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July 13, 2009

Google Chrome Suggests Popular Web Pages

The developer version of Google Chrome has recently enabled the updated new tab page, which is more customizable as it lets you remove, reorder and pin thumbnails.

One of the sections from the new tab page is "Tips and suggestions", but it's empty. A recent Chromium build revealed the mystery of the blank container: Google shows popular web pages from the iGoogle gadget "What's popular". The gadget "uses algorithms to find interesting content from a combination of your submissions and trends in aggregated user activity across a variety of Google services, like YouTube and Google Reader".


Suggesting web pages is not a bad idea for the new tab page, but they should be related to your browsing history. Internet Explorer 8 has a feature called "suggested sites", which can be enabled when you install the software and it monitors your browsing activity to show related web pages. Google has a "web history" service which can use Google Toolbar to track the web pages you visit, while offering a searchable browsing history, stats and recommended web pages. It's hard to find the right balance between privacy and utility, but Google has always pushed the boundaries of what's acceptable, even if it was vilified by the media.

12 comments:

  1. Tips and Suggestions are empty for me.
    How to get that working

    ReplyDelete
  2. I assume you use Google Chrome Dev Channel. In this case, I suggest to wait until the new feature is released in the dev channel, probably this week.

    For now the feature is only available in Chromium, the open source project that powers Google Chrome. Chromium builds include the latest features, but they're buggier and less stable than the official Google Chrome versions. If you want to install Chromium, try these URLs:

    http://build.chromium.org/buildbot/continuous/win/LATEST/mini_installer.exe (Windows)
    http://build.chromium.org/buildbot/continuous/mac/LATEST/chrome-mac.zip (Mac)
    http://build.chromium.org/buildbot/continuous/linux/LATEST/chrome-linux.zip (Linux)

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  3. in which revision was this added?

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  4. r20446: "Turn backend tip service on by default. New NTP should come up with a default title in Tips and Suggestions box, then be loaded with actual data from popgadget."

    ReplyDelete
  5. New Tab Page can still do a lot better I guess. Search-box feature was pretty good; miss that one.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Just out of curiosity, what service is your "note this" shortcut pointing to? If you say Google Notebook, I'm going to be surprised that Chrome has an extension while the extension was lost in Firefox 3.5.

    Thank you! :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Alex: Please don't assume the current implementation is the final form for that box. Having something is better than nothing, but certainly other possibilities might be nice:
    * Tips about using Chromium itself ("Did you know...")
    * Sites based on your browsing history
    * Sites provided by extensions (e.g. allowing StumbleUpon to write an extension to control these contents)

    ...etc. All of these have come up in discussion about this box, so hopefully at some point some will be included.

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  8. será o SO que todos esperavam? faz tempo que se especula o lançamento de um SO da Google, pelo que parece este é baseado em Linux.
    []'s

    ReplyDelete
  9. I can not get tips and suggestion on this browser, it always used to be empty. although the search function is great, which always helps as Google does. But it would be better if we can get a Google tool bar at chrome, because i had done some research but couldn't find one for my chrome.
    please do help me regarding this if Google tool bar is available for chrome.

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  10. I for one think the suggested sites feature could be pretty nifty if it is based on what I would like (ie based on my history).

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  11. Houston we have a BIG problem! This is NOT what you want your children to read. So where the hell do these stupid sites come from to just show up here? Nobody on my computer (me) has gone anywhere near these types of sites, especially the vulgar one. It probably sets up some malware or hijacks your computer. I want this crap cleaned up GOOGLE!

    ---------------------------
    Tips and Suggestions
    There, I Fixed It: Epic Kludges + Jury Rigs » Hey, They're Bricks
    Foursquare: Why It May Be the Next Twitter
    http://cdn-www.i-am-bored.com/media/10896_piechartsgraphsjuly21.jpg
    Treat Yourself This Weekend With Some Used Condoms | Best Week Ever
    Stunning Space Photography | Inspiration | Smashing Magazine

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  12. google chrome do not work any regional language website like Hindi etc

    ReplyDelete

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