It was a first. Yesterday, we were fortunate to welcome Google’s two principle architects of Google+, Vic Gundotra (VP Social) and Bradley Horowitz (VP Product), to the TechcrunchTV studio in San Francisco for an extended interview about what they call their “project”.
So what is Google+? As Gundotra told me yesterday, it is an attempt to “understand people” and to make human relationships the heart of the Google experience. Both Horowitz and Gundotra acknowledge that this is a major project, something that may, in the future, redefine the company. This unGoogle-like goal to,as Horowitz said, put “people first”, may well, in the long run, transform Google from a algorithmic company to a social one.
Gundotra and Horowitz believe that today’s social web has only scratched the service of how to make the Internet into a truly human experience. Google+ is their attempt to transform Google into the leading player of the social age. It’s a massively important project, one that will define the company’s significance in the Web 3.0 age.
Thanks to our readers for sending in so many questions. Many questions came in asking when Google+ was going to add a certain feature. But, to each of these questions, the oracular Horowitz and Gundotra would only say “in the future.” That question and non-answer, therefore, was going to get old pretty quick and I thus mostly avoided this kind of (non)conversation. Many comments were also very specific questions about functionality which weren’t really appropriate for this kind of broad interview. That said, the Google team were happy to hear all the comments and are reviewing the feedback we generated.
Google provides search and advertising services, which together aim to organize and monetize the world’s information. In addition to its dominant search engine, it offers a plethora of online tools and platforms including: Gmail, Maps, YouTube, and Google+, the company’s extension into the social space. Most of its Web-based products are free, funded by Google’s highly integrated online advertising platforms AdWords and AdSense. Google promotes the idea that advertising should be highly targeted and relevant to users thus providing...
Bradley Horowitz is vice president of product for Google’s social products, including Google+. He has also led product for Google’s consumer application division which includes Gmail, Gtalk, Google Docs, Google Voice, and Calendar. Before joining Google in February 2008, Horowitz was Yahoo’s vice president of Advanced Development where he drove the acquisitions of Flickr and MyBlogLog, launched the Brickhouse incubator and developed new products like Yahoo! Pipes. Additionally, he was responsible for the company’s initiative to open...
Vic Gundotra is senior vice president of Social at Google, responsible for its social products such as +1. Previously he was a Vice President of Engineering responsible for developer evangelism and open source programs. He also manages applications development. Prior to Google, Vic worked 15 years at Microsoft as General Manager of Microsoft’s developer outreach efforts. At Microsoft, he was responsible for a variety of products and operating systems, including Windows 3.0, NT, Windows XP, and...
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