See our live notes from today’s Google Buzz event here.
Google has a problem. Despite having their hands in just about everything online, they’ve never been able to tackle what is a key part of the fabric of the web: social. Yes, they have Orkut and OpenSocial, but no one actually uses them. Okay, some people use them, but not in the meaningful social ways that people use Facebook or even Twitter. Today, Google may have just solved their social problem.
Google Buzz is easily the company’s boldest attempt yet to build a social network. Imagine taking elements of Twitter, Yammer, Foursquare, Yelp, and other social services, and shoving them together into one package. Now imagine covering that package in a layer that looks a lot like FriendFeed. Now imagine shoving that package inside of Gmail. That’s Buzz. If Google Wave is the future, Google Buzz is the present.
FriendFeed Reborn. On Growth Hormone.
Fundamentally, Buzz is a stream of status updates, pictures, links, and videos from your friends. You can “like” these items and you can comment on them. And if you use Flickr, Picasa, Google Reader, or Twitter, you can also automatically have those items imported into your stream. And Buzz will recommend items you might like based on your friends’ activity.
Yes, again, it sounds a lot like FriendFeed. But it has a critical component that FriendFeed never had prior to its acquisition by Facebook: a massive installed user base. Maybe you missed the key bit of wording above: it resides inside of Gmail. Rather than trying to build its own new social service from scratch, Google is making Buzz a key part of their email service (right below the Inbox tab) that 176 million unique visitors each month, according to comScore.
Social Curation
Buzz also wants to differentiate itself another way: social curation. As Mike wrote about the other night, the social web right now is largely a mess. There’s simply too much going on, and no one is really working to sort it all out. Google is trying to do that with Buzz by allowing you to import items from services like Twitter, but only show you the best ones. For example, Google says it will hide quick messages like “brb.” The plan is to also auto-collapse items that don’t have a lot of comment activity.
For now, this data is sadly only a one-way street. That is to say, you won’t be able to update your Twitter account from Google Buzz, we’re told. But Google seems to be indicating that this functionality will be included eventually, and that overall they’d like the product to be as open as possible. And yes, there will be plenty of APIs. But one company noticeably absent from all this talk of importing and exporting data is the 800-pound social gorilla in the room: Facebook.
The Big Mobile Social Play
Listening to Google tell it, you’d almost think Buzz is just as much of a mobile product, as a social tool inside Gmail. And it just may be. Google is heavily touting the ability to use Buzz immediately on the mobile web if you’re using an Android phone or an iPhone. The reason they’re singling out those two phones is that their HTML5-compatible browsers support location. Location is a big component of Buzz on the go because Google not only want users to update their statuses, but to tag them with where they are when they leave it.
And while Google has its own location app, Latitude, Buzz works a lot more like Foursquare in that you select places to say where you are rather than a specific coordinate. This is an extension of the Places pages in Google Maps that were launched late last year. The use of Buzz alongside these locations make them ever more powerful. You can search to see only the Buzzes written from certain places, for example.
Buzz will also work within the Maps app on certain phones (such as Android phones, but not the iPhone — at least, not yet). And it will work inside the Google Search apps on the iPhone and Android. Perhaps the coolest thing about that is that you can use the voice search functionality to speak your buzz update if you just say “post buzz” and then say your buzz out loud.
Social Issues
Some big question marks remain for Google. First of all, one big reason they’ve flopped in the past with social implementation is because they seemed to have fundamentally flawed views about what a social graph should be. For example, when they first tried to make Google Reader more social, they automatically ported over your Gmail contacts to give you friends. The problem with this was that they auto-chose people who you were in contact with often based on emails and IMs. But in some case that may be your boss, or someone else that you’re not actually friends with.
With Buzz, Google is giving users more granular controls for friend settings, but they’re still suggesting people based on your Gmail social graph, which may or may not reflect your actual desired social graph.
Also, believe it or not, there are plenty of people without Gmail accounts. Are they going to sign up and start using an email service just because of Buzz? People certainly haven’t started using Yahoo Mail just because it added social features.
The One Stop Shop
Another problem Google has had when it comes to social elements is that they’ve never really had one place to let users share all their social data. Now they have that with Google profiles, which apparently, Google Buzz will be built into. Still, because Profiles are separate from Buzz in Gmail, it might be a little tricky for some users to figure out.
Complexity
Speaking of complexity, overall it’s another issue that Google Buzz may run into. Twitter works because it’s so simple, if you have a public account, your tweets go to anyone who is following you. Buzz is not that simple. There can be public or private buzzes. The plan is to also have buzzes for enterprise and educational users. In those cases, public buzzes may only be available within your company or school, while private would still be private to other individuals in your network. You can see how the social graph is starting to get a little more complicated.
