Buzz has been alive and kicking for a full 2 weeks!  In my last blog I covered what buzz isn’t. Before I could explain what it was I needed to wait for some statistics to come out. Today the statistics came out and I am very proud to say I was right!

Buzz is a very important response to SEO bate and switches that have been haunting Google for years now. SEO companies have been creating page systems that look like content but are really just meaningless data. The goal of these systems is to create a complex system that pumps a client’s page to the top of Google’s organic search rankings.

Now that you understand the problem that Google is attempting to tackle with buzz lets talk about how it works.

1. The way many of these SEO systems work are through blogs that contain useless information and links.

2. Google reader has had a useless disconnected share feature for years. With buzz Google finally did something with it.
(Look at how much sharing Google has actually encouraged through)…

3. Using the shared reader data Google is able to add one more key matrix to SEO. Buzz allows Google to rank blogs on content.

4. Google is able to pull conversations around posts into its own ecosystem which will further benefit its SEO.

Finally Google is very aware of a huge change that hitwise highlighted a while back. In December for the first time ever Social Media sent more traffic to websites than searches… check it out

Google should be  worried because this is how they make their money. People click on the paid links by the millions and Google gets paid.

Next post: Dont Get Buzz 3… What Buzz means for Business

Following up on Mike’s previous post about Google Buzz, I totally get the furor about it. The service definitely needs work, and Google has definitely made a whole lot of big mistakes.

But hey, it’s new. That’s the downside of a service being released by such a huge, publicly visible company. Twitter and Facebook were NOT famous when they were released. They weren’t globally famous for years after they were founded. They had plenty of time to make changes, fixes, and tweaks based on quiet user feedback. Google Buzz had the disadvantage of going very public, very quickly. It wasn’t finished. And it got slammed. Now I wonder whether Google will have enough time to fix it and realize its potential before it gets laughed out of existence.

I think it would be nice if Buzz went back to beta. Google definitely needs more time to tweak it, and they need a setting to get real constructive criticism instead of media snarking. I still think the service has a lot of potential. I like Pete Cashmore’s take on it. If you insist on using an analogy to define Buzz, try this one. Think of Facebook as the local bar, where you go to hang out with your friends, play some games, and just shoot the breeze. Think of Twitter as the village square where you get all the news and have public conversations. It’s a public forum. Then you have Buzz, which SHOULD eventually become a place to focus detailed conversations on IDEAS. Not news, not people, not “what are you doing” or those awesome photos you took on your trip to Cabo this spring, man. It’s a platform to talk about content and have major brainstorming sessions about concepts and projects.

If Facebook is the local bar and Twitter is the town square, Google Buzz (I hope) will be the local college campus.

I’ve said before that I like Google Wave as a productivity tool–an easy way to keep work projects neat, tidy, and collaborative at the office. I don’t find much utility for connecting with friends about random things. It’s a business thing, and I like it that way. I think Buzz will end up being sort of similar in market, although I hope more concept-oriented and less business-y.

If it lasts that long.

If you don’t get Google Buzz that’s ok because most people don’t. The network has merit and is important but you have to know what to expect.

Below is a list of things Google Buzz is not.. (Even though everyone is trying to say it is)

Buzz is not…

If you think you are joining another twitter you might be disappointed.  Twitter is great for engaging on conversations. On buzz conversations happen but in a different way. I have read the hundreds of blogs that say Buzz is Twitter+FriendFeed but they are wrong. I understand how the mistake can be made. To be honest I made the mistake and I was wrong.  Twitter is about short quick conversations happening at a rapid pace, it is a much different experience than having long engaged posts about content.

Buzz is not…

Facebook is a network that is locked down tighter than your grandmas lawn chair. Facebook is all about Privacy privacy privacy and more privacy! If you want to be found by only people that know you than this is the network for you. There are almost never any surprises on this network. You have your people that play games, the people that use it to post links only, the people who engage in conversations about how much they like sunglasses. Its a network of people who share stuff going on in their lives… that you know!

Buzz is not…

Sorry everyone that would declare buzz and friendfeed the same thing… they are not. Buzz may share some elements but it is something different. If you don’t use Google reader often/ don’t share stuff on it than this knock might not make sense. Google reader is what sets Google buzz apart. Google buzz has the best RSS integration ever. I can literally see the best of what people are reading in their RSS readers because they share it. I don’t have to find the links or blogs they are come to me.

Dont get me wrong buzz shares elements with these networks…

Open searches like Twitter

Full comment threads like Facebook

Buzz can even be a hub of Social media like Friendfeed

But to say one is like the other isnt really fair… In time people will figure out that Buzz is different… sadly that will take some time. If I were to point to any social network that buzz would be closest too I’d have to pick…

Or

More on that next time!