The Adnostic

Have you heard about Google Wave? No? Where on Earth have you been?! Check out these search stats:

That may not look that impressive in comparison to the best science fiction film to hit theaters since the venerable first Star Wars trilogy, but for something that was presented only to a bunch of Google devout application developers within the last month, that's pretty impressive.

So what is Google Wave? Google Wave pretty much recognizes the different ways in which people communicate (IM, email, blogs, photos, links, microblogging) and creates an open source hub where all of these communications can be integrated.

Here is a the video of the Google IO presentation. It's an hour long, so get comfy.

What are the key benefits?

• Open source platform - this makes anyone with a great idea for the system capable of creating something for it. It also allows any individual, business, or network to use it as a private communications system or one that can link to other networks with a Wave.


• Integration - move seamlessly between your blog, twitter, email, and IM. Suddenly conversations take place everywhere in every digital medium. Post your pictures once, share them via multiple channels. It makes everything that much more spreadable and actionable communication that much more efficient.


• Automatic Archiving - it's one of the reasons why I prefer using Gmail over Hotmail. Using the archive button is so much less permanent than the delete button. If something becomes relevant later, I can always search for it and find it again. I can't do that after I delete an email.

So what does this mean for marketers?

• Imagine online focus groups, webcam interviews, and message boards conducted on Wave's hub and spoke system. Suddenly all of your web conducted primary market research is in one place and can be played on a timeline.


• How about entire social media campaigns capable of being run from one integrated dashboard accessible from any computer?


• Better tracking for project management and more productivity inside and outside of meetings.

These are just a few potential options from off the top of my head. What marketing potential do you see from an integrated communications hub?

Update:
Ms. Jen has a marvelous (and much shorter) demonstration on her blog of how Wave works.