The feature contains an assortment of event listings filterable with checkboxes and other presentation management features.

Thomas Claburn, Editor at Large, Enterprise Mobility

June 6, 2007

2 Min Read

Google on Wednesday made a series of public calendar listings available to users of Google Calendar.

Google's new Calendar Galley contains an assortment of event listings from the likes of Atlantic Records, Cordless Recordings, Disney, Eventful, JamBase, Orbitz, the NBA, Netflix, The New York Times, TLC, Wcities, and Zvents.

The under-scheduled can now fill their days with events of all sorts and the overly busy can filter happenings using checkboxes and other presentation management features to stay sane.

Google characterizes its event listings as "as an incredibly plugged-in friend who helps you remember all the hottest events, or that personal concierge you always dreamed of hiring." Your friend-cum-concierge will even notify you by e-mail or mobile phone alert if so instructed.

Beyond the obvious events of interest involving celebrities and athletes, there are listings for holidays in dozens of countries, presidential-hopeful campaign stops, and Google developer events, to name a few.

Thursday, no doubt, there will be more because Google has made public calendars searchable. This allows those running events to get the word out.

Google is hardly the only online calendar provider. Other notable competitors include 30 Boxes, Kiko, MSN Calendar, Scrybe, and Yahoo Calendar.

In January, Internet metrics firm Hitwise said that Google Calendar had surpassed MSN Calendar and was gaining on Yahoo Calendar in U.S. visitor market share. By mid-January, that prediction came to pass.

As of May, according to Hitwise, Google Calendar accounted for 0.0085% of U.S. Internet visits, compared to 0.0052% for Yahoo Calendar and 0.0037% for MSN Calendar. Between May 2006 and May 2007, Google Calendar traffic grew by 844%, while Yahoo Calendar traffic declined by 24% and MSN Calendar traffic declined by 37%.

According to Google Trends, Google searchers are searching for Google Calendar more than Yahoo Calendar.

This article was edited on June 6 to add statistics from Hitwise.

About the Author(s)

Thomas Claburn

Editor at Large, Enterprise Mobility

Thomas Claburn has been writing about business and technology since 1996, for publications such as New Architect, PC Computing, InformationWeek, Salon, Wired, and Ziff Davis Smart Business. Before that, he worked in film and television, having earned a not particularly useful master's degree in film production. He wrote the original treatment for 3DO's Killing Time, a short story that appeared in On Spec, and the screenplay for an independent film called The Hanged Man, which he would later direct. He's the author of a science fiction novel, Reflecting Fires, and a sadly neglected blog, Lot 49. His iPhone game, Blocfall, is available through the iTunes App Store. His wife is a talented jazz singer; he does not sing, which is for the best.

Never Miss a Beat: Get a snapshot of the issues affecting the IT industry straight to your inbox.

You May Also Like


More Insights