For years, email inbox providers have given their users a single way to respond to unwanted messages—the unsubscribe button. While this approach is simple for the user, it obscures the critical information about whether a user is simply no longer interested in a mailing or whether it's an unwanted spam. The current approach means that any unwanted email, whether spam or opt-in, is marked as bad and counts against the marketer. Over the years, I've advocated to every ISP that would listen how badly they need to add another button next to the "this is spam" button—they need an "unsubscribe" button as well.

Well, it looks like Google's Gmail is doing just that. From its help files, you can see a description of the service. The Lifehacker blog also shows a nice screen shot.

My hat’s off to Google for being the first to take this step. If the other inbox providers follow suit, it will dramatically improve the ability of spam filters while simultaneously improving the quality of targeting for email marketers.

Note: thanks to my colleague Eugene for finding this and passing it along.

Posted by at 10:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The first time I had heard this term, I thought it was some kind of new 3D technology. As you can see from the video below, this is nothing like the old 3D world of avatars and blocky graphics.

Augmented reality gives users a portal to view the world in the way they are already comfortable with but overlays it with computer-generated information. In the case of the video above, the iPhone shows you a live video of whatever is in front of you and then overlays information and directions on how to navigate the New York subway system. The effect is incredibly natural (it makes me think of heads-up displays used by fighter pilots) yet contains an incredible amount of accessible information.

Taking this one step further, you could take your iPhone to the mall and watch promotions and discounts get overlaid on the screen as you pan around. Or you could ask for a list of nearby restaurants, and it would flash up the descriptions, ratings and walking directions for each one as you pointed your iPhone in the direction you were headed. The possibilities are amazing.

Note: I think the next hot business plan, probably already being hatched in dozens of places around the world, will be to build a map of the entire world that contains directions, pictures, ratings, advertising opportunities and things we can't even imagine today--all navigable by augmented reality applications. The winning business will allow users and social networks to make real-time updates and comments on, well, everything. For what it's worth, my money is on Google for this, but Twitter and Facebook have showed us that Google's early lead doesn't always guarantee it will dominate as new ideas unfold.

Posted by at 1:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I rarely dabble into pure technology on this blog, but this news is so big I feel compelled to shine some light on this announcement.

Google recently announced that it will be shipping an operating system based around its Chrome browser.

This has historic implications. For most of personal computing history, Microsoft has dominated its competitors by owning the operating system (first DOS, then Windows). This let Microsoft leverage its deep awareness of the underlying code on computers to then dominate in applications, specifically Microsoft Office. Unlike many naysayers, I think Microsoft makes good operating systems and applications, and it’s helped the computing industry more than it’s hurt it. That said, Microsoft has seen no real competition for decades, but that's about to change.

There are several key trends that will enable Google's OS to make a big impact:

1. Google's OS is open source—everyone can use it for free.
2. The OS will eliminate most security threats—an OS built from scratch to operate in a networked world can address most security threats head-on. Viruses and Trojans will go the way of pay phones—a once-dominant meme that faded away.
3. Everything is already online—most of us spend most of our time online. We are already connected nearly non-stop and it's only getting easier. (My laptop has Verizon built in, and I use Wi-Fi on planes—I'm always online.) If it simplifies things to get our applications online, there's not much downside.

This is a tough question and I'm still working on it. Among other things, it will further accelerate the penetration of netbooks (small, inexpensive, long-battery-life laptops) and make them price and feature-competitive with cell phones. Wide adoption of netbooks will allow marketers to provide the richest possible experience to an even wider group of customers than they can today. Post a comment or drop me an email and let me know what you think this could mean for the world of marketing.

The only thing I know for sure is that tectonic shifts like this are rare events and they have a tendency to change everything. Keep your eyes open wide—this will probably be pretty fun.

Posted by at 1:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)