Around the Net
Samuel Johnson Never Did This
- Los Angeles Times et al., Friday, December 4, 2009 2:30 PM
Alex Zudin, the owner of Paragon Software -- which works with Merriam-Webster, Oxford and others to build applications based on their data -- tells the Los Angeles Times that Google's service might serve a low-level consumer market, but higher-ed students and professionals will still buy unabridged versions.
The company with the most to lose, according to Zudin, is Answers.com, whose definition button has, until now, been located at the top right of Google searches.
Under the headline, "Answers.com Loses 'Pole Position' To Google Dictionary," Search Engine Land writes, "Answers.com has a strong URL (if not a brand) and lots of traffic, more than 25 million monthly unique users ... It was the source of definitions in the 'definitions' link in the upper right of Google SERPs ... The key word in that last sentence is 'was.'"
Also, while the service might seem "low-level" to some, PCWorld says, "Google dictionary puts a full-service resource right at your fingertips." What's more, "Google dictionary isn't just for English ... The project contains 27 other languages."
Painting Google, if only playfully, as the über-enemy of the printed word, MediaMemo says, "Google offers yet another reason not to pick up a book," with Google Dictionary. Notably, "Google isn't crowing about this one, which is wise, given its continuing back and forth with the world's publishers ... And for now, it really isn't pushing it, either."
Writes Mashable: "Google already permeates nearly all spheres of our online lives, so the fact that it's launched its own dictionary doesn't surprise us much."
"Inklings that Google's growing up into a more sensible beast aside, the computer tech giant is still expanding and tweaking its business," writes Fast Company. "With recent improvements it's clear that soon, Google will be everything, and everything will be Google."
