What’s Missing from Google’s New Blogsearch?

by Matt on Oct 2, 2008 in Industry

Google made some pretty big news this week with the announcement of a new home page — a new approach, really — for Google Blog Search.

In a nutshell, Google has added a bunch of categories in a left-side column, and now blog posts are clustered together by subject. It’s very much like Google News Search, and not unlike sites like Techmeme that provide quick access to a variety of blog posts on popular topics. As you look at the new Google Blogsearch home page, think about what’s missing:

Google Blog Search screenshot

What’s missing? Hyperlocal blogging, of course. And I don’t mean this blog; I mean the movement — our niche. It’ll be very difficult for most local blogs to get exposure from this. Consider:

Now, I’m smart enough to know that the categories and clustering are all based on content, not on type of blog. Those category links aren’t supposed to be a directory of blog types; they’re a list of types of popular content. But doesn’t that make you think about what could be?

Google Should Launch a Blog Directory

Why not? For starters,

  1. I think it’s safe to say that Google already knows about more blogs (and, ergo, local blogs, too) than anyone else. You can find our four hyperlocal blogs in both Google.com and in Google Blogsearch, but you can’t find them in Technorati and most other specific blog directories.
  2. Google has a stated goal of organizing the world’s information. Today, a lot of that information comes from blogs — and a lot of local information comes from local blogs. While MapQuest, outside.in, and others are trying to become what Ryan Kuder recently called the online equivalent of the local kiosk, perhaps no one is in better position to do that than Google.
  3. Google already has relationships with webmasters; why not do the same with bloggers? In other words, part of this blog directory could be a tie-in with Google Webmaster Central, or perhaps even the Google Local Business Listings Center (for local businesses with local blogs). In Webmaster Central, web site owners can indicate their home country to help with geographic searches; local bloggers should be able to tell Google, Hey, this is where I’m based. This is the area I write about. Trust me as an info. source for my hometown.

Am I dreaming? Perhaps. I don’t know if Google has the stomach to get into the directory business, or open up a branch of Webmaster Central for bloggers. But this much I know: I’d sure like to see more ways for hyperlocal bloggers to get a seat at the table when Google (and others) are serving up new tools for blog search and blog discovery.

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October 2, 2008 | Filed Under Industry 

Comments

3 Responses to “What’s Missing from Google’s New Blogsearch?”

  1. ETF on October 3rd, 2008 7:25 am

    Google structures the web by keywords and tags, whereas sites like Outside.in organize content by place and location, making it more relevant.

    Outside.in’s GeoToolkit embeddable maps — StoryMaps — help publishers promote, optimize and monetize their local content with the goal of helping them drive more traffic to their site.

    With StoryMaps, they can promote their content by geography and places — and use a permanent promotion and navigation element that matches how their local readers live and want to explore content.

  2. Mayor of Concord on October 3rd, 2008 5:26 pm

    Google really should do something for local blogs since they are growing in number. I appreciate you writing this post to highlight that.

  3. Weekly Blogging Recap | Matt McGee on October 3rd, 2008 9:15 pm

    [...] What’s Missing from Google’s New Blogsearch? [...]

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