I noticed this morning a link on Google’s home page to Google Pack, a collection of “essentials to make your PC just work.”
Google Pack includes:
- Google Earth
- Google Desktop
- Picasa Photo organizer
- Google Toolbar for Internet Explorer
- Google Pack Screensaver
- Google Talk
Additional Software:
- Mozilla Firefox with Google Toolbar
- Ad-Aware SE Personal
- Norton Antivirus 2005 Special Edition
- Adobe Reader 7
- RealPlayer
- Trillian Instant Messenger
- Gallery Player
Google Pack also comes with an updater program that will keep all the software in the Google Pack current and it works with the programs you already have installed.
Google blog has says Google Pack is:
a one-stop software package that helps you discover, install, and maintain a wide range of essential PC programs. It’s yours today – and it’s something we hope you find to be painless, easy, and even fun (if computer setup can ever be called that). And it’s free.
At first I approach things like this from Google with the same skepticism as I used to view Microsoft’s software offerings or freebies. But in the end, that skepticism often gives way to indifference because the tools are useful and in most cases do not cause any ill effects.
I think most experienced SEOs are pretty confident that Google is currently using user data from Google made or partner desktop applications in it’s process of ranking web pages. There’s no reason to think that’s not the case with Google Pack. My biggest question is: Does user data really help rank web pages better? Or is Google still figuring that out?
