Google Press Day, Vol 2

OK, we're finally getting to the new stuff.

First up: Google Trends. This lets you see the activity for a given search, and where (by physical location) it's coming from. This clearly is for advertisers.

Also new: Google Desktop version 4, which introduces gadgets--little applets for all sorts of tasks (the examples in the demo included a video player and a little amusement called Eyes (two circles with rollable dots--you had to be there).

Now we're seeing Google Co-op, which is intended to improve specific searches. You subscribe to Google partners whose content interests you, which then improves their content's ranking in results. Six flagship partners include People, Digg, Wine Spectator. This feature also enables so-called "verticals" -- the demo was for a health vertical where a search for malaria brings up links from (and to) authorities on the subject.

Next up: Google Notebook. This is a plug-in that lets you create a notebook of favored links and content in its own window. You can write notes about the content, and make those notes public if you so choose. Notebook will launch next week.