Google took a big step into the realms of social networking on Tuesday when it announced its new product Google Buzz leading many to talks about it being a potential Twitter killer and a threat to Facebook.
The product is an extension to Google’s Gmail service and people who are already using Gmail will be thrown into Google Buzz straight away. Users have today began to see a ‘Buzz’ link in their Gmail accounts and when clicked on you can see updates from people you follow including photos, videos and even updates from your followers Twitter accounts. To help expand on your social connections Google will also recommend people for you to follow.
The question on everyone’s mind is whether it will be a success and because it is Google it is almost impossible to predict.
From reading around many seem to think that the offering is too similar to what is already out there such as Facebook and FriendFeed and that people will not take kindly to their email being cluttered with social nonsense. However I think that is far too early to predict and it is all too easy to be cynical as soon as a Facebook threat enters the market.
Google Buzz was announced on the 9th of February 2010
There are reportedly 176 million people using Gmail (granted a chunk of these will be inactive users) which is a very large audience of people to test and adopt Google Buzz and it is these early stages where we may find out sooner rather than later if Buzz will be a success.
Where I think Google Buzz strengths lie however are through mobile. It is no secret that mobile is to become the new way in which we use the web with many people predicting that mobile devices will replace PCs in terms of web surfing. As mobile is still in its teething process Google Buzz could potentially position itself as a social networking powerhouse if high volumes of people adopt it. Granted Twitter and Facebook have taken already established themselves in the mobile market to large degrees of success however Twitter’s one dimensional nature and Facebook’s usability have left a lot to be desired so far IMO.
When it comes to mobile people want all their information in one place so they can see everything as quickly as possible and this is something Google Buzz can offer. I also think it may be here where Google can covert users over to Gmail.
Interestingly Google have hinted on future developments which could help grow Google Buzz further including the ability to use Buzz on third party software independent of Gmail. So Google Buzz will not be short on growth however I think all eyes will be on the next few months. If people are not keen on it in the early stages than word of mouth could potentially hold back the product before it really took off but we shall see…