Google sidewiki is a additional tool provided by Google for its Google toolbar users. It is a tool to gather information ssand views of others about a particular webpage.

This tool is quite useful for gaining views of people about the relevance of the webpage you have opened up. It is obvious that many people look for same information and mus have opened the same page as you have , but how to get their opinion or their own knowlwdge and insights  on the matter. Now come Google sidewiki which allows you to contribute helpful information next to any webpage. Google Sidewiki appears as a browser sidebar, where you can read and write entries along the side of the page. So you’ll see entries by people regarding the webpage and their insights into the concerned topic. Similarly , you can also share your insights with others.

One of the concern you might have is the relevance of the entries in sidewiki, but be assured as its a Google service. You’ll see the most relevant entries first.  Instead of displaying the most recent entries first, Google ranks 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 it developed.

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It also bring ins relevant posts from blogs and other sources that talk about the current page so that you can discover their insights more easily, right next to the page they refer to.

That are the sidewiki entries I received on facebook webpage.

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It has been currently released as a part of Google toolbar ( for IE and Firefox users) and work is on to make it available on chrome and other browsers as well. You can also follow their twitter feed for latest information regarding the same.

Here is a small official Google video about sidewiki.

Download the Google toolbar here to experience sidewiki first hand