Google eyes more user-generated content for Filipino users

MANILA, Philippines -- Filipino Google engineers from Mountain View, California met with some local developers this week to convince local developers as well as users to generate more content for Filipino users.

Google Country Consultant Aileen Apolo has blogged about the recent meeting of the Filipino Google engineers with some local developers.

In an interview, Derek Callow, marketing manager of Google for Hong Kong and Southeast Asia, said the recent initiative is part of a local push for iGoogle and other platforms created by the Internet giant.

Hoping to become the platform for developers and users to create original content, Callow said that Google is now creating "base products" that would allow users and developers to build applications on top of these web platforms.

iGoogle, for one, is Google's answer to the "mash-up" phenomenon where developers and users alike can create so-called "widgets" or, in the case of Google, "gadgets" which are small applications that could be merged in a personalized portal. He said that users who don't necessarily know computer coding can create their own Google "gadgets" using a web application aptly called "Gadget creator."

There are currently about 200,000 Google gadgets available to iGoogle. About 20 percent of users in the US are now going through iGoogle, the executive added.

Callow said web platforms like iGoogle will increasingly allow people to create their own content and share it with friends and the rest of the people on the web.

"The Internet experience is becoming more personal. We're realizing platforms should allow more user-generated content," he said.

Callow is in the Philippines to present the current trends in online advertising to media buyers in a scheduled Ad Congress in Subic, Zambales.