February 26, 2007 at 18:22Macro Extensions for Google Office
The developers believe that an excellent addition to Google Apps would be the ability to create custom extensions that complement the default functionality of Google Writely, Google Spreadsheets, Gmail, etc. Of course, now it can be done, for example, through Firefox extensions (via Greasemonkey), but this is not entirely correct.
Ideally, I would like to see some additional version of the Google Apps API , that is, the version of the API specifically for extensions. Using these interfaces, connecting additional modules should be a simple procedure, like executing macros in MS Office. A catalog of such extensions for each program from the Google Apps suite can be created on the Google site, as there is now a widget catalog for the Personalized Homepage .
Obviously, in the future, Google Apps programs will show contextual advertising depending on the content of the documents being edited. To encourage developers to create add-ons, Google can share advertising revenue with them. If the user has n extensions installed, then the author of each extension receives half of the nth part of the income from showing ads on these documents. The second half, of course, takes Google.
Of course, the APIs for Google Office extensions are not without risk. The main risk is a security risk if it is possible to create malicious macros. This requires, first, to clearly inform users of the potential danger. Secondly, take additional measures to ban obviously malicious actions (for example, sending an email with a password via Gmail to a remote mailbox).
Ideally, I would like to see some additional version of the Google Apps API , that is, the version of the API specifically for extensions. Using these interfaces, connecting additional modules should be a simple procedure, like executing macros in MS Office. A catalog of such extensions for each program from the Google Apps suite can be created on the Google site, as there is now a widget catalog for the Personalized Homepage .
Obviously, in the future, Google Apps programs will show contextual advertising depending on the content of the documents being edited. To encourage developers to create add-ons, Google can share advertising revenue with them. If the user has n extensions installed, then the author of each extension receives half of the nth part of the income from showing ads on these documents. The second half, of course, takes Google.
Of course, the APIs for Google Office extensions are not without risk. The main risk is a security risk if it is possible to create malicious macros. This requires, first, to clearly inform users of the potential danger. Secondly, take additional measures to ban obviously malicious actions (for example, sending an email with a password via Gmail to a remote mailbox).