Another thing is if someone comments on one of your buzzes, it will leave the Buzz area of Gmail and go into the Inbox area of Gmail, so you know someone is talking to you. That actually sounds pretty cool, and even better, you can reply right from there (another feature taken from FriendFeed), but I could also see that getting a bit confusing for some users.
The Battle
Without having had a chance to play with it yet, it would seem that the core idea behind Buzz is to take on Twitter and Facebook as the easiest way to share content online. Google is offering a number of compelling features such as smart curation (it gets better as you tell it what you like and what you don’t), and a rich mobile experience including location.
Because of the features it adds on to what Twitter does, and its overall look, it’s hard not to compare Buzz to FriendFeed. That service was arguably the better product than Twitter, but never took off in the same way for whatever reason (though I would argue that simplicity was a big factor). You could say the same thing for Twitter rivals Pownce and Jaiku (which Google actually bought) in the past. But by adding it to Gmail, Google is giving Buzz a great weapon to succeed where all of those others could not.
The big question is: will Gmail users buy into this quick sharing? Google thinks so because it’s a part of the evolution from email, to IM, to status updates. It’s also, in their eyes, a part of the evolution to the next step, Google Wave. So far, the public has proven to be not ready for Wave yet. But Buzz might be the perfect tool in getting people to think about communicating in a way beyond email and IM. Or it may be another misstep in Google’s social quest.
Extraordinary! We’ll see how it goes further.
I’ve been wondering lately why Gmail, Yahoo, and Hotmail don’t just team up on something like this and put Facebook away, or at least get a leg up on them.
I thought of it when I was looking at Yahoo’s additions, but same thing applies. Would be pretty cool I think to just go within webmail products.
Maybe because they owned by three different corporations? That’d be my guess.
My first impressions are ‘Wow, this is extraordinary’.
Buzz is far more easier to understand and work with compared to Wave.
http://twitter.com/Google_Buzz
The social web
is a total mess
who you gonna call?
Google Buzz!
How to arrange the big social-mess (created by FB, twitter, etc? Answer: Google Buzz.
Combine it with Google wave and we’ll surely have a party now! Details: http://bit.ly/google-wave-why-should-you-use-it
Thanks leslie
Sounds very promissing. I wonder if Buzz will kill of Twitter
Spoiler Alert: No.
What would MG do at that point? He’d have to split his ass-kissing fanboi-ism between Twitter and Google. That most likely would induce Schizophrenia.
Get lost troll, no one cares what you think.
why would it kill twitter when it imports tweets?
It imports tweets may be only as a startoff and then Google can move to it’s own platform!
Nah, But I guess, this could be the answer that we are all waiting for…
How to arrange the big social-mess (created by FB, twitter, etc? Answer: Google Buzz.
Well as for the ‘google wave is the future’ part, yes I concur. Details: http://bit.ly/google-wave-why-should-you-use-it
I’ll go out on a limb and say this buzz for “Buzz” will not cause people to sign up for Gmail. In fact, I’ll add that people with Gmail will continue to use Twitter and Facebook. I just don’t think Google has a handle on social. Perhaps they should google it.
——————————
Tiananmen Square
Overthrow China
Free Tibet
There. That should get their attention.
“Sorry twitter, you were too slow. Facebook, we ‘ll let you live.”
This is fail. Too little, too late. Google needs to stop imitating and start innovating or my company will crush their souls.
God bless you Steve ! Or whoever you are…
The future — Calls for Steve?:
Poor liddle Steve Jobs…
Still bitter over becoming the laughingstock of the computing world with the iPad flop.
Having “the most important things you’ve ever worked on” become the poster child for crappy and pointless overhyped products with the iPad fiasco has got to sting.
You really think it’s a fiasco? It hasn’t even hit stores yet. I think it’s kind of dumb, but I also think they will sell millions of them, making Steve even richer. Looking at their track record, it’s not terribly wise to bet against Apple products.
Overhyped? By who? Blogs like TechCrunch and people like you maybe. Apple hardly said a thing about it before release but the tech world got itself whipped up into a frenzy and then when Apple introduced something that, OMG, wasn’t for them, they erupted into nerd-rage.
The iPad is a great device for a large number of people. Power users (aka the people who read this blog) probably won’t want it, because its not for them. Its for your mom, or your tech-light friend, etc.
Guaranteed the iPad will be a success. Lock it up.
haha…good one…
Looks like a scheduled post…Isn’t MG supposed to be attending the live event!
