Should Google have picked another name for their latest project?

Google unveiled a new project, a site to rival Pinterest called Keen. The idea came out of Area 120 which is an internal incubator at Google. Keen will be AI powered not to say Pinterest does not also incorporate AI into their websites offerings.

When I first read about this two days ago, I thought why Keen? I say that because I have been very familiar with Keen.com. I think I joined the site 20 years ago.

Keen.com

Keen started out as a way to give advice over the phone on a myriad of topics and people would pay you on a per minute basis.

They would provide you a toll free number so your own number was never visible. It had a ranking system where callers could rate their experience.

You would get like 70% they got 30% plus a min cost per minute for connecting the call.

Two areas became popular psychics and phone sex, I was not looking to provide either of those services. Eventually Keen spun off the phone sex into a site called NiteFlirt.com.

Keen merged with LiveAdvice and InfoRocket and changed their name to Ingenio. Keen has remained a brand of Ingenio providing psychic readings.

So why would Google name their project Keen and go with the inferior domain StayKeen.com? I understand there is a decent play on words with “What are you Keen on?”

TheVerge asked?

So what does Keen have that Pinterest doesn’t? Well, for one it has Google’s expertise in machine learning, which Adams says will surface “helpful content related to your interests.”

“Even if you’re not an expert on a topic, you can start curating a keen and save a few interesting ‘gems’ or links that you find helpful,” says Adams. “These bits of content act like seeds and help keen discover more and more related content over time.”

Perhaps this will be a short term venture and Google will not make any inroads in social again, if that’s the case a big time premium .com is just a waste of money.