In ‘Google +1 – Was It worth It?’ I wrote about Google’s latest foray into Social Media. I had forgotten, on February 9 2010, Google had announced on their blog that they were launching Google Buzz. Sound familiar? Perhaps not, seemingly, as it didn’t quite take off as Google had hoped.
Google Buzz intended to offer more of a community to Google users, citing its top five features as; Automatic Friends Lists (your ‘friends’ list is updated automatically to people who you have emailed through Gmail), Rich Fast Sharing (which combines social media feeds into a single feed), Public and Private Sharing (where you can switch between family and friends), Inbox Integration (which unlike Facebook where you’re emailed with updates, Buzz e-mails update dynamically with all Buzz thread content) and finally, Recommended Buzz, (which puts friend-of-friend content into your stream, even if you’re not acquainted. Recommendations learn over time with your feedback).
At first glance, these key five features seem like they could form the foundation of an excellent online social community. The Google blog informed us that Buzz was a ‘new way to start conversations about the things you find interesting and share updates, photos videos and more’. Buzz was inbuilt to Gmail, so again in order to benefit from this service you and your friends and family you wish to share with also had to have Gmail accounts. In Google’s own words ‘there’s nothing to set up – you’re automatically following the people you e-mail and chat with the most’.
There are three very evident flaws in Google’s first attempt at Buzz. Firstly, it seems people rarely choose Google as the ‘go-to’ place to set up an e-mail account (though I’ve no doubt this will change, and that more people are using Google since they took over YouTube). Secondly, there is far too much going on here – I want to go to Google, type in my query and get an instant result and thirdly, all the things that Google Buzz promises already exists, in better more streamlined formats.
I can’t help but wonder why Google, having established themselves as the leading search engine the web has to offer, is so desperate to add more and more. Indeed, it seems the ‘buzz’ around Google Buzz was fairly short-lived – following the announcement there was the standard speculation on the web as to what it would bring, whether it would be used and if it would outshine things like Facebook and Twitter as a social community / sharing platform.
Following the launch of Google +1, it seems most have forgotten Google’s first attempt at Social Media with ‘Google Buzz’, and indeed Google appear to have gone with something much more simple – the click of a button to show you ‘Like’ something (though, you still have to have a Google account). In my previous article, I asked whether or not Google +1 had been worth it, following further research into Google Buzz, I think the answer is perhaps not.
It’s a good case study for other brands to learn from too; when it comes to Social Media, Google +1 and Google Buzz don’t really have a USP – they’re placing themselves up against Social Media Market leaders like Facebook and Twitter, without bringing anything new to the table. And, why are Google so desperate to jump on this bandwagon, when they are possibly the world’s leading search engine? Perhaps Google is the prime example as to why Social Media isn’t right for every brand out there, and despite my uncertainty as to whether or not Google +1 will really take off, or will be long forgotten with Google Buzz, one thing’s for certain: only a heavyweight brand like Google can truly amass the following needed to wage in to the Social Media market. Should Google +1 not become the ‘next big Social Media thing’, it’s no skin off Google’s nose – after all, it’ll take something massive to have them fall from grace as the go-to search engine, and losing out to players like Facebook and Twitter in the battle for top Social Media channel isn’t going to see the end of them.