Google"s been firing out the announcements lately; they"ve just unleashed Picasa 3.5 and the Google Chrome Frame, and they have no sign of stopping. Today they"ve let loose a new project called Google Sidewiki, which has been described as a "universal commenting system".
Google Sidewiki is a browser toolbar, compatible with Internet Explorer 6+ and Firefox 2+, which is aimed at helping users read other user"s comments, as well as making their own, on any internet page. Google said, "We worked hard from the beginning to figure out which [entries] should appear on top and how to best order them. So instead of displaying the most recent entries first, we rank Sidewiki entries using an algorithm that promotes the most useful, high-quality entries. It takes into account feedback from you and other users, previous entries made by the same author and many other signals we developed."
It"ll be interesting to see how this project goes, as many people are against browser toolbars, but this could still pick up traction. If you want to try it out, visit the download page, or if you want to know more information, please watch the video included below. Additionally, you can follow the project team on Twitter.