Ahh, glad to see this end well.

There’s a ton of news out tonight about Adobe’s new Apollo, beta ships tomorrow. This developer toolset lets Web developers build apps that work like desktop apps. It has a new name, too: Adobe Integrated Runtime, or “AIR.”

But, don’t miss the fact that Apollo apps no longer require Flash. They can be built totally in Ajax/JavaScript/HTML.

Now, why would Adobe want to do that? Well, they are positioning Apollo as the best way to build offline Web apps.

But I am putting another theory out there. If Steve Jobs isn’t putting third-party runtimes into the iPhone (as has been widely reported), how else will Adobe help its designers/developers get apps onto the iPhone?

Hmmmm.

PS: I’m not saying this theory is correct, but this is one of the first things I’m going to try when I get my hands on the iPhone. If it comes true that Flashless Apollo apps will run on the iPhone, then watch for this to be a cool way for developers to get offline apps onto the iPhone.

Hey, AIR could also stand for “Adobe IPhone Runtime.” 🙂

The blogosphere is going full tilt on a privacy report that says that Google is worst in its approach to privacy.

Danny Sullivan has the best response I see. I was hoping this report was more factual than it looks cause we need to have a real conversation about privacy. If you read the privacy report you should read Danny’s blow-by-blow response to it.

That said, Google’s PR is really stinky. Google isn’t paying attention to what normal people think of it anymore and it’s getting a bad reputation because of that. I heard it slammed over and over again for street-level views on Google Maps and no one from Google responded in most of the mainstream talk shows I heard talking about it. They should have a full-court “feel good” initiative where they have normal everyday citizens come in and meet the engineers, and look at the privacy issues.

Google’s PR is focused on the wrong things and isn’t warm and fuzzy and with big companies who are taking over our online data they need to have a warm and fuzzy feel.

Who runs Google PR? Why isn’t he or she blogging? Frank Shaw, the guy who runs PR for much of Microsoft at Waggener Edstrom is blogging and shows up to lots of events so we know who to call, or who to link to and wait for an answer. The fact that I don’t even know who to link to on this post demonstrates that Google PR is being out hustled by its competitors. This report demonstrates that in a big way.

Bad PR is a predictor of government action. Everyday Americans are getting very nervous about Google. They aren’t getting good messages from Google. No transparency. Tons of secrecy. No warm and fuzzy meetings with Google about privacy. No one responding to talk radio, which, if it didn’t have Paris Hilton to pull talk show hosts off of the Google story was getting seriously slammed.

First thing that Google should do? Put up a damn YouTube video! Search “Google Privacy Policy” on YouTube and do you find anyone from Google talking about its privacy policy? Why not? (Not that Microsoft is any better, but Google should be out front and leading here).

UPDATE: I actually did find a video from Google’s Rajen Sheth talking about its privacy policy (he’s responsible for the development and management of enterprise products at Google).

Here’s Microsoft’s privacy center and Google’s privacy center pages (first results for “Microsoft Privacy Policy” and “Google Privacy Policy” on Google).

UPDATE 2: Google’s own blog search engine demonstrates that Google is losing the PR war on this one. Danny Sullivan’s voice is nearly alone out there in defending Google.

UPDATE 3: to see just how badly Google is doing on blogs tonight, let’s look at the latest posts from just the past hour’s results:

• Google rated bottom for privacy.
• Shelley Powers: “What’s particularly scary, and I think the report mentions this, is that Google can’t understand why we’re concerned.”
• BungaTech: “So, what does the company that promises to “never be evil” have to say for themselves? Not a whole lot: Nicole Wong, Google’s general counsel explains that the company stands behind its users and is sticking to their aggressive privacy strategy.”
• Tainted Kernel: In terms of privacy … Google fails.
• InfoWorld: “Google executives were not immediately available to comment on the report’s findings.”
• Tess McBride: “Is somebody watching me? It’s probably Google… .”
  
• Scott Cleland: “Why Privacy is a competitive issue in FTC’s Google-DoubleClick merger review.”
  

What do you think?

Oh, and how should corporations fight the perceptions that come out in text? Go into video IMMEDIATELY! Get conversational. Take open public questions and answer them in chat or in Twitter or in Facebook or in blog comments or in YouTube comments (best yet, all the above). Appoint a team to answer questions 24 hours a day until the story dies down (and even then make sure you watch blog search engines to see if they start getting talked about again). Make sure every blogger knows where you’re hanging out and where to link for the best information.

Can you tell I’m hanging out with a bunch of PR professionals right now? 😉