In a recent blog post, Google announced that its Area 120 team, an internal incubator that creates experimental apps and services, has launched a Pinterest-like application dubbed Keen.
Keen is currently available on web and Android and is focused on providing an alternative to “mindlessly” browsing online feeds.
According to Keen co-founder CJ Adams, the app is not exactly a revelatory pitch. It actually combines characteristics of social media platforms and Pinterest. The new service takes its visual inspiration from Pinterest and methods of content personalization from social media.
Adams wrote:
You make a ‘keen,’ which can be about any topic, whether it’s baking delicious bread at home, getting into birding, or researching typography. Keen lets you curate the content you love, share your collection with others, and find new content based on what you have saved. Even if you’re not an expert on a topic, you can start curating a keen and save a few interesting ‘gems’ or links that you find helpful. These bits of content act like seeds and help keen discover more and more related content over time.
Unlike Pinterest, Keen has Google’s expertise in machine learning, which, according to the company, will prove to be helpful in surfacing content related to your interests.
However, the question that arises here is, what does Google get from this? Well! Over the years, Google has not been able to break into the social media space. Hence, a platform like keen will help in generating scads of lucrative data for targeting ads.
Despite all this, Keen looks like a refreshing new space for individuals looking to invest their time productively. It’s exciting how Google is pushing its machine learning systems into more varied applications.
