google buzz

While Google has long held top search engine and is huge in advertising and marketing, it has never been able to break into social networking in a meaningful way. That is all going to change with the advent of Google Buzz.

What is Google Buzz?

Google is adding social feature to their products to create common tools for building social applications. The company believes it can help users sort through the massive amounts of information they face each day to find meaningful conversations. Recent additions to the Google lineup include real-time searching and Social Search.

Google envisions Google Buzz as a completely open software platform. The company is sharing information with developers and asking them to join Google and creating code for the project. With the help of developers, there is a good chance Google can eke out a niche in the social networking landscape.

Innovations of Google Buzz

One of the differences in Google Buzz is that it is built into Gmail (Google’s email application). Similar to other social networking applications, Google Buzz allows users to follow their friends online, and it allows users to integrate photos, videos, and Internet links. Picasa, Flickr, Youtube, Blogger, and Twitter were already fully integrated into Google Buzz with more social networking integration likely in the future.

One of the innovations of Google Buzz on smart phones is that it takes GPS information from the cell phone and uses it to tag information with where you were when you shared the information. The information is carried through a “Buzz Layer” in Google Maps. Your followers will know who you are, what you know, and where you are.

A Potential Issue

This leads us to perhaps the one potential problem for Google in rolling out the new system. Some people worry about privacy. Google has a reputation for overlooking privacy concerns as when it enabled Google Reader to automatically send friends information that users wanted to keep private.

The factor that might determine whether Google Buzz is the next big idea or the next big flop is if users can sufficiently control their information. Although we are going through a social information revolution, there are still individuals and companies who choose privacy over connectivity.

If you are automatically provided Google Buzz like I have through gmail, I suggest you take a measured approach. Place your privacy setting on the most conservative possible until we fully understand the power and limitations of this new social marketing tool.