Google Buzz!

In a single word:  interesting.  My first take?  Well wait, first...my Google Buzz account is beairdj@gmail.com.  Please be kind.  

Now, about the buzz.  First, before I talk about the cool stuff and great take on what UC should mean.  (UC is unified communications and up until now had really meant unifying your telephone and your email...a dream that is very much reality today call me, let's talk  

What UC should mean in this day and age is unifying all of your communications.  Believe it or not we are seeing less and less communication via telephone and more and more via email, blog, tweets, and status updates.  It makes sense, more and more breaking news is discovered via twitter before anywhere else.  It's even surpassing Instant Message (IM).  Something honestly I have started to see the business value of IM.  So imaging being able to have one place to go and get your email (a place most of us live daily) and your social circle....plus your voice to the public.   Hmmm now that gets interesting.  So that's the concept and I will leave a review until I have played it with it more.  So stay tuned.

So, my conspiracy theory on the WHY?  Ok, conspiracy theory might be a bit much, really it's just very sound business.  Remember Google's true business is advertising.  It's also very apparent, they are darn good at it.  Now I have spent some time (minimal in comparison) in the Ad industry...the one thing advertisers want, is people interesting in buying their product.  Duh I know, but true.  People - you and I, want (yes I said want) to see ads we care about.  Period.  It's a total win-win.  The way Google can be successful there is to know what we are interested in.  As more and more information leaves the 'generic' web, Google can't figure out what we want, that makes their ads less effective.  Where is that traffic going?  The 'social' web.  Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, etc.  So Google needs to strike deals to get that data...but those companies make money with that data.  They compete with Google in selling ads (yeah, the capitalistic market does work).  So Google could build (or buy- which they did) a social website...a Facebook competitor.  A free place you can go and share all your interests with your friends, and more and more family.    Oh wait, Google did that, and I doubt you know many people who have heard of it.  Orkut. 

So, not to be beaten (and I love that about Google), they found another way.  If they got the data first, and handed it to the other services...they would see it all.  Wow, genius.  So, to you, you get the convenience of being able to have one place, close at hand to  your email box and your social network.  You can share your thoughts and comment with those same friends and family.  Google is a good citizen and it ensures your update makes it safely.  Win for you....Google gets visibility in handling those messages, so it can index it and place a relevant ad next to it.  It keeps it free, and we get to see things we want to buy .  

I am sure it's been said many times before, but clearly the G in Google stands for Genius.  

Join me over in Buzz, post a comment here, and share this with your friends.  We are watching our environment change, be part of it.