Google to Shutter Sidewiki on December 5, A Day That Will Live Famously!

Yesterday, Google sent out an email (see here) informing users of its sidewiki service that it will close the service on December 5. Sidewiki allows users to post and read comments linked to specific web pages. It was launched in September, 2009, and I was one of the first people to use sidewiki to attach comments to a drug.com website (see "Google's Wacky Wiki is Whack! Pharma Should Demand Ability to Block It!").

In my presentation at the November, 2009, public hearing at FDA regarding Promotion of FDA‐Regulated Medical Products Using the Internet and Social Media Tools, I famously called on Google to "tear down this Sidewiki" (it was the anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall; see transcript).

Google spent a lot of effort defending sidewiki in comments it submitted to the FDA after the November hearings, saysing "The service uses an algorithm to identify the best comments, based in part on user ratings, and seeks to display only comments that are judged to be of high quality."

I said it before (see here) and I'll say it again: Google... what a maroon!