Google Sidewiki is a part of Google’s latest version of tool bar. It is c0mpatible with Firefox, Internet Explorer but ironically, not yet Google Chrome.

So why is Google SideWiki controversial? It is a tool that allows the public/any visitor to comment on any web site in a sliding side bar displayed in their browser. You can make your entries of the website you are viewing and also read the entries made by other regarding the website. So it becomes an un-moderated wall where anyone can post anything – sort of like graffiti we see on our city street walls.

On each entry you make, an image will appear alongside the comment. The image will be taken from Google profile, if any. One can also forward Sidewiki comments to colleagues, friends and family via direct link, email, Twitter or Facebook.

It seems that all this has been going under the hood of the Google R&D labs – Google have also launched an API that allows developers to work freely with the content created in Sidewiki. If there are no comments on the Sidewiki of a particular page, Google reserves the right to show alternatively related blog posts. This will turn out to be a big loss for most webmasters and the advertisers of a website, as Google is showing alternate pages of content involunatrily. This can increase attrition of visitors.

Google Sidewiki is indeed a controversial tool bar and a frightening one at that for most bloggers and webmasters.