Google Buzz: Another attempt to harness the content firehose
by on Feb.10, 2010, under Betanews
Rather than create another new destination social network like Facebook, Twitter or Foursquare, Google today announced that it has added social networking and location-based features into Gmail, Google Profiles, and Google Maps with a new service called Google Buzz.
Late last week, rumors surfaced that Google was debuting a new “Social Gmail” this week, and that really is kind of what Buzz is. With it, you can post status updates and share links, photos, and location-based updates with your Gmail contacts, and the content being posted by your contacts is automatically ranked according to your interactions with that contact. Ultimately, it’s a lot like FriendFeed but with a Google flavor.
Buzz updates are read directly in Gmail just like an e-mail thread, and posts can be kept only between friends or be published to the Web at large under the user’s Google Profile like a Twitter feed. All posts and comments appear in real time, and they can come from Twitter, Picasa, Flickr, and Google Reader. Location-based posts can be sent from buzz.google.com through the user’s mobile browser. Additionally, the Google Maps app for Android and Symbian received an update today which adds a Buzz layer for plotting buzzed-about spots. In the Google Search widget in Android, users can simply do a voice search where they say “Post Buzz” and their location will automatically be posted.
The service will be rolled out to Gmail inboxes this week, the mobile site is currently live, and the updated Maps app is available now. Users who already have a Google Profile and Gmail account don’t need to sign up for anything, and can immediately begin posting.
Jeremiah Owyang, Web Strategist for the Altimeter Group said today, “To Facebook, this is a direct threat, these features emulate Friendfeed and the recently-designed Facebook newsfeed. Expect Google to incorporporate Facebook connect, commoditizing Facebook data as it gets sucked into Google and displayed on Google SERP…This is good for Twitter in the short term, as it’ll amplify tweets, and suck them into a new system and give additional reach. Yet over time, status features will become a commodity, and Twitter as a destination will fade into the background.”
10 Comments for this entry
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The Geekinator #0303 – Google Buzz, iPads, Apple Aperture 3 « Quicksurf Internet Media
February 11th, 2010 on 11:02 pm[...] Google Buzz: Another attempt to harness the content firehose [...]
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Apple News Log Podcast » Blog Archive » The Geekinator #0303 - Google Buzz, iPads, Apple Aperture 3
February 11th, 2010 on 11:29 pm[...] Google Buzz: Another attempt to harness the content firehose [...]
February 12th, 2010 on 2:54 am
Real helpful being able to find what my industry friends on? Twitter and Facebook are saying about a idea I am searching for without having to waste my time on either website looking at off topic chat.I love social sites but I really don’t care what kind of cookies you are making. Only getting what I want from my family is going to make them more valuable to me and keep me from getting sidetracked when I am trying to get real work done.
February 12th, 2010 on 1:46 pm
Well written and a great read
February 16th, 2010 on 9:42 am
Google Buzz also lacks the possibility of adding the (Youtube) account of my own choice. I like the mobile version
February 17th, 2010 on 11:49 am
Great article. There’s a lot of good information here, though I did want to let you know something – I am running Redhat with the current beta of Firefox, and the look and feel of your blog is kind of funky for me. I can understand the articles, but the navigation doesn’t work so well.
February 25th, 2010 on 9:22 am
Thanks for publishing about this. There’s a mass of important tech info on the internet. You’ve got a lot of that info here on your web site. I’m impressed – I try to keep a couple blogs somewhat ongoing, but it’s a struggle sometimes. You’ve done a solid job with this one. How do you do it?
February 28th, 2010 on 12:09 pm
Nice post! GA is also my biggest earning. However, it?s not a much.:)
March 4th, 2010 on 12:34 am
You are a very smart person!
March 5th, 2010 on 3:58 am
i was beginning to believe i could be the only human being who cared about this, at least currently i discover i’m not loonie
i will make it a point to take a look at various various threads after i get my morning caffeine in me, it really is arduous to read without my coffee, cheers 
March 5th, 2010 on 4:06 pm
Thanks for sharing such an topical article with all of us. I’ve bookmarked your blog will come back for a re-read again. Keep up the great work.
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