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posted

Feb. 4, 2009

time

1:54 p.m.

by

John

Google Latitude
Ok so thats well nosey

Google is today launching software called Latitude that lets mobile phone users share their location with close contacts. The search will help people find each other while they're out and about and, more creepily, keep track of loved ones.

"What Google Latitude does is allow you to share that location with friends and family members, and likewise be able to see their locations," said Steve Lee, product manager for Latitude. For example, a girlfriend could use it to see if her boyfriend has arrived at a restaurant for their date and, if not, which of their mutual friends he was cheating on her with.

To protect privacy, Google specifically requires people to sign up for the service. People can share their precise location, the city they're in, or nothing at all.

The software spotlights Google's fixation with mapping and location technology. The company sees its geographic services as a way to establish a more personal connection with customers who today use Google chiefly for search. And of course money is involved, too: Google hopes its mapping technology will lead to location-based advertising revenue.

Google's power is firmly lodged in search and search advertising, but the company is trying to expand to broader online services. That includes online documents and various aspects of social networking, which are much more personal services and ones that put Google into more direct competition with rivals such as Microsoft, Facebook and Yahoo. Like using Google profiles to contact information with select contacts, using Google Latitude tells Google who's who in your social graph.

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