Ordinarily, I don’t go for the one thing killing another conversation, but in this case, it’s two products from the same company, and one with some possibly unneeded redundancies. Combine that with the fact that Google has a history of pulling services altogether and the company’s need for Google+ to work, I don’t think the “killing” of Buzz is entirely outside the realm of possibility.
I was looking through some Google Buzz updates last night (I know, right?), and happened across an update from Google Research:
Once Google+ supports “entity” accounts, and invitations are open to the public, Google Research Buzz will become Google Research+! For now, please keep following us here or on Twitter.
Interesting. Is Google going to abandon more of its Buzz accounts in favor of Google+ accounts? Perhaps the better question is: is Google going to abandon Google Buzz in favor of Google+?
Here’s what Google has said about it so far:
“Google+ won’t have any major impact on Buzz right now. Buzz users will still see a Buzz tab on their Google profile, and Buzz will continue working as it always has. Google+ users can also be Buzz users or can decide to just share their content using one of the products. Over time, we’ll determine what makes the most sense in terms of integrating the products.”
When the Google +1 button came out for websites, many sites immediately started ditching the Google Buzz buttons in favor of them. Not the greatest sign for the future of Buzz.
Probably one of the biggest things Buzz has going for it is that it is right in the Gmail inbox, which can keep Gmail users checking out their streams, but Google is also looking to get Google+ more integrated with Gmail, so as that happens, the need for Buzz might become smaller and smaller.
In fact, in a Google+ hangout with the Gmail team the other day, users suggested the merger of Buzz and Google+.
As it stands right now, Google’s social offerings could be a little confusing for users. I talked about this more here. They may need to do a bit of consolidating and integrating more tightly of Buzz, +1, and Google+.
What do you think? Is Buzz on the way out?