Tag archive: Google Buzz

In the most literal example of a “buzz kill” we've ever heard of, Google announced today that it will shut down its failed social networking property Google Buzz. The company will now focus all its social networking resources on the far more promising Google+. “We learned a lot from products like Buzz, and are putting that learning to work every day in our vision for products like Google+,” wrote Google Vice President Bradley Horowitz on… Read More

Google+ is the search leader's answer to Facebook and Twitter. When Google first announced it, Andrew Couts and I laid out some of the reasons why it might fail or succeed. After squirming our way into the “limited field trial” the other night, we've been furiously testing out the social network's many features. Overall, we both like Google+, but it is a good thing Google is rolling this out slowly. There are still… Read More

We were first introduced to Altly about a month ago, when ex-MySpace exec and former CEO, Dmitry Shapiro, tweeted that he was creating an alternative to Facebook. Other than that vague premonition, the site’s been coated in a thick layer of ambiguity. But now it appears it’s got some legs in the form of $1 million Shapiro has raised – with one of the investors being none other than Tom Anderson of MySpace fame himself. The site has two major… Read More

As Larry Page regained the reins of power at Google in recent days, the once-again CEO unleashed a swarm of changes and demands of the company in an attempt to reinvigorate innovation at the Internet giant. First order of business: Get social media right. In a confidential memo sent out to all Google employees on Friday, Page explains that success in the “social” sphere is necessary for Google to compete, Business Insider reports. To… Read More

Internet giant Google has reached a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission over the launch of its Google Buzz social networking service. Although the settlement does not have Google paying any money to the feds, the agreement does contain a clause that opens a whole new arena for federal regulation of Internet businesses: Google will be required to implement a comprehensive privacy program, and will be subject to regular, independent… Read More

Yesterday, Google announced upgraded profiles that are its biggest step in social yet. Sure, profiles have been enabled for awhile, allowing people to more easily “Google” one another, but now users are have better access to controlling the information and look of their accounts. You can visit profiles.google.com to create or view your profile. If you already have a Google account, you can also access this via the new toggle on the right hand… Read More

Google has launched a new service tied in with its Places feature that helps you and your friends rank and recommend local businesses. The tool, called Hotpot, is its new business-integrated search engine that helps you find what you’re looking for based on what you and your friends like. Location is taking over the digital scene, with companies like Foursquare, Gowalla, Yelp and Facebook Places (meets Deals, of course) ruling the territory.… Read More

One of the many legal proceedings Google is involved in is drawing to an end. The company announced on Tuesday that it has been granted preliminary approval for a settlement in its Buzz lawsuit, potentially awarding $8.5 million to funds dedicated to promoting Internet privacy. But don’t go thinking Google is admitting any fault in this. Instead, the industry leader reaffirms its commitment to better educating its users about Buzz’s privacy… Read More

As if a wave of Internet uproar and a privacy complaint to the FTC weren’t enough, Google’s Buzz has finally sparked that all-important benchmark of consumer discontent: a class-action lawsuit. According to lawyers for Eva Hibnick, Buzz wasn’t just a shoddy addition to their favorite e-mail service, it was actually illegal. Lawyers for the 24-year-old Harvard law student allege that Buzz broke numerous electronic communication laws, including… Read More

As it introduced a new social hub, Google quickly learned that people's most frequent e-mail contacts are not necessarily their best friends. Rather, they could be business associates, or even lovers, and the groups don't necessarily mix well. It's one reason many people keep those worlds separate by using Facebook for friends and LinkedIn for professional contacts, or by keeping some people completely off either social circle… Read More

Among esteemed social networkers who count their “friends” by the thousands, fire off a hundred Tweets a week and have every week of their lives documented in photo galleries, the reaction to Google’s new social networking platform, Buzz, has been nearly unanimous: Why now? Despite the slick production value, the Buzz feature set appears, on the surface at least, to overlap with the likes of Facebook and Twitter nearly completely.

Having a little trouble wrapping your mind around Google Buzz? We don’t blame you. As familiar as services like Flickr, Facebook and Twitter already are to us, Google’s amorphous mashup of all of the above still feels a bit redundant and confusing. But looking back at the Google Buzz announcement, there are plenty of features that have the potential to turn social networking on its head. Here are four of the most promising and unique features… Read More

Dear Google, We have a quick question for you: Are you feeling okay? What’s been going on lately, Google? We’re starting to get concerned. Google just unveiled its attempt to build a social networking site called Google Buzz. That’s right, Google unveiled a social networking feature for email—and next week, Google will continue its retrograde back in time by unveiling a DVD player and then later, a Walk-man.