Google is making another run at Social Networking and using Gmail to do it this time. After their previous attempts this is probably their final shot at getting some traction with social networking, if they miss here, they should just forget about it. At first glance it appears that they acknowledge Twitter and Flickr but they are not going to help anyone lean towards Facebook.

Google Wave did not get it done, Orkut, Zingku, or how about Dodgeball?

As usual they are diving in with API support at Google Code.

I will not pass judgement until I have some real time to invest in Google Buzz, but looking over the API, it looks like they realize the importance of connectivity to other systems and keeping the system as open as possible.

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After reviewing the sites and applications I use most in conjunction with Twitter, I discovered it was more than I thought. I use the Twitter Home page,  HootSuite,  Tweetie,  Bit.ly, Facebook,  Twitter API, and probably a couple more every now and then. I then reviewed how and why I used each one and this process helped me considerably.

Each one of these systems has a place in my work and comfort zones and there is no reason for me to change what works well for me.

I think too many people try to force themselves to use one system, use what works the best for you!

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Add a “Video Bar” to your blog
September 29, 2006
Google AJAX Search API Blog

…An early adopter of the API known as “CyberCoder” had a cool idea… He envisioned a “Video Bar” that could sit in a narrow side bar vertically, or across the top or bottom of a page horizontally.

Last night we launched a Video Bar solution. This makes a great addition to your blogs and pages and composes nicely with an existing Video Search solution. To show you an example, we added the video bar to our AJAX Search API Playground blog.

I have developed a lot of page variations around this Video Bar over the last 18 months. One thing that always comes up when dealing with AJAX technologies is the fact that AJAX inherently does not help with SEO since the JavaScript elements are not read by the search spiders. Putting this fact aside, adding AJAX to a page can have significant advantages. More bloggers need to realize that not everything on a page needs to be part of their SEO functions. Adding relevant information to a page, especially videos, can greatly affect the amount of quality traffic and links a site gets.

Last year I was also involved in the Blog Bar that was added to the Google AJAX API lineup.

Add a Blog Bar to your site
March 15, 2007
Google AJAX Search API Blog

On February 7, we announced the availability of the Google News Bar. This cut-and-paste search control is simple to use and has seen phenomenal adoption.

Anytime we launch a new AJAX Search API feature, we ask you to share your thoughts with us in the AJAX Search API developer forum. Late Sunday evening, “CyberCoder” (a.k.a., inventor of the Google Video Bar) asked us to produce a modified News Bar that worked over Blog Search instead of News Search.

You can also see other Community Samples built by developers using the Google AJAX Search API, and maybe get yours listed too!

So here is my latest addition to using the Google AJAX API VideoBar. The AjaxAPIVideos WordPress Plugin.

The AjaxAPIVideos Plugin is designed for WordPress and adds a videobar to pages wherever you include the code snippet.

The plugin uses the post title to search for videos and return 4 small thumbnails in a horizontal Video Bar. When clicked on, the video will play on the page without requiring another page load and this means that not only does the visitor stay on your site, he can start and stop the video from your page. And since the search query is simply the Post title, the videos should be relevant to the post content (if your title is relevant). If no videos are found, the space where the video thumbnails usually appear is simply closed up and the page keeps it’s flow without an empty thumbnail etc.

I have always thought the advantage to this type of dynamic page load is that you do not have to anything other than write your post, and you get relevant videos loaded on your page.

Getting relevant videos loaded just doesn’t get any easier than this!

Download the AjaxAPIVideos WordPress Plugin here.

PS: If you are wondering why there are no videos on this page, Youtube is returning zero results for “AJAX API Video WordPress Plugin” which is not a bad thing, that means the plugin is working, no relevant videos, no problem. To see a page with the videos click on a previous post in the right sidebar. Or click a tag from below, the Video Bar Plugin is also loaded on the Tag pages.

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Twitter has been like this for me. I tried Twitter a long time ago, and just could not get into it. However, recently I posted about a great new IM system called Digsby, and Digsby has brought Twitter back into my daily routine with ease. As usual I have to search out a system and see what types of tools, updates, APIs & plugins are available. It’s just my tweaking nature.

I found 2 excellent resources for additional Twitter Tools, everything from standard API calls to WordPress Twitter Plugins. If you want to extend your Twitter, check out these pages for some great additions.

TWITTER TOOLBOX: 60+ Twitter Tools

Twitter Tools

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This video does a good job of explaining in very easy terms how API’s work. Whether you are interested in the Google, YouTube, Facebook or almost any other system an API can give you the access to a wealth of information to mashup your data and ideas with.

Check it out and let me know if you find it helpful.

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What Is Google AJAX API?

As a web developer, you may be asking this question. More so, you may be asking “How can using Google API provide a better professional service to my clients?” or, “How can my clients expand and grow their business within their niche market using Google API?”. The key thing to know and understand is the fact that the Internet itself and the people who use the Internet are constantly growing and expanding and demanding more and more. The Internet has shifted from an era of having flat files and HTML code into a super information galaxy that uses advanced technology coupled with excellent static or machine readable content. Google API is here to present masses of information in a robust way. Here is an example:

This morning I started playing with the Google AJAX API again. One idea I have had floating around in my head was to mash it up so that I could get search results for Blogs, Webs, News, Images and Videos on a single page with a Map to a location. This really wasn’t hard and was possible with a small amount of modifications to other search pages I had created. Here is the result. The page will take any location you pass to it and create a dynamic page of results. Just separate the words with a dash “-” and complete the URL with a forward slash “/”.

http://www.cybercoded.net/map/San-Diego-Zoo/

http://www.cybercoded.net/map/Dallas-Texas/

It’s hard to believe I have been involved with the Google AJAX APIs since June of 2006. The programs have come a long way since then. In September of 2006 I came up with the idea for the Google Video Bar and Mark Lucovsky and team whipped it up into a functional part of the system. In March of 2007 I came up with the Blog Bar idea and the team again made it a reality. This type of response from Google as been a real surprise, but I think that is what sets their work apart from so many others.

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This morning, we are announcing Image Search in the API. Image Search is just as easy to use as all of our other searchers. For those of you using our basic search control, it’s as simple as this…

Source : AJAX Search API Blog

The has been a top request since the launch of the API last year. Glad to see Google is still listening to their user base!

Click here to see an example.

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I set this BlogBar up using the BlogBar Wizard and did not modify any of the code. For now I used “CyberCoder” as the only keyword. It will rotate through the most relevant blog posts it finds in Google Blogsearch.

The Google AJAX Search API Team (led by Mark Lucovsky) has done an excellent job with this software since starting it up back in May 2006.

If you have not tried any of the software in this API, you should. It’s easy to install and can add some very nice features to any site.

And yes, I admit, I am a little biased since I have been given credit from Google on the idea for the BlogBar (and VideoBar) .

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