Google Takes an Interest in Analytics, CRM
Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) continues to move well beyond its origins as a search engine and more and more into other uses of information. This week the company made news in both the CRM and analytics markets.
The most interesting news was that Google and the CIA's venture capital arm are both investing in a company that monitors the Web and uses that data to try to predict the future.
Google Ventures and In-Q-Tel have both invested in Recorded Future, which scans thousands of news publications, blogs, government websites, financial databases and more, extracting time, entity, event and sentiment information.
Customers can use that information to “explore the past, present and predicted future of almost anything,” according to Recorded Future's website. Visualization tools let users “quickly see temporal patterns, or link networks of related information.”
Users of the media analytics and news analysis tool can be found in finance, marketing, public relations and national security. Uses include competitive intelligence, brand monitoring and tracking public figures, which are detailed in videos and blogs on the company's website.
Google Apps and CRM
CRM is another area where Google is breaking some new ground. The company noted in a blog this week that CRM is the top search term for installable apps in the Google Apps Marketplace.
The blog listed 13 CRM, social CRM and project-based CRM apps that can be easily integrated with Google Apps.
Paul Ferrill has been writing for over 15 years about computers and network technology. He holds a BS in Electrical Engineering as well as a MS in Electrical Engineering. He is a regular contributor to the computer trade press. He has a specialization in complex data analysis and storage. He has written hundreds of articles and two books for various outlets over the years. His articles have appeared in Enterprise Apps Today and InfoWorld, Network World, PC Magazine, Forbes, and many other publications.
