Google Buzz

When Google launched Google Buzz last year in a bid to challenge Facebook and Twitter, it drew an angry backlash from consumers and privacy advocates who complained that the company had disclosed potentially sensitive personal information about users without their knowledge. That misstep, which Google quickly corrected, has now turned into a step forward for consumer privacy. The Federal Trade Commission announced Wednesday that it had reached an agreement with Google that establishes two important new principles about what companies must do before disclosing their customers' personal details.

Google is set to shut down Latitude, a location mobile app, next month, making it the latest in a long list of notable services killed by the search giant. Latitude, which allows people to let others know where they are through the use of their smartphone's GPS, will stop functioning Aug. 9. Google is urging people who want to share their locations to use the company's Google+ app on Android. The company says the location-sharing feature will be added at some point to the iPhone version of Google+.

Google Inc. on Friday announced that it was scrapping another handful of products as the tech giant continues to trim down its product line and focus more on successes such as Android and Google+. The most notable of the products getting nixed this time around might be Google Buzz, the company's failed attempt to release a social networking product in the vein of Twitter. Buzz is notorious for being a major privacy stumble for Google that, after a big backlash from users and privacy groups, resulted in a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission.

In levying a record $22.5-million fine against Google Inc., the Federal Trade Commission said it wanted to send a clear message to the Internet giant that it won't tolerate similar breaches in the future. Google on Thursday agreed to pay the fine to settle allegations that it violated a pledge to protect the privacy of its users who browse the Web with Apple Inc.'s Safari. The FTC said Google bypassed Apple software's privacy settings to track users across the Web and show them personalized ads. The behavior violated terms of the settlement Google reached with the commission last year over Google's now-defunct Buzz social networking service, the FTC alleged.

In the wake of evidence that Google Inc. circumvented privacy protections on the iPhone, federal lawmakers are asking if the company violated the terms of its broad privacy settlement with the Federal Trade Commission. The FTC settlement, finalized in October ,"bars the company from future privacy misrepresentations," and required Google to implement a comprehensive privacy program. But Reps. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), Joe Barton (R-Texas) and Cliff Sterns (R-Fla.)

Larry Page wants to run Google Inc. like it's 1999. The co-founder of the Internet search giant has begun an unusual afternoon ritual of sitting and working with his top executives on small couches in an open area of the company's Mountain View, Calif., headquarters. Employees, who used to have to stalk Page around campus, can drop by and grab a few minutes of his time. "Now there are no layers to go through," said Michael Cassidy, director of search product management at Google.

In levying a record $22.5-million fine against Google Inc., the Federal Trade Commission said it wanted to send a clear message to the Internet giant that it won't tolerate similar breaches in the future. Google on Thursday agreed to pay the fine to settle allegations that it violated a pledge to protect the privacy of its users who browse the Web with Apple Inc.'s Safari. The FTC said Google bypassed Apple software's privacy settings to track users across the Web and show them personalized ads. The behavior violated terms of the settlement Google reached with the commission last year over Google's now-defunct Buzz social networking service, the FTC alleged.

Google+ users were quietly given the ability to invite friends into the new social network Wednesday night, but that option lasted only a few hours because of overwhelming demand. Vic Gundotra, who is overseeing Google's social networking efforts, said in a Google+ post: "We've shut down invite mechanism for the night. Insane demand. We need to do this carefully, and in a controlled way. Thank you all for your interest!" Google didn't formally announce that it was providing the invite feature; instead, a small red envelope with Google's "G+" logo and the words "invite people to join Google+" popped up, and it seems it didn't take long before users found it and started bringing people in. Gundotra didn't say when invites might return, but it is Google's style to go with invites before fully opening new products to the public, as has been the practice with the hugely popular Gmail service and the search giant's recently launched Google Music Beta.

Google Inc. made another play for the social networking space Friday with its acquisition of Slide Inc., which makes games, applications and widgets for websites such as Facebook and MySpace. The San Francisco developer makes free apps that Facebook users can install on their profiles in order to play simple games with friends or to arrange photo slide shows. Slide's SuperPoke application and its animal-centric variations, for example, are a family of popular social games with which players can virtually hug friends or raise a pet pig. A feature similar to Slide's Top Friends was eventually implemented by Facebook into every profile, allowing users to rank online buddies.

The day after news leaked about Facebook's plans for a blockbuster initial stock offering, the Federal Trade Commission announced a proposed consent order that would rein in the social network's freewheeling approach to its users' personal information. The order reiterates an important principle that has been guiding the commission's approach to online privacy: Consumers, not Facebook, get to decide how their personal information will be shared online. Facebook's approach to privacy has improved over the years, but it's still capable of egregious missteps.

In the wake of evidence that Google Inc. circumvented privacy protections on the iPhone, federal lawmakers are asking if the company violated the terms of its broad privacy settlement with the Federal Trade Commission. The FTC settlement, finalized in October ,"bars the company from future privacy misrepresentations," and required Google to implement a comprehensive privacy program. But Reps. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), Joe Barton (R-Texas) and Cliff Sterns (R-Fla.)

The day after news leaked about Facebook's plans for a blockbuster initial stock offering, the Federal Trade Commission announced a proposed consent order that would rein in the social network's freewheeling approach to its users' personal information. The order reiterates an important principle that has been guiding the commission's approach to online privacy: Consumers, not Facebook, get to decide how their personal information will be shared online. Facebook's approach to privacy has improved over the years, but it's still capable of egregious missteps.

Google Inc. on Friday announced that it was scrapping another handful of products as the tech giant continues to trim down its product line and focus more on successes such as Android and Google+. The most notable of the products getting nixed this time around might be Google Buzz, the company's failed attempt to release a social networking product in the vein of Twitter. Buzz is notorious for being a major privacy stumble for Google that, after a big backlash from users and privacy groups, resulted in a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission.

Google+ users were quietly given the ability to invite friends into the new social network Wednesday night, but that option lasted only a few hours because of overwhelming demand. Vic Gundotra, who is overseeing Google's social networking efforts, said in a Google+ post: "We've shut down invite mechanism for the night. Insane demand. We need to do this carefully, and in a controlled way. Thank you all for your interest!" Google didn't formally announce that it was providing the invite feature; instead, a small red envelope with Google's "G+" logo and the words "invite people to join Google+" popped up, and it seems it didn't take long before users found it and started bringing people in. Gundotra didn't say when invites might return, but it is Google's style to go with invites before fully opening new products to the public, as has been the practice with the hugely popular Gmail service and the search giant's recently launched Google Music Beta.

When Google launched Google Buzz last year in a bid to challenge Facebook and Twitter, it drew an angry backlash from consumers and privacy advocates who complained that the company had disclosed potentially sensitive personal information about users without their knowledge. That misstep, which Google quickly corrected, has now turned into a step forward for consumer privacy. The Federal Trade Commission announced Wednesday that it had reached an agreement with Google that establishes two important new principles about what companies must do before disclosing their customers' personal details.

Larry Page wants to run Google Inc. like it's 1999. The co-founder of the Internet search giant has begun an unusual afternoon ritual of sitting and working with his top executives on small couches in an open area of the company's Mountain View, Calif., headquarters. Employees, who used to have to stalk Page around campus, can drop by and grab a few