More likely kill off Jaiku…
maybe.. I dont think it’ll kill Facebook even Twitter. Google is not successful about social things, and Facebook does not seem beatable right now, or future.
Maybe it’s just me, but this sounds almost exactly like what Microsoft did with Windows Live. Is there something else that I’m missing?
Hmm, sounds great and all, but I don’t use Gmail. I don’t see this being a Twitter killer if you need a Gmail account to use Buzz.
I don’t mind (don’t like it, but will try) creating a new account on a social network, but will not create a new email account just to access Buzz.
When will it be seen in gmail?
“So far, the public has proven to be not ready for Wave yet.”
Which is a fanboy’s way of (trying to avoid saying) Wave is a big fail.
This, too, will fail. Why? Look at Twitter: a tiny percentage of tweeters produce the bulk of the tweets. It’s a broadcast medium: a few tweet, many listen. Social it is not.
Facebook too is a different beast from e-mail. It is inherently public, and itself a public space. E-mail is inherently private. People don’t want to mix the two.
Microsoft tried this with their Live Spaces and ‘your network’ crap that just turned Hotmail into an annoying mess. Yahoo tried it and failed with their status updates and ‘connections’. Why does Google think it will succeed where they failed?
Even more trenchant is that this will only be a network of Gmail users. What happens when most of your friends and family use Hotmail or Yahoo? Simply sending a group e-mail is a much more effective method of communicating with friends and family.
This was the Google everybody claims was so innovative. Aping Twitter and Facebook. If the iPad was when Apple jumped the shark, Wave was when Google did the same.
Fail.
I could not agree more. I have Gmail, FB and Twitter accounts for TOTALLY different reasons and “buzz” does not replace any of them in a way that would worth the energy to re-build networks, followers and social circles. I do not see the new product picking up, at least not in the way Google expects. It looks like first-mover advantages are really strong in the social communications space and the only way to set foot is via really disruptive solutions and this is more like a “me too” veture. I will not even consider the service but I will be curious to see who and why will adopt it.
> [Facebook] is inherently public
Hahahahhahahahahhahahahahahahahha
*ahem* Sorry… couldn’t help myself. That’s the most ludicrous statement I’ve ever heard.
Before using big word, read that:
http://bit.ly/c6XhnZ
Great post. Totally agree. How disappointing to see Google imitate all the time. They have zero innovation outside of search.
Wow, yet another little kid who is too stupid too grasp something as simple as Wave isn’t a social networking tool/site.
Congrats dimwit!
Wave is a set of open protocols and technologies for realtime communication and collaboration dummy.
Scary that there are people dumb enough to honestly be posting that Wave and Buzz are even remotely similar.
Just read through all the posts from beginning to end and you’ll know who’s the dimwit.
Agree!!! Just imagine how many people do not wish to login to Twitter, especially youth!! and most of them I believe they have Gmail. Add easy access to profile pages via web…
And then, add Mobile Google Buzz which was just demonstrated… and from what I saw it will not just “solve Google’s social problem” but make a big difference!! Especially when it will be introduced to other Mobile OSs too!
Wave did not even produce all that BUZZ in the first day!!
When does it come out?
now.
Its slowly being rolled out.
wow if google wave is the future it’s a bleak future … nuclear distraction is preferred
Buzz?! Really? What is this, the 90s?
Google is moving away from what made their search so successful: speed and simplicity.
Give me a speedy simple alternative to Twitter and Facebook, please. Start by feeding my status updates to my profile. That would already kill Twitter.
Make profiles work consistently across Youtube, Picasa and other services. That > Facebook.
This is exactly what I don’t like from google sites. They are not fully integrated into a single google account yet. You can access every single microsoft service with your windows live id. Why should I have to create a “youtube” username when loggin to the site with my google account?
Because Google bought YouTube – meaning there were 2 sets of usernames – YouTube and Gmail.
Some of these would have matched, but not been for the same user. Their Choices were to throw out one group of users, or associating Google accounts with YouTube.
The reason you still have to sign up is because your email account name may already be in use.
It’s really simple if you think about it.
As much as I love Google this will not be one of their great successes. If they had done it 3 years ago they might of had a chance but anyone wanting to network with their friends is on Facebook and anyone wanting to post/share things is on Twitter. I see nothing here that will turn this into a great success.
It looks fairly good but the fact is social networking relies on a network of friends and my Gmail contacts contain more employers than friends which is no great way to start a social network.
Long and short of it is everyone is on Facebook now.
What will be interesting to see and I believe will count for the “success – not” that you mention is how “public” it will be. With Facebook you cannot share stuff with everyone as in “public” you still need to have an account. So let’s see in the next few hours or days how Sharing works in Google profile pages.
