Yesterday Google released Buzz, an integration of new social features for Gmail that connect users with each other. If you read my article I had mentioned something about finding it a little strange the name “Buzz” was used, seeing as Yahoo! Buzz has existed for quite some time now. Evidently I’m not the only one who has taken notice of this- Microsoft and Yahoo have both taken it into their own hands to speak out on how they feel towards Google at this point in time.
Microsoft came out with a pretty hasty statement, saying “Busy people don’t want another social network, what they want is the convenience of aggregation. We’ve done that. Hotmail customers have benefited from Microsoft working with Flickr, Facebook, Twitter and 75 other partners since 2008.”
Microsoft has been pretty chummy with Facebook lately, so I can understand why they may not think Google has the right to release “another social network” when the other search giants have already hopped on board with it. Windows Live has “Spaces”, listing tons (and I mean TONS) of applications for various social networks to share with other Live users. You can broadcast your web activities right on your own page. I just wonder how many of the activities people use. I counted well over 50, and I would use maybe 4 of those.
I can only wonder if Microsoft is slightly threatened by the capabilities Buzz has and the implications for its competitors.
Yahoo, on the other hand, took more of a direct hit from Buzz due to the fact that they are now sharing the same name. Yahoo! Buzz hasn’t had a ton of publicity lately and for a moment, I almost forgot it existed.
It seems Google has followed suit of Yahoo! Updates, another feature Yahoo has to congregate your social networking and updates. They decided to send an email out just to “updates” their users on what Yahoo! Updates already has…in case they forgot or got blindsided by Google Buzz, along with a pretty simple tweet for Yahoo! followers.
So, what do Yahoo! Updates and Google Buzz have in common?
Similarities Between Yahoo! Updates and Google Buzz
- The ability to have streaming updates to broadcast to contacts
- Updates appear in mail, so comments are never lost or gone unnoticed
- Connect with sites already used, such as Flickr, to share content
- Capability to share updates both publicly and privately
…they DO sound pretty similar to me.
All in all, I think Microsoft and Yahoo! have a right to be miffed- after all, Google joined the game a little late with introducing a complete package for social sharing and networking… but do you think Microsoft had the right to put out that public statement openly slamming Google? Thoughts?
