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Google set to launch its own commenting system, report says

A new commenting system is on the way, according to some reports.

 

Kris Holt

Internet Culture

Posted on Mar 27, 2012   Updated on Jun 2, 2021, 7:26 pm CDT

Google, Google, everywhere, and lots of comments to sync.

The company is set to launch a commenting system that publishers will be able to install on their websites, according to a report by The Next Web.

The system is likely to have deep ties with Google+ and other Google products, according to the report.  Comments will be indexed in Google’s search results, for instance.

It seems that, with Facebook’s comment system taking off and being added to a number of websites (including the Daily Dot), Google wants to take a slice of the Web commenting pie for itself.

Google+ users have been quick to comment on such a system being launched, with some suggesting that it will harm dedicated commenting services like Disqus and Livefyre.

“This could have significant impact on the mass adoption of Google+—if many publishers switch from a Facebook or Disqus commenting system to G+,” wrote tech entrepreneur Arun Shroff. “The key to this is the big benefit to publishers—from their comments getting indexed and searchable by Google—thereby increasing their organic search engine traffic.”

“This would be a win-win for Google as conversations could drive usage of Google+ as well as garnering great data for their core search offerings. Facebook may be the primary target but Disqus and Livefyre may be the casualties of this battle,” commented Robert Francis.

Whether comments will be synced with discussions on Google+ à la Facebook remains to be seen, though the move should certainly help kick some life into Google+ if the system sees the light of day.

With Google+ being tied deeper into YouTube, it would not be a shock to see the comment system coming to the video-sharing community either. (YouTube did not respond to a request for comment.)

Meanwhile, it seems as though Google+ users will finally get their hands on vanity URLs. This means that, instead of having an unwieldy series of digits in their Google+ profile address, they’ll be able to choose a more attractive URL, like: plus.google.com/dailydot.

Photo by Daniel Morris

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*First Published: Mar 27, 2012, 3:31 pm CDT