Google’s Lame Attempt to be More Social

After reading Amir Efrati’s article in The Wall Street Journal, I have learned that Google would like to be a more social presence on the Web. I also learned that Google attempted to launch a social media site last year called Google Buzz. Maybe I am in the dark ages, but the fact that I heard about Google Buzz a year after it was lunched explains its failure. Never have I seen any form of advertisement for Google Buzz. Yes, this may seem like old news, but I find it astonishing that a company like Google could fail so epically at marketing a social media site. Why not mass market on the main Google web page? Google advertises Google Chrome in such a way and it is a successful product. In short, I do not know what Google was thinking with their social media site. I guess the fact that I heard about it a year later, as have many others, explains the failure. Now, Google is attempting to integrate “social searches” that would supposedly allow user friends to rate the site that shows up in a search. Sounds like another terrible idea to me. Maybe I will be wrong. Overall, I think Google should stick to what it does best. Trying to make Google similar to Facebook is a mistake, especially when Google makes modest attempts at a new idea. Sources: Efrati, Amir. “The Wall Street Journal Online”. 31 March 2011 http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703806304576232771273306208.html?mod=WSJ_Tech_LEADTop