Sheara Wilensky . com

So over the past few weeks we have all been reading about the on-again, off-again possible Microsoft acquisition of Yahoo for $47 billion. Now I am reading on Search Engine Land that Microsoft wants Facebook for $15 million!

Now, I am all for big companies coming together to create a new user experience for the consumer (see my post about tech firms joining forces to invest in a new WiMax network. And I have nothing against Microsoft - I am a Windows user and proud of it! But Microsoft clearly wants a piece of the search and social media action. And why not, there is nothing wrong with that. But I think Microsoft is resigned to the fact that Live Search is never going to make any kind of dent in the search search demographic, so rather than coming up with something unique, something big (which of course is not easy to do), Microsoft would rather just take their money and buy something shiny. I see zero benefit to a Microsoft-Facebook merger - except of course the Microsoft execs. And don’t forget, Microsoft already has a $240 million stake in Facebook which they purchased in October 2007.

Here is an interesting article on the subject:

http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/article3893228.ece

You can also read about the latest in MicroHoo here:

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/PCWorld/story?id=4808236

Google Sites is a new application that allows users to essentially create web pages in an easy to use, code-free manner. If you’ve ever used Google Docs, or Google Spreadsheets, it works in a similar fashion - the program is within the browser window. Google Sites allows you to import videos, documents, calendars and other attachments into a web page with just the click of an insert button.

Google Sites is a structured wiki - a collaborative database environment - typically used as a shared writeboard allowing users to add, remove and edit information. This allows for the free and simple sharing of knowledge which everyone can use.

Officially launched this past Thursday, February 28, Google Sites in my opinion is best for creating intranet pages within a small organization because it is template based. It’s also good for managing projects. Especially for startups on a budget. If you take a look at the Google Sites overview page, you’ll see what I mean. In the vision of Google, Sites, of course, has a simple user interface.

Google Sites was developed by JotSpot, which it acquired in 2006. JotSpot was the first company to create wiki applications in 2004, targeted to small and mid-sized business. JotSpot has been working on Googe Sites for the past 16 months.

Google Sites has been getting a lot of mixed reviews. Critics are disappointed that given the time it has taken to develop the software, it should be able to create more sophisticated sites. They are saying though that soon developers will be allowed to create advanced applications for the product (think: Facebook) so in the future Google Sites will be more flexible.

I think what Google set out to do - allow the non-coder/non-techie community to participate in the creation of web applications - should work fine for now. Can’t wait to see how Google takes this new application to the next level. Thoughts?