Google Rolls Out Updates to Labs Projects

Posted 12/16/2009 at 8:03pm | by Ryan Whitwam

2

Comments

Print

Google today announced they were releasing an update to one Labs project, and introducing a new one. Fast Flip was shown off a while back as an attempt at making reading online news as convenient as flipping through a magazine or newspaper.  While the service is still early in development, Google has managed to bring in several dozen more publishers to make their content available through the Fast Flip service. There’s also a preview mobile version available.

Google’s new Labs project was created during the search giant’s infamous “20% time”. The tool is called Browser Size. It also has something to do with making traditional publishing paradigms fit into the digital age. There is no digital equivalent to “above the fold”, that desirable, highly-visible place in a newspaper. By analyzing the size of people’s browser windows, Google thinks they can change that. Browser Size can show much of a webpage people are likely to see. Developers can then place an important page element where it will be seen by more people. If statistics show that 30% of users will need to scroll down to find your donation link, you might want to move it.

Both applications are, of course, free.