Should Google just Buzz off?

Google, the search engine, Internet browser and owner of YouTube, Gmail and Picassa, is now launching a social networking site called Buzz. Rosie Khdir looks at Google’s ever-growing Internet empire.

The Buzz word

News of Google Buzz is hard to miss on the Internet this week; it’s the latest venture from the corporation and has everyone in the tech world talking. Alongside this new social network launch, Google has announced plans to build a high-speed, fibre-optic network to give thousands of US homes super fast broadband. What next, global domination?

Ok so here is the skinny on Google’s latest product. It is integrated with Gmail and other Google products and is being compared to Facebook and Twitter but with a slight difference. Buzz turns your email address book into a social network, rather than being a stand alone product.

It takes on attributes of Twitter in that it gives you real time updates of people’s posts but differs in that it only shows you posts it thinks are interesting. How thoughtful! You can post photos and videos and use instant chat; Buzz seems to have it all.

NOTE: If you decide to use Buzz, make sure you adjust your settings so that only your close friends can see yours updates – remember, your email address book includes past and present work colleagues or boss and god knows who else!

Online empire

Google’s attempts at entering the social media world have been admirable. It acquired Picassa photo management in 2004, YouTube in 2006, launched Google Wave in 2009 and now we have Buzz. Google Inc. also released a social networking site called Orkut overseas in 2004 but it failed to rack up the same following figures as Facebook and MySpace.

Google has its fingers in a lot of pies and its name has even become a verb for goodness sake! So why is it now treading on the toes of the likes of Zuckerburg? Is the company looking for complete online domination?

Bloggers across the net have been raging over how much power Google has and how it is being use to repress other businesses. A blogger called Michael Gray pointed out that when you search certain restaurants in Google it will come up with their link and a selection of information such as a star ratings, opening times and even reviews.

If all this information is displayed on Google, the searcher in question would have no need to even click on the sites actual link, therefore decreasing their traffic and advertising opportunities.

Total domination?

Now there is news of Google creating super-fast broadband connections for over 500,000 homes in the USA. Is this an admirable attempt to help people stay connected or another way of controlling the Net?

It seems very suspicious to me. Google has been in the news a lot recently, over its dispute with China, but also because of its Super Bowl advert, its fibre-optic plans and now Buzz. It has become a household name and shows no signs of slowing.

If our future is rooted in the Internet and Google is the main controller of the Web, then is our future in Google’s hands? It seems that the company wants a huge influence, and for now they have it. But we must be wary, total power corrupts and we don’t want the Internet, our global communication system, to be corrupted.

What do you think of the Google’s plans for the Internet; are Buzzing with excitement or do you think it should Buzz off?

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Image credit: Oversocialized

Illustration by Erica