What Google needs to learn from Buzz backlash

Ask almost any technology company what products and services they use within their own organizations, and most will enthusiastically admit to "dog-fooding" their own products. It's both a show of support for their own technology and an opportunity to test those products for flaws that won't make the light of day before they are fixed.

Google is no different. But something went wrong with the dog-fooding process for Google Buzz, forcing company engineers to scramble over a holiday weekend to calm the outcry over privacy violations with tweaks to the settings and set-up process. Google now asks Buzz users to manually approve their followers instead of automatically including them on their Buzz lists, and improved the visibility of the privacy controls.

Buzz was just tested inside Google before it launched to the general public, said Todd Jackson, Google Buzz product manager. Several layers of Google employees participated in the process, from the initial design team to wider and wider circles of employees. And a source familiar with the product development process said Google put Buzz through its usability lab, where it brings in outsiders to evaluate products in secret before they are launched.

However, either no one brought up the privacy concerns that Buzz users raised within a day of its launch, Google didn't ask the outsiders for the thoughts on Buzz privacy, or Google engineers dismissed those concerns as unfounded. For whatever reason, Google has taken a hit over the Buzz launch from a public that is already skeptical about the search giant's motivations with the enormous amount of personal data it already has accumulated.

It is moving quickly to assuage those fears. Buzz and the issues surrounding its launch quickly became the center of attention at Google's weekly meeting for employees on Friday, where tradition holds that employees can speak freely on anything and everything involving the company. People familiar with the meeting characterized it as full of "strong feelings" that led to Google's weekend push to improve the set-up options for Buzz.

The furor over the Buzz launch will subside, and Web users will turn their attentions to debating the usefulness of the service. However, the incident exposes a real problem for Google: does its unique culture really understand the markets in which it wants to participate?


source:http://news.cnet.com/8301-30684_3-10454683-265.html