Googl
e has certainly generated more than its share of buzz regarding its plans to get deeper into social media. On Tuesday, the search giant revealed those plans: Google Buzz, which takes a big step into Facebook and Twitter territory while keeping one foot firmly planted on its Gmail foundation.
While the initial version of Buzz released during a press conference and demonstration at the company’s Mountain View, Calif., headquarters focused on consumer-friendly uses — status updates, comments, link and media-sharing, either at a desktop or via smartphone — Google made it clear that there will also be a future place for Buzz in its enterprise goals.
“I think a lot of past services have focused on just friends and entertainment,” Google cofounder Sergey Brin told the audience. “I found personally a huge amount of productivity in using Google Buzz internally, and therefore I think the bridging of those worlds is very powerful.”
Corporate-centric versions of Buzz would be coming soon, added Google Vice President for Product Management Bradley Horowitz. “We’ve been testing Buzz in the context of our enterprise products,” Horowitz said. “We found it invaluable, and it changed the way we communicate.”
Consumers who are on Gmail will get the first shot at the new features over the next few days.
