

Ingress proves once again: Google gets its users - mtgx
http://imtheirwebguy.com/ingress-proves-once-again-google-gets-its-users/

======
munificent
Whenever people think about Google doing stuff like this, they often get
freaked out. Like, "OMG Google is using me for its own benefit!"

Well, yes, that may be true. But the important thing to keep in mind is that
you aren't _losing_ anything here. Yes, Google may be using your GPS data to
improve its maps. But that doesn't mean you are having any less fun playing
the game because of it.

This is, I think, one of the things that's deeply fundamental to Google's
culture and really great about the company: Google is always looking for _non_
-zero sum solutions. Where many companies think, "What's the most I can take
from my customers to make us money?" Google thinks, "How can we maximize the
_sum_ of both us and our users?"

Look at ads, for example. Where many sites are constantly playing, "what's the
most ads I can cram into my site before people start leaving?", Google is
thinking "how can we make the ads as relevant as possible so that users
actually _want_ them to be there?"

~~~
MrDubious
I used to be a rather paranoid "Big Brother" fearing type, but Google wins me
over again and again with not only a user focus that attempts to win us over
by being better than the alternatives in meaningful ways, but also by having a
greater understanding of what we actually want.

It's kind of embarrassing how much of a fanboy I sound like these days, but
I've just been endlessly impressed with their innovation.

As a side note, it was really awesome seeing something I wrote posted on HN. I
feel like a real boy now.

------
kenjackson
_Google+ answered the question of how to get social signaling relevance in
search values._

Really? First this answer has been known since the MySpace days at least --
and quite likely before then. Remember Google bought Orkut?

Google+ was more of a reaction against Facebook than some holistic answer to
some problem that no one else could forsee. It was more like, "Google late to
the game with a competitor that no one wants to use".

~~~
dannyr
Google didn't buy Orkut. It was developed as a 20% project.

You can call it a reaction to Facebook, etc all you want but that doesn't
disprove the author's statement.

Social signaling was never included in search results until Google+ came
along.

Personally, I love seeing items in my search results that people in my Circles
have shared on Twitter or Google+.

------
intended
I can't wait to see what demographic of gamers this ends up attracting.

------
adiM
> first with the advent of email “conversation” threads

Google did not invent email conversations. Most email clients worth their salt
could sort email based on thread since at least 1999/2000 (and also before
that I only started using computers around that time).

~~~
thrownaway2424
The way Gmail groups and sorts conversations is not the same as the way a
threaded email client does or did it. Here's a random example of the way
almost all three-pane, graphical, threaded MUAs looked for years:
[http://img.brothersoft.com/screenshots/softimage/c/claws_mai...](http://img.brothersoft.com/screenshots/softimage/c/claws_mail-187368-1.jpeg)

Gmail did it differently and was considered innovative. Some people who had
always used threaded readers hated and still hate it. Other people like it
better, or never used the old way.

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muoncf
At the risk of incurring massive downvotes: if anyone happens to have a key
for the game laying around, I would be very interested in getting one. I'm
sitting on the edge of my chair, waiting for this game to go public. :D

~~~
MrDubious
Jump on <http://reddit.com/r/ingress>

There's an invite thread there, and secret item codes. Also, +google on a
request on G+.

------
beering
No mention of local advertising? Google feels like it's behind on the whole
"local" business compared to rivals like Yelp, and this would be one way to
get people to use a location-aware Google app.

~~~
MrDubious
Really? I'd really consider Google Local to be a superior product to Yelp, and
with the acquisition of Zagat, they've got all the street cred they need. Why
do you think Yelp is still a concern?

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TamDenholm
anyone know if Ingress is US only or is it global?

~~~
TeMPOraL
International. Player from Poland here (#enlightened).

~~~
MrDubious
Players are choosing 2 to 1 enlightened, despite it being counter to the
narrative. What made you choose that side?

~~~
TeMPOraL
When I started playing I saw that Resistance had more global control. I just
checked, they still have (55% R to 45% E).

Anyway, in my case, the decision had several reasons. As far as the narrative
goes I sided with Resistance, but thougth to myself: hell, it's time for a
change. There was also a little bit of "transhumanists vs. bioconservatives"
orangecat mentioned, and then maybe a little bit of: a) I got an invitation
from a Resistance guy so I thougth going to the other team will be more fun,
and b) I have small negative feelings toward Ada (because of the overblown
popularity of A. Lovelace) and small positive feelings for Jarvis (AI from
Iron Man movies!) :).

------
lazyjones
This is a zombie game. You are the zombies. ;-)

