Google Sidewiki: The new graffiti or the new billboard?

All you have to do is Google “Sidewiki” to see that there is a lot of emerging concern in the PR community for this new function of the Google toolbar.   In essence, Sidewiki allows anyone to comment on a Website – without the Website owner’s consent or direct ability to remove that comment.  That posted comment appears in a window to the side of the Website that only Sidewiki users can see. (Sidewiki users: see the note I’ve attached to this post.)

Some in the blogosphere worry about Sidewiki becoming a tool for spreading defaming graffiti on Websites.  Anyone with an axe to grind can click on the Sidewiki icon and write a scathing note.  The note resides in the Sidewiki program and thus accompanies the Website, but is not part of the Website.  Right now, Website owners can’t remove the note.  The best they can do is use a  “report abuse” button to report comments that violate Sidewiki program policies.

To use Sidewiki, you need to have a Gmail account, which means some details about the writer of a comment are available.  But it’s easy to get a Gmail account not in your own name, effectively allowing anonymous postings.  The program policies allow removal of comments if the poster “pretends to be someone else,” but makes no provision for anonymous posts.

All of the concern about Sidewiki appears, though, to be a bit premature.  A quick survey of DJA client sites turned up no comments yet.  Google claims hundreds of millions of Sidewiki downloads, but the number of comments on several popular sites turned up nothing controversial or defamatory.

From my limited survey, I think that an equally likely outcome of Sidewiki is that it becomes another way to promote. A Sidewiki poster is able to tie her comments to a Google profile or to a business Website and use the service to boost traffic.   This is the case with the Sidewiki posters at the Whitehouse Web site where a Web design company complimented the site’s new design.

It’s probably too early yet to know what the impact will be on SEO efforts of Sidewiki postings.  A quick search on the name of a Facebook Sidewiki poster came up with no results on the first three pages of Google results.

At one point, the informal corporate mantra at Google was “don’t be evil,” and it’s unclear yet if this latest capability will be used for evil as many are concerned about. What is clear, is that the marketing power of Google will ensure that Sidewiki is in the hands of millions of people and that all corporate Websites must be watched carefully by PR, reputation management and corporate marketing teams.