Google goes Buzz

There's competition brewing in the world of social networking. Google introduced a new social networking product on Tuesday. The new service, called Buzz, will let Gmail and mobile users post status updates to share information with their friends and the general public.

But it didn't take long before Buzz was criticized by Google rivals, Yahoo and Microsoft.

"Busy people don't want another social network, what they want is the convenience of aggregation," Microsoft said in a statement. "We've done that. Hotmail customers have benefited from Microsoft working with Flickr, Facebook, Twitter and 75 other partners since 2008."

Yahoo tweeted a similar gripe. "Two years after #Yahoo! launched #Buzz, Google follows suit. Check out the original: http://buzz.yahoo.com/"

The new Google social network that is fully integrated with Gmail, Google, Google Maps and other social networks has great potential in the blogosphere. Google Buzz integrates with Gmail without the need for users to sign up, a feature that adds 176 million users to the new social network.

We're not sure what it means for private companies tentatively sticking their toe into the social network world. Google wants enterprises to embrace Buzz as a business tool, too.

There is plenty of evidence that all of these social networking tools help you communicate with clients and deliver better services. So check it out and compare it to what is already out on the market.

For more on Google Buzz:
- see this PCWorld.com article
- see this DigitalNewsReport article

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