There is a lot of buzz about Buzz – the Google version not Yahoo’s – this past week. A fair number of very smart people have called Google to task over what they consider a really stupid assumption about people’s privacy concerns.
Granted, Google has back-tracked in amazing short order to fix this supposed gaff that arose because they made everyone’s contact list in Gmail automatically their friend in Buzz.
Yup, an amazingly fast change around.
Here’s the thing though – what if this damage control was a part of the original release plans for Buzz. After all, if they could escape the Beacon Effect the upside is enormous. However if the uproar looked like it could gain momentum they already had the plan, and I would bet the code, in place to quickly rectify the situation.
In either case it would be a win-win for Google. If the possible backlash never gained momentum they stood to have the biggest social network within a very short period of time. If though the backlash went beyond the tiny bubble of the early adopters Google’s quick reaction would be a PR bonus.
Google has enough good-will still in the bank that it could survive, and possibly come out smelling like roses, any backlash. So in their eyes the potential windfall was worth the risk as long as they had all their pieces in place just in case.
There is a lot more to the reasons behind Buzz than just Google trying to recover from previous failed attempts in the social arena – we just aren’t seeing them yet. It is those reasons that made taking this risk worthwhile.
