Google Talk will be on everyone's lips for the next few days, and while interesting in a way, it does initially seem....underwhelming. It's been called “clean“ but that may well be a nicer way of saying boring. I believe Google's strategy is a bit more subtle, and I'd like to point out two items that caught my eye:
1) Google talk doesn't integrate with the Sidebar. The sidebar itself is interesting, as they've now crammed a wedge into Microsoft's screen real estate. Supposedly the sidebar is coming back in Vista. Will people run two sidebars? Regardless, they've got pictures in the sidebar, they have an IM/picture chatting service in Hello (part of Picasa), and now Google Talk. There has to be some sort of connection.
2) From a post on Slashdot (I know, I know. Of course this one is buried five deep):
Another thing some people might have noticed is that reverse DNS for talk.google.com is toolbar.google.com. Now have a look at JEP0151 [jabber.org].
Virtual presence on Web pages (also sometimes known as co-browsing, while co-browsing can also mean something different) makes people aware of each other, who are at the same Web location at the same time. The basic purpose of a virtual presence system is to show names, icons, and/or avatars of people who are on a page or a set of pages and to let them communicate.
I know this has been done before, but the Google toolbar is in a lot more places than any of the other solutions were.
Of course, much of this can also be deception. With an ungodly amount of money, Google is in a perfect position to distract competitors.