• TechCrunch et al., Wednesday, September 23, 2009 2:13 PM

Another day, another effort by Google to reshape the Web. This time, it's with a universal commenting and note posting system named Sidewiki, which will be available to all via Google Toolbar. At first glance, tastemakers are at least feigning disinterest.

"Don't sweat it," and "chillax!" writes Andy Beal on his Marketing Pilgrim blog. "If we freaked out over every thing Google launched, we'd all be nervous wrecks! Fortunately, not everything Google launches is a success."

Yawn, says ReadWriteWeb. "Over the years, numerous companies have offered services that allowed users to annotate web pages," it writes, while conceding: "The sorting algorithm and SideWiki's ability to display notes about the same topic on various sites make SideWiki somewhat unique."

Double yawn, says GigaOm. "It is yet another Google feature, whose success is as debatable as the mental nourishment provided by late-night talk shows," notes Om Malik, before noting that Sidewiki is part of larger and inevitable movement to address the issue of information overload.

Still, "This is Google, with millions of toolbars installed," Danny Sullivan writes On Search Engine Land. "That's no guarantee of success that Sidewiki will get used, but it's certainly worth sitting up and taking notice of."

On TechCrunch, a more optimistic Michael Arrington says, "It's unlikely that Web sites will have the same visceral reaction today that they did to (early annotater) Third Voice a decade ago ... And Google solves the chicken-and-egg problem nicely by building this into Toolbar." Arrington does wonder whether Google can control spam on SideWiki, and when they plan to begin monetizing the service.

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