Web Marketing with Bill Fukui

Google's blog just announced that they are releasing a new tool as part of it's toolbar called Sidewiki.

Like Wikipedia, it is aimed at leveraging the collective knowledge of online users/visitors to add to the information on a given topic for others to see and benefit from.

Sidewiki allows visitors of a website to see and post comments and additional insight to give people who visit that page at a later time more feedback on the page and topic. It allows visitors to "chime in" on the topic and expand the information to include more than one perspective.

Not sure how well this will work (it does require downloading the Google Toolbar and updating it with to include Sidewiki), or what other unforseen ramifications may come as a result. Like most things that are built with the intention of improving the users experience, there are foces in the online community that tend to manipulate or use them in a negative manner.

If you are a service provider marketing on the Web, like a cosmetic dentist, a lasik surgeon, a plastic surgeon or an injury lawyer, this may have an impact on the growing business of online "Reputation Management" if it does get a lot of consumer penetration. We'll have to watch it closely.

Labels: Dental, Legal, Website Marketing