Launch Plan Update Clarified
February 29th, 2008 | Published in Google Orkut
We listen to your concerns and read your emails carefully. We have received a number of inquiries regarding this launch and would like to clarify what we're trying to achieve.
1) Why the testing period?
We apologize for the delay in the orkut developer platform launch. Based on your feedback from your recent experience in the orkut sandbox, we want to ensure we're launching a robust platform that can provide users with the best experience when using your apps. To achieve this, we will be deploying a few apps to a few users--hence the testing period. We appreciate your feedback on the platform and your patience.
2) Apps on orkut next week
There've been a lot of questions around the apps that will be included in orkut next week.
We'd like to emphasize this is not the launch of our developer platform. It is merely a testing period. As such, the apps that have been selected for this testing period will only be available to fewer than 1% of English speaking orkut users. This testing period will have no effect on all other orkut users, and the apps that will be tested in the coming weeks will not have an advantage over those that will be deployed at launch. Leveling the playing field for all developers is a top priority, and we will do everything we can to make sure this happens.
3) What are the details of the launch plan moving forward?
While we are testing our platform, we will continue reviewing your apps and will continue providing feedback on them. When the platform is ready to be opened to all orkut users, the same launch strategy we set forth previously will still apply. Apps that were submitted and approved before Feb 16th will be deployed at launch. Apps that were submitted thereafter will be reviewed and deployed post-launch on a rolling basis until we are able to take submissions in orkut without the whitelisting process. Feel free to use this extra time to rev on your app as you see fit. Remember, here are the guidelines for launch--they still apply, but our launch date has just been pushed out.