Google launches Keen, Pinterest’s latest competition

Google has launched Keen, a Pinterest-like hobby platform. Image: Courtesy of Google

After Facebook launched a hobby-focused app earlier this year, Google is following suit and launching its own response to Pinterest, which curates content for users based on their interests and hobbies.

Just like Facebook launched its own take on Pinterest earlier this year to compete with the hobby-oriented social media site, Google announced late last week the launch of Keen, a platform on which a user can make “keens,” like Pinterest boards, “which can be about any topic, whether it’s baking delicious bread at home, getting into birding or researching typography.”

Just as Pinterest does, Keen curates content based on a user’s interests. Boards can be shared with their friends, family, or other subscribers. According to Google, “we use Google Search and the latest in machine learning to remain on the lookout for helpful content related to your interests,” and the more a subscriber uses the application, the better the application recommends relevant content. Keens can be public or private.

The Facebook iteration, Hobbi, sets itself apart from Pinterest and Keen by helping users track their progress on certain activities so they can “see all the small moments add up.” The latest version of the application which was launched in May lets people share their progress with friends and family members who can cheer them on.

Keen was created by the company’s Area 120 workshop, a Google incubator for experimental projects. Similarly, Hobbi was created by Facebook’s NPE, or New Product Experimentation, team which creates mobile applications that, based on their popularity, will remain available for download or not.

Keen is available for download now for Android systems alongside Hobbi and, of course, Pinterest. NVG

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