With Twitter… I don’t think you can stream all that stuff… without registering and using additional services for video, photos and the rest! + Twitter as I mention above… I think it is not being used that much by youngsters and emailing is in the decline.
So BUZZ maybe the answer to all this! Let’s see!
I liked the auto follow feature.There’s also good privacy features like you can share a photo publicly or privately.The other features are just copied from other social networking sites.Lets see what happens!
Best writeup I’ve seen so far, thanks for the breakdown. Long-run they are heading towards facebook, but this will bring about better products on all of the platforms. All a matter of getting mainstream on board with a new perspective on communication.
How impressed are you with Google Buzz? –
Global sentiment poll being taken at http://qulse.com/q.jsp?id=62
Too bad they weren’t able to acquire Yelp. Integrating that into the mobile results would have been fantastic.
what’s with the name?
To be honest, I really don’t think this will work because of a point you actually made – the contacts problem. A lot of the people I email are not friends with me and I don’t email a lot of my friends, I text them or message them on Facebook. If they imported my friends from Facebook to Gmail, it might have more potential though – although, replacing Facebook is difficult. There is so much information shared on Facebook and you wouldn’t be able to see a lot of it with Google Buzz. Plus, people have created habits of uploading photos and other information on Facebook. In general, it is hard to change habits. I don’t know how they would get so many people to change unless everybody was doing it – which is a difficult task to achieve.
To me, I think this is going to be another flop.
While I like how Facebook and other social networks operate, I don’t see why we need such a one-stop backend system to handle social networking. I don’t even think Google can attack things how they need to be attacked.
First of all, I’d rather see a social network that is built organically using a system such as OpenID with some sort of XML-styled metadata that allows people to host their own social network information. Since they host their own (or use any number of third party hosts), they can decide what information to share with anyone (individuals, groups, networks, the public), as well as generate income from people who are visiting their profiles (over giving it up to Facebook or Twitter or whatever).
Since most of these items would work just fine using RSS-style feeds personalized to the person who is reading the feed (via privacy settings of the feed generating person), most modern Web 2.0 standards would do just fine with such a wide reaching social “network.” Custom CSS themes would even allow people to set their own viewing structure for the entire distributed social network (like a reverse MySpace system where you pick how you want other’s information to look), as well as structure weighted ratings of who you would rather see over whom else.
Forgot to mention that NoseRub.com is sort of what I’m talking about — I am not affiliated with them.
like ning.com?
or, google buzz, perhaps?
And what if wave is not the future??
Anyway, how come your favicon changed to the default WordPress icon??
“But one company noticeably absent from all this talk of importing and exporting data is the 800-pound social gorilla in the room: Facebook.”
I just enjoy how MG writes. Good Job MG
Still wondering what use of Buzz will mean for brands. Granted, I know this thing was introduced just a few moments ago, but I’m wondering who will figure out what the the hell we’re going to do with it first
PS – Don’t think this is a Twitter killer either. Different goals, different audiences, and different functions.
Hasn’t Yahoo! done the similar thing a year and half ago? I believe it is called Updates, or oneConnect or something else.
Yeah and no one uses it. good luck to google on getting any more adoption than yahoo.
It has a good chance of taking on Twitter…but one of Facebook’s killer feature is cohesive photo integration, Buzz does not match this.
No threat to FB at all.
and yes we copied Yahoo! Buzz and Yahoo! Mail social integration apps
Great article. Twitter = too simple, Facebook = Too closed, Buzz solves both issues. Excellent points on “getting social”, they should take notice and close the gap. The feature I would like is an ability to share my group list and collaborate with other like in Docs.
Utter crap.Google has only one interesting product- that’s google search.After that the so called engineers are just fooling around doing nothing.
i would rather say shame on google- for investing their adrevenues ino this sort of crap.
social networks are just a passtime.- nothing really constructive happens out of all this.
That’s what the Google Wave should’ve been.
I’d argue that Google Wave shouldn’t have been made at all.
yes it shouldn’t … what a waste … and this buzz stalker app …
LOL!
Are people really this stupid?
Wave is a set of open protocols and technologies for realtime communication and collaboration dimwit.
And you are actually trying to equate it with the big new social networking site?
Boggle.
you r the stupid one- i think.
Google has nothing great other than their search engine.
so you are able to see through -protocols huh !.
social networking is just a pass time.
Atleast microsoft has some solid platform products like: Os’s & development studios.
Gmail? Google Maps? Google Voice? And Google Wave is revolutionary.
Google Wave will be dead by the time the invites reach everyone..
already is. people don’t even want any invites after they see this nauseating puke of an ‘app’ …