Google Buzz: Reminds Me More Of Yahoo! Than Facebook

February 11th, 2010

My initial buzz from Google Buzz is already fading. While still on board with the concept, its execution leaves a lot to be desired.

Using Buzz forced me to take a look at other Google properties I hardly use, and the task proved confusing. First is Google Profiles, which are pretty integral to Buzz. Any Buzz activity pops up warnings that your Google Profile will be made public, raising privacy issues if you had your profile private before. The main reason why I never had my profile public is my Google Profile URL — I don’t want it to display my Gmail address. I’d like to make the Google Profile URL “custom” using the Webomatica name, but can’t figure this out: the only options are my Gmail address and a string of numbers. Right now I’m going with the latter, which isn’t what I want. It seems I’ll either have to create a new Google account using “webomatica” as my name, link it to my existing Google account somehow, or just make a new Google account specifically for all this social crap and transfer everything over there. Note: MSNBC summarizes this exact situation.

Then there’s the snafu of Google’s assumption that all one’s Gmail contacts should be included as people you follow in Buzz. I use Gmail for private communication, while using Google Reader and Twitter for public communication. I’d like the Google Buzz link (currently below my Gmail inbox) in Google Reader. But Google wanted Google Buzz in Gmail, probably because so many more people use Gmail than Google Reader. This doesn’t jibe with how I currently use Gmail or Reader.

Also, when you start following someone in Buzz, you automatically start following them in Google Reader. Not good, since I spent a lot of time culling particularly noisy feeds and individuals in Reader. Second, if you like something in Reader, the likes don’t carry over to those items in Buzz. Why not?

So right out of the gate, Buzz’s integration with the Google properties I use, proved confusing. Then there’s potential Google Buzz integration with other properties I use, like Google Docs, Picasa, YouTube, Wave, AdSense, iGoogle, Google News, Google Finance, Google Books, Feedburner, etc. I’m not looking forward to the task of figuring out how all these products work with Buzz and the privacy implications of each.

It’s all like memorizing crazy rules to a complicated board game before you get to have any fun.

Because Google has so much stuff in separate silos, Buzz integration will inevitably be more confusing than Facebook, where you visit one page and all your crap is right there, in one place. Facebook lacks a long list of products in perpetual beta. I’m no fan of Facebook, but one thing they get right is simplicity. And to think I once thought Google had “simple” down.

Google Buzz was surely intended to bring Google on par with Facebook and Twitter, but their execution and thankless task of stringing together a laundry list of little-used properties reminds me of a web company I don’t believe they intend to emulate.