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Week in review: Google steals the Buzz

As if seeking new worlds to conquer, Google announced forays into new territories this week.

In an attempt to convince the social media addicts of the world to spend more time on Google's sites than on competitors like Facebook or Twitter, the search giant unveiled Google Buzz--an ambitious attempt at organizing Web content by relevancy and applying it to social media. Google Buzz marries the Gmail Web interface with status updates and media-sharing technology, all while generating valuable data in the process.

An astounding amount of social-media content is produced every day, across Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, YouTube, and … Read more

Will people leave Facebook for Buzz? Fat chance

Let's say you'd constituted a drinking game for the aftermath of Tuesday's unveiling of Google Buzz, the odd new mishmash of status messages, geolocation, and social-media aggregation: Take a drink every time some pundit says Google is trying to "kill" Facebook, Twitter, or any number of the "geo" start-ups out there.

You'd have been totally blitzed.

The cries of "It's a Facebook killer!" and "It's going to kill Twitter!" are tedious, but completely understandable considering that this is one of the first big pushes from Google, … Read more

Skier Vonn uses Twitter, Facebook for leg update

In case you weren't on Twitter or Facebook in the last few minutes, Lindsey Vonn wants you to know that she's feeling a bit better about her injured shin and her prospects at the Winter Games.

"I was really happy to be back on snow today even if it was for only 1 freeski run," Vonn said in a Facebook post. "My shin was still very painful, but I feel like the injury is finally progressing a bit. The pain level has gone down from a sharp debilitating pain to something that I feel I … Read more

For ads, social media still a niche buy

Considering all you hear about social networks finally starting to convince the advertising industry that they're a worthwhile destination for dollars, it's a bit surprising to see new numbers from eMarketer that put social networks' share of the digital-ad marketplace at a paltry 5.5 percent last year.

That's up from 5 percent in 2008, the stats released Thursday say. The good news is that, unlike some other sectors of the ad world, it's not shrinking--but it's also not growing exponentially by any means. After plunging from a 61 percent rate of growth in 2008 … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 1164: Facebook login

We think, due to the magic of search-engine optimization, that this episode is about to become our highest-rated ever. P.S. Attention, visitors from Google: this is not the Facebook login page. Sorry about that. In other news today, we tear down Google Buzz's privacy options, Bill Gates can barely be bothered to diss the iPad, and some guy plans to be pooping in a box for 30 days. Sometimes we hate the Internet. --Molly

Subscribe with iTunes (audio) Subscribe with iTunes (video) Subscribe with RSS (audio) Subscribe with RSS (video) EPISODE 1164

The 404 Podcast 517: Where we're huge in Japan

Japanese pop star Leah Dizon joins the guys on today's episode of CNET's The 404 Podcast, and Mark Licea also joins the fun to talk about his personal history with the international sensation.

It's not every day we get a chance to interview a Japanese pop star, so when we found out that Mark Licea of CNET's The Green Show grew up with host/model/singer Leah Dizon, we booked her right away. Mark hangs out in the studio as well and we get the inside scoop on their childhood friendship, Leah's rise to fame in the States and abroad, and Japan's advanced technology that makes our iPhone look like the Jitterbug.

In the second half of the show, Wilson tells us a strange story about a man who claims that a booty call cell phone ruined his life. Apparently a Canadian woman found a series of lewd photo messages on her boyfriend's phone. After she confronted him about the pictures, the guy blamed Virgin Mobile for selling him a used phone with preloaded media. Nothing fishy here...

We also can't ignore the big news of the day: Google is testing out its new Internet service that promises speeds of 1Gbps. The fiber-optic network is set to humiliate Verizon FiOS, but at a more "competitive price," whatever that means. If you want Google to test out the service in your home town, you can sign up online anytime before March 26.

Thanks to Leah Dizon for chatting with us today! Check out her Web site and buy her music! Also, be sure to send your Valentine's Day questions to the404(at)cnet[dot]com, because the girls of Sugar Rock Catwalk will be in the studio tomorrow to offer tips on how to impress your boo bear this Sunday!

EPISODE 517 Subscribe in iTunes audio | Suscribe to iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

Google Buzz: Privacy nightmare

I know some of the technorati are losing their minds over the awesomeness that is Google Buzz, but I think that Google's making a lot of Facebook's privacy and opt-in mistakes right out of the gate, and it's going to bite it big-time, if it doesn't fix it pronto.

I, for one, have already opted out of the entire endeavor.

See, I love the idea of neat new tech innovations that lead to streamlined communication, real-time updating, in-line video and photo posting, and supersimple friend and contact integration. I do not, however, like a product that … Read more

'Bachelor' contestant picks Facebook job over love

They say love conquers all, but apparently it can't compete with the perks of working at one of Silicon Valley's hottest companies: Facebook.

On Monday's episode of "The Bachelor," the ABC reality show in which a guy gets to choose a mate from a bunch of willing and good-looking young women--I'm generalizing, as I've never been able to make it through a full episode of this fine piece of television--studmuffin protagonist Jake Pavelka was surprised by one of his final four picks, Ali Fedotowsky.

The 25-year-old San Franciscan ditched the show because she … Read more

Facebook opens chat, and AIM plugs in

Correction 1:05 p.m. PST: Boy, did I get it wrong.

Writing off available information this morning--the AIM beta download site and a few news reports--I assumed the Facebook-AOL interoperability was the result of a corporate partnership. Instead, it's because Facebook actually did open up its technology, embracing rather than neglecting the approach I called for. In this case at least, the bad instant messaging network habits from the past were not carried over.

I have to say I'm impressed with Facebook's move, and not because it makes the crow I'm eating any tastier. What … Read more

Google Gmail press conference (live blog)

Google is hosting a press conference at its Mountain View, Calif., headquarters Tuesday morning at which it is widely expected to make a Gmail-related announcement--more specifically, that it's getting social features along the lines of Twitter and Facebook's status updates. Considering Google's quiet killing of Jaiku, a Twitter-like service it bought in 2007, it should be interesting to see what the company envisions as the ideal social-sharing tool.

The event starts at 10:00 a.m. PST, and I'll be in the audience to post live updates of whatever the new product is and how it will work, along with trying to answer any questions readers have. The embedded CoverItLive module below will go live whenever the event starts; in the meantime you can sign up to get an e-mail alert for when it does.

Update at 12:47 p.m. PST on February 10: In case you don't have Adobe Flash installed, or if you just want to see a larger version of what's available in the CoverItLive widget, we've pasted the entirety of the live blog after the page break.

<a href="http://www.coveritlive.com/mobile.php/option=com_mobile/task=viewaltcast/altcast_code=462b088b32" >Google Press Conference</a>… Read more