Google renews social media push with Buzz

It aims to extend from Twitter’s status update premise, with users able to drag images, links and videos into their updates.

These can also be shared on existing social platforms such as Twitter and Facebook, meaning Buzz isn’t a closed community.

It’s currently being trialled with approximately 1% of Gmail users, but is expected to be extended to a wider user base within the next few months.

The move is a further indication of Google’s determination to succeed with its own social media platform. It previously launched Orkut, but saw its popularity surpassed by MySpace, Facebook and, most recently, Twitter.

Todd Jackson, Gmail and Google Buzz product manager, said, “There has always been a big social network underlying Gmail. Buzz brings this to the surface by automatically setting you up to follow the people you email and chat with the most.

“We focused on building an easy-to-use sharing experience that richly integrates photos, videos and links, and makes it easy to share publicly or privately (so you don’t have to use different tools to share with different audiences),” he added. “Plus, Buzz integrates tightly with your Gmail inbox, so you’re sure to see the stuff that matters most as it happens in real time.”

Google is also allowing third-parties to develop plug-ins for Buzz by opening up its application programming interface (API). The major social platforms have all done the same, with Facebook’s prompting some ad key accounts to change hands.

This week’s new media age reveals Vodafone has appointed TBG London to handle its online direct response account, making use of it being one of the first agencies to build an ad platform based on the Facebook API.

This story first appeared on newmediaage.co.uk