I like Google. For some dangerously optimistic reason they are still in the ‘can do no evil’ box in my life. My e-mail goes through them (at home, and quite shortly at work), I read blogs, store documents, count blog readers, chat, navigate the world and of course search the web using Google’s various product lines.
My new idea for something that they could do that would make life easier for me is this: Google local product search. Based on your current or input location you search for something you want to buy. Be it a food item, computer supplies, medication, tools or ant poison (specific I know).
It would work based on Google already having an index of shops down your street - this would be crossed against a guess as to the type of shop and the likelihood of it stocking what you want AND by shops allowing their stock line data to be fed to Google on a regular basis. Existing online/offline retailers that show offline stock can already be trivially indexed (e.g. Jessops). For places like Tesco this could come from their own systems. For smaller shops then the data would come from their distributors, wholesalers and cash and carry outlets. Available data about delivered stock and ordered stock is indexed and cross referenced. Google provides some sort of mechanism for sharing the data - maybe a new API or XML based format.
There are a few privicy things that could be of concern, but envisage this scenario: you need ant poison pretty much straight away and don’t want to order it online and wait for it. You enter ‘nippon’ into the search engine; it throws up a list of local shops that do, may or could have stock sorted by distance with rankings of certainty (whether it knows or is guessing) plus telephone numbers and directions.
I would make use of this frequently as I’m often too disorganised to wait any amount of time to hold a product in my hands.
What do you all think?
Why not develop it yourself and then sell it to Google for billions?
Please remember me when you do ;-)