Google Fast Flip Explained

Google Fast Flip
Screenshot Size:275px
Url:fastflip.googlelabs.com
Commercial:Yes
Type:News
Language:English
Registration:Not required
Owner:Google
Author:Google
Launch Date:14 September 2009[1]
Current Status:Discontinued

Google Fast Flip was an online news aggregator from Google Inc. that mimicked the experience of flicking through a newspaper or magazine, allowing visual search of stories in manner similar to microfiche.[2] [3] [4] It was launched in beta by Google Labs at the TechCrunch 50 conference in September 2009.[5] [6] [7]

The site presented images of stories from Google's news partners, which could be clicked on to navigate to the story on the news provider's own website.[7] Stories could be scrolled between using the mouse or cursor keys. The presentation of stories used a similar algorithm to Google News, but stories could be ordered by publication as well as by subject.[6] Krishna Bharat of Google News has said that "Fast Flip is mostly for longer shelf-life content, the kind of content you want to recommend to other people." Fast Flip was created after Larry Page "asked why the web was not more like a magazine, allowing users to flip from screen to screen seamlessly."[4] Fast Flip was available as well on iPhone and Android mobile devices.[8]

Users of Fast Flip were able to follow friends and topics, find new content, and to create their own customized magazines around their searches.[9]

At launch, there were 39 mainly US-based news partners. Google said that it would share the majority of revenue from contextual adverts with its news partners.[7] [10] [11]

Fast Flip was praised for allowing visual,[12] fast[13] and serendipitous[14] browsing of news stories, but it has been criticized as being a novelty,[15] anachronistic, as it emulates print media, limits navigation and presents few news sources,[16] and as being more focused on the needs of publishers than of readers.[17] [18] [19] Its visual search has been compared to the beta visual search of Microsoft Bing[2] [20] [21] and to The Onions microfiche iPhone app.[22] Fast Flip has also been cited as a demonstration of Google's power in the news marketplace; by setting up another news interface that uses publishers' content without returning much value.[23]

In September 2011, Google announced it would discontinue a number of its products, including Google Fast Flip.[24]

