmed killer of PageRank. For the last few years, there have been debates about the use of the hidden jump menu’s and other tactics used by Black Hatters and White Hatters, either way you choose to go, here it is from the horses mouth. Use hidden text at your own peril.
I also enjoyed the comment he made about Niche sites and starting small. I have been preaching that for years. Every time I have a client come in and say “I want to be #1 on Google when someone types in xxx”, I have to explain this.
Also, pay attention to the end of the interview when Matt is asked what he would do if he had more time on his hands.
Big news in the web development world today. Adobe released a statement saying that it has been working with Search Engine engineers and they started to release algorithms that are searching for and indexing content in Flash based web content. Here is a blog post from Google on the matter.
What does this mean?
It means that you are going to start seeing more Flash content features and full-blown websites. Up until now, developers have had to use frames, alternate content and other forms of trickery to get their flash based content indexed in search engines, not anymore.
The iPhone and Mobile dilema
Unfortunately, with the current world-wide push to mobile devices such as the iPhone, which does not currently support Flash, Flash based web content will still need to be used with a caveat that a customer will be segregating their website from mobile users. Developers can still use sniffers and alternate content but, why? The ability to auto-scale Flash on a development level has been out for years. I really hope Apple opens its eyes on this and the issue of mobile TV. Time will tell. Do I even need to mention the issue of forcing customers to use AT&T?
The 3 Year Rule
Typically, engineers and developers are ~3 years ahead of consumers so, my hope is that in the next 3 years, the mobile players realize that we all like really cool websites with VIDEO and FLASH. Plain text might be cool to the WC3 but, consumers want eye candy. Visit the new Diablo 3 website for a recent example of some nicely done flash and video work. That is what I want my internet to be. What do you think?