Open Source Idea - Two Way Search
Open Source Ideas are ideas I come up with that I think would be really useful, but that I don’t know what I’d do with it. I’m throwing this out to folks like Michael Whitney and Larry and Serge and Bezos.
Two-Way Search: I ask Google. Google tells you I’m asking about you.
FIRST OFF: This would be opt-in/opt-out. You could still search 1-way. Read on…
Here’s the use case:
1.) I go into whatever search engine (amazon, for my example) and I type in something to look up (for instance, the book SMART MOBS by Howard Rheingold).
2.) The engine returns my information to me and I’m happy.
3.) The engine ALSO pings Howard Rheingold, fans of Howard, Howard’s publisher, and whoever the hell else wants to know that SOMEONE just sniffed around for the book.
4.) Howard (or whoever) could then contact me (opt-in/opt-out - you can request that your search remain anonymous) or at least be made aware that I’m out there looking at his book.
Maybe this is where they’re going with some of the discussions around two-way RSS. But can you see where I’m going with this? It opens up the story. Sticking with my example above, if I were Howard Rheingold sitting at home, and I get a little ping saying, “Chris Brogan just asked Amazon about your book. Chris Brogan just asked the local library for a copy of your book. Chris Brogan just blogged about your book. Technorati picked it up.” ETC. , then Howard would go… “Hmmm, I wonder if Chris wants to talk to me about Smart Mobs. Neat. I love talking about that. Maybe we’ll collaborate.” And so on.
Talk about customer feedback. You could have full-on POW! communication with your customers, consumers, fans, or what-not.
What do you think?
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Cool idea Chris. Everyone is interested in something, and the benefit of letting someone know you are interested in their product/service is also undeniable. In some cases people would definately wish to remain anonymous, but I would love for Seth Godin to know how big of a fan I am.