See also

Notes and References

  1. News: Read news fast with Google Fast Flip. Bharat. Krishna. 14 September 2009. The Official Google Blog. Google. 21 September 2009. https://web.archive.org/web/20090917082702/http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/09/read-news-fast-with-google-fast-flip.html. 17 September 2009. live.
  2. News: Bing and Google launch visual search. 15 September 2009. Daily Mirror. Mirror Group. 21 September 2009. https://web.archive.org/web/20090922181536/http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/technology/2009/09/15/bing-and-google-launch-visual-search-115875-21675590/. 22 September 2009. live.
  3. News: Google Fast Flip is Geared to Generate More Ad Dollars. Boulton. Clint. 15 September 2009. eWeek. 21 September 2009.
  4. News: Google turns page on news content. Shiels. Maggie. 15 September 2009. BBC News. 21 September 2009.
  5. News: Google testing Fast Flip for Google News. Krazit. Tom. 14 September 2009. CNet. 21 September 2009. https://web.archive.org/web/20110722101518/http://news.cnet.com/8301-30684_3-10352342-265.html. 22 July 2011. live.
  6. News: Google's Fast Flip is for publishers. Bunz. Mercedes. 15 September 2009. PDA: The Digital Content Blog. The Guardian. 21 September 2009. https://web.archive.org/web/20160129082630/http://www.theguardian.com/media/pda/2009/sep/15/digital-media-newspapers. 29 January 2016. live.
  7. News: Google's mission to drive up newspaper revenue. Allen. Katie. 21 September 2009. The Guardian. 21 September 2009. https://web.archive.org/web/20160129082630/http://www.theguardian.com/media/2009/sep/21/google-newspaper-fast-flip. 29 January 2016. live.
  8. Web site: Mobile Preview. Google Fast Flip. 21 September 2009. https://web.archive.org/web/20090922185527/http://fastflip.googlelabs.com/mobile. 22 September 2009. dead.
  9. http://pcmike.com/2009/09/25/googles-fast-flip-is-pretty-slick/ "Google's Fast Flip Is Pretty Slick"
  10. News: Google news feature mimics print sources, lets people browse stories. Johnson. Steve. 14 September 2009. San Jose Mercury News. 21 September 2009. https://web.archive.org/web/20120927012014/http://www.mercurynews.com/businessbreakingnews/ci_13335796. 27 September 2012. live.
  11. Web site: All Sources. Google Fast Flip. 21 September 2009. https://web.archive.org/web/20090922185532/http://fastflip.googlelabs.com/sources. 22 September 2009. dead.
  12. News: Google Fast Flip Becomes the News Stand, Pressure on Publishers. Sherman. Erik. 15 September 2009. BNet. 21 September 2009. https://web.archive.org/web/20090925010812/http://industry.bnet.com/technology/10003382/google-fast-flip-becomes-the-news-stand-pressure-on-publishers/?tag=shell;content. 25 September 2009. dead.
  13. News: Google offers swift page perusal with Fast Flip. Smith. Stevie. 16 September 2009. The Tech Herald. 21 September 2009. https://web.archive.org/web/20090923074949/http://www.thetechherald.com/article.php/200938/4447/Google-offers-swift-page-perusal-with-Fast-Flip. 23 September 2009. dead.
  14. News: Google's Fast Flip and the Return of Serendipitous Surfing. Taylor. Catharine P. 16 September 2009. BNet. 21 September 2009. https://web.archive.org/web/20090922230056/http://industry.bnet.com/media/10004137/googles-fast-flip-and-the-return-of-serendipitous-surfing/. 22 September 2009. dead.
  15. News: Hands on: limitations of Google Fast Flip make it a novelty. Cheng. Jacqui. 15 September 2009. Ars Technica. 21 September 2009. https://web.archive.org/web/20090922182407/http://arstechnica.com/web/news/2009/09/hands-on-limitations-of-google-fast-flip-make-it-a-novelty.ars. 22 September 2009. live.
  16. News: Why Google's Fast Flip misses the point. Merritt. Nick. 21 September 2009. TechRadar. 21 September 2009. https://web.archive.org/web/20090922173955/http://www.techradar.com/news/internet/why-google-s-fastflip-misses-the-point-635923. 22 September 2009. dead.
  17. News: New Google Service Nothing To Flip Over. Hickins. Michael. 16 September 2009. InformationWeek. 21 September 2009.
  18. News: Is Google's Fast Flip News Service a Stud or a Dud?. Mick. Jason. 16 September 2009. DailyTech. 21 September 2009. https://web.archive.org/web/20090922213611/http://www.dailytech.com/Is+Googles+Fast+Flip+News+Service+a+Stud+or+a+Dud/article16251.htm. 22 September 2009. dead.
  19. News: Is Google "Fast Flip" Really Just A Slow Slider?. Coursey. David. 15 September 2009. Tech Inciter. PC World. 21 September 2009. https://web.archive.org/web/20090916142313/http://www.pcworld.com/article/172010/is_google_fast_flip_really_just_a_slow_slider.html. 16 September 2009. live.
  20. News: Google Fast Flip Bridges Digital and Print Media. Bradley. Tony. 15 September 2009. PC World. 21 September 2009.
  21. News: Microsoft Bing visual search takes fight to Google. Beaumont. Claudine. 17 September 2009. The Daily Telegraph. 21 September 2009. https://web.archive.org/web/20090923003357/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/microsoft/6202660/Microsoft-Bing-visual-search-takes-fight-to-Google.html. 23 September 2009. live.
  22. News: The Onion Microfiche: all the satire that's fit to fit on your iPhone. Arthur. Charles. 16 September 2009. Technology Blog. The Guardian. 21 September 2009. https://web.archive.org/web/20160129082630/http://www.theguardian.com/technology/blog/2009/sep/16/onion-microfiche-iphone-app-news. 29 January 2016. live.
  23. Web site: Google Fast Flip. 28 October 2009. 27 October 2009. idiomag. https://web.archive.org/web/20091011112911/http://platform.idiomag.com/2009/09/fast-flip-for-iphone-and-the-power-of-google/. 11 October 2009. dead.
  24. Web site: A fall spring-clean . Alan Eustace . 2 September 2011 . Google . 2 September 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110907013015/http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/09/fall-spring-clean.html . 7 September 2011 . live .

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Google Fast Flip".

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