Google’s ‘Fast Flip’: Not So Fast, Partner

Google Fast Flip

You can understand why Google would want to provide an online platform that pairs magazine-like flip browsing with the best of one-click online sharing. Sadly, the platform doesn’t allow users to quick draw content; in fact you have to pull the trigger twice just to hit your content in full for some publishers, then wait while the bullet slows through cyberspace to land on your screen. By the time the content loaded, my mind was pages away.

Once you see the full version content, it’s okay. Now you want to know: is Fast Flip a machine-gun sharp shooter for sharing content with your network? No, Google Fast Flip doesn’t hit that either. One click per social site (Facebook, Digg, Del.icio.us etc.) it’s not. What you hope for is a quick multi-site selection partner pop-up window with a text field, and several sign in windows to shoot down after. Users aren’t really winning the shoot-out yet.

On e-mail forwarding. Yes, I have a Gmail account and I appreciate Google opened it for me. (Gmail isn’t my primary e-mail account, but it’ll work.) Non-Gmail users, what happens when you if you click e-mail button in Fast Flip? I hope Google uses the opportunity to forward the article powered by Gmail to market that instead of taking you to a Gmail sign-up page. Can anyone confirm?

Keep flipping after you read/share if the full content you choose is available in Fast Flip. If not, close the publisher’s window and flip through content from over 30 (make that over 60 – thanks, PaidContent.org) other publishers by most recent (then sorted by most popular) or category. Nice.

Wouldn’t it be sweet if you could merge Fast Flip format previewing with Google search? Seems like a viable direction for this venture to eventually take. In this scenario, Fast Flip could provide the platform and in Search could handle keywords buys, ads, and category placements to big and small sites alike, whether they’re publishers, service providers, blogs or online stores. It certainly makes sense for Google to start with publishers to introduce the platform to on online audiences with a select offering of some of the most popular content online. I hope Fast Flip evolves to become more like its name and improve sharing because it has great potential.