Google Web Accelerator Speeds Into Firefox and IE
Google has launched the first steps in compiling every little bit of web behavior information they can get their hands on for their emerging ad network and also a preview of what a Google browser can do by introducing the Google Web Accelerator. Web Accelerator. What is this? A Dennis Miller NetZero commercial? No folks, Google has released a nifty piece of a browser add on companion which speeds up web searchs and web surfing for web users – especially broadband connections.
The Google Web Accelerator is a tool for both Firefox and Internet Explorer which is designed to shave web time by saving specific site information in a cache. After installing the software about 30 minutes ago I have already saved 23.9 seconds in web surf time. Gary Price did a nice write up for the Search Engine Watch blog about the new accelerator and how it works “What we do know is that GWA uses a number of techniques to speed up web browsing. Marissa Mayer (Google Product Manager) told me that some Googlers who have been testing the product internally have saved over an hour a month waiting for material to download. She added Google Web accelerator includes a clock that shows the user how much time they’re saving. Note to Google: More info about how you’re computing this time savings would be not only useful but also very interesting.”
Google beware, this is going to set off some bells and whistles with privacy advocates. Imagine this, according to the Google “Google Web Accelerator receives much of the same kind of information you currently send to your ISP when you surf the Web.” Do you know how much information your ISP knows about your web surfing behavior? Just about everything possible.
The only difference between your ISP and Google knowing everything about your web surfing behavior and surfing history is that you’ve signed a privacy and non-disclosure agreement with one company and the other is the Internet’s largest online advertising empire. Not to point fingers at Google and privacy problems, but every piece of web software has privacy concerns and it is par for the course to address them. We’ll follow up some more on the privacy concerns of Google Web Accelerator in the future and I’ll continue to test and see how much time I can shave off my web surfing. Thanks for another tool Google! Let’s see what Yahoo comes up with next.
