AdaptiveBlue, the creator of the social
network tool Glue, released an updated version of its semantic Web browser extension on Thursday. The new features connect conversations and automate recommendations, aggregating activities and likes
or dislikes of friends from across the Web.
The tool finds buzz about the most popular books, music, movies and other everyday things and activities. It recognizes objects rather
than Web pages on participating sites. Glue aggregates comments left behind by friends and makes them easy to access via a Web browser tool. The comments from friends tie together in a thread. The
tool sends notifications each time someone comments. An area in the browser tool dubbed "Glue For You" also aggregates replies from comments you made across the Web.
The tool offers an upside
for marketers that want to monitor buzz on specific topics from one location. For example, Random House publishes a book. Having the ability to aggregate the buzz on one book title from many sources
is "huge," according to Alex Iskold, AdaptiveBlue founder. Glue also gives the book's author the ability to sign on to an account and chat with readers.
"People are completely hung up on the
advertising, but there's so much more to the context than the upsell," he said. "Advertising is one piece that can be contextualized, but engagement is more interesting."
The tool builds on the
concept that having the ability to share thoughts and opinions on things with friends and like-minded people, regardless of the sites each visit, will likely become the next logical step in social
networking and conversations.
Aside from aggregating comments and buzz from friends on whether you should buy, rent, or watch that movie available at Netflix, Glue aims to eliminate the notion of
time by allowing the user to rent the movie directly from the tool bar without logging into the site.
For example, suppose you want to fill your Netflix cue with movies. A feature on the toolbar
lets you see the feedback from friends on a specific movie based on recommendations. After reading the review, one click puts the movie in the rental cue.