Contemporary Business 14th Edition by Louis Boone, David Kurtz

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Google Buzz a Bust?
As originally conceived, Google's Buzz must have sounded like a great idea: "a new way to start conversations about things you find interesting" that was "built right into Gmail, so you don't have to peck out an entirely new set of friends from scratch-it just works." Unfortunately, the features designed to make adopting Buzz effortless created an instant uproar over users' privacy.Planned to compete with Facebook and Twitter, Buzz offered users a ready-made social network through an "auto-follow" function that automatically networked their most frequent Gmail contacts. It also automatically connected users with Picasa photo albums and links and videos shared on Google Reader. Tens of millions around the orld reportedly sampled the new service in its first two days, posting more than 9 million messages and comments. Most, however, were angry and dismayed to discover how much personal information the auto-follow and other features made public within the network.Within 48 hours Google announced steps to correct privacy concerns, including changing to an auto-suggest feature and making it easier for users to modify or disable the program. "We're very sorry for the concern we've caused and have been working hard ever since to improve things based on your feedback," Buzz's product manager told users. "We'll continue to do so."Though some observers still worried that "Gmail users are being driven into a social networking service . . . they didn't sign up for," others conceded the high level of interest in Buzz suggested "Google might have a minor hit on its hands already."
-Can a company carry its customer relationship-building efforts too far?