<s>
Google	B-Application
Sidewiki	I-Application
was	O
a	O
web	B-Protocol
annotation	I-Protocol
tool	O
from	O
Google	B-Application
,	O
launched	O
in	O
September	O
2009	O
and	O
discontinued	O
in	O
December	O
2011	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Sidewiki	B-Application
was	O
a	O
browser	B-Protocol
extension	I-Protocol
that	O
allowed	O
anyone	O
logged	O
into	O
a	O
Google	B-Application
Account	I-Application
to	O
make	O
and	O
view	O
comments	O
about	O
a	O
given	O
website	O
in	O
a	O
sidebar	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Despite	O
the	O
name	O
,	O
the	O
tool	O
was	O
not	O
a	O
collaborative	O
wiki	B-Protocol
,	O
though	O
the	O
comments	O
were	O
editable	O
by	O
the	O
author	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Google	B-Application
used	O
ranking	O
algorithms	O
to	O
determine	O
comment	O
relevancy	O
and	O
usefulness	O
,	O
using	O
criteria	O
such	O
as	O
users	O
voting	O
up	O
and	O
down	O
a	O
comment	O
and	O
past	O
user	O
contributions	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Anyone	O
could	O
look	O
up	O
a	O
contributor	O
's	O
Google	B-Application
profile	I-Application
and	O
assess	O
their	O
credibility	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Caesar	O
Sengupta	O
of	O
Google	B-Application
argued	O
that	O
the	O
link	O
to	O
Google	B-Application
Profiles	I-Application
would	O
help	O
increase	O
comment	O
quality	O
,	O
because	O
"	O
People	O
stop	O
making	O
trivial	O
comments	O
when	O
it	O
ties	O
back	O
to	O
them.	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
Website	O
owners	O
could	O
"	O
claim	O
"	O
their	O
site	O
,	O
giving	O
them	O
the	O
right	O
to	O
the	O
first	O
comment	O
on	O
the	O
Sidewiki	B-Application
for	O
that	O
site	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Sidewiki	B-Application
also	O
linked	O
to	O
"	O
relevant	O
posts	O
from	O
blogs	O
and	O
other	O
sources	O
"	O
,	O
a	O
feature	O
that	O
was	O
potentially	O
gameable	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Sidewiki	B-Application
was	O
available	O
for	O
Internet	B-Application
Explorer	I-Application
and	O
Firefox	B-Application
through	O
Google	B-Protocol
Toolbar	I-Protocol
,	O
and	O
on	O
the	B-Application
Google	I-Application
Chrome	B-Application
browser	I-Application
through	O
an	O
add-on	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
other	O
browsers	O
like	O
Safari	B-Application
,	O
it	O
was	O
available	O
as	O
a	O
third-party	O
bookmarklet	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
Comments	O
could	O
be	O
shared	O
via	O
a	O
link	O
,	O
email	O
,	O
Twitter	O
,	O
or	O
Facebook	O
,	O
and	O
an	O
API	B-General_Concept
was	O
available	O
for	O
developers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
September	O
2011	O
,	O
Google	B-Application
announced	O
it	O
would	O
discontinue	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
its	O
products	O
,	O
including	O
Google	B-Application
Sidewiki	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Sidewiki	B-Application
allowed	O
users	O
to	O
interact	O
with	O
a	O
website	O
in	O
ways	O
that	O
the	O
site	O
owner	O
could	O
not	O
control	O
,	O
which	O
upset	O
some	O
website	O
owners	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Jeff	O
Jarvis	O
complained	O
that	O
Sidewiki	B-Application
"	O
takes	O
comments	O
away	O
from	O
my	O
blog	O
and	O
puts	O
them	O
on	O
Google	B-Application
.	I-Application
</s>
<s>
That	O
sets	O
up	O
Google	B-Application
in	O
channel	O
conflict	O
vs	O
me	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
robs	O
my	O
site	O
of	O
much	O
of	O
its	O
value	O
"	O
,	O
and	O
PaidContent	O
noted	O
that	O
"	O
Google	B-Application
is	O
walking	O
a	O
fine	O
line	O
in	O
its	O
efforts	O
to	O
innovate	O
in	O
some	O
areas	O
that	O
have	O
long	O
been	O
the	O
domain	O
of	O
traditional	O
publishers	O
,	O
while	O
not	O
alienating	O
them.	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
PC	O
Magazine	O
commented	O
that	O
Sidewiki	B-Application
could	O
"	O
push	O
site	O
owners	O
to	O
make	O
their	O
forums	O
more	O
appealing	O
on	O
their	O
own	O
,	O
and	O
to	O
enhance	O
sites	O
with	O
no	O
comment	O
area	O
with	O
a	O
space	O
for	O
reader	O
participation.	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
Public	O
relations	O
professionals	O
saw	O
Sidewiki	B-Application
as	O
another	O
venue	O
that	O
will	O
need	O
managing	O
,	O
but	O
which	O
offered	O
an	O
opportunity	O
to	O
engage	O
with	O
complaints	O
and	O
spot	O
'	O
hot	O
issues	O
 '	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Mark	O
Borkowski	O
predicted	O
that	O
"	O
SideWiki	B-Application
is	O
going	O
to	O
challenge	O
PR	O
by	O
providing	O
the	O
masses	O
with	O
the	O
tool	O
for	O
the	O
ultimate	O
expression	O
of	O
people	O
power	O
,	O
something	O
uncontainable	O
that	O
will	O
need	O
constant	O
monitoring	O
...	O
SideWiki	B-Application
will	O
make	O
it	O
impossible	O
to	O
promote	O
one	O
message	O
and	O
not	O
be	O
held	O
to	O
account.	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
ArsTechnica	O
argued	O
that	O
the	O
comments	O
were	O
of	O
similar	O
value	O
to	O
those	O
on	O
existing	O
sites	O
such	O
as	O
Digg	B-Application
and	O
Reddit	B-Application
,	O
and	O
suggested	O
that	O
without	O
the	O
ability	O
found	O
in	O
Wikipedia	O
to	O
delete	O
and	O
restructure	O
material	O
,	O
it	O
was	O
a	O
"	O
glorified	O
comment	O
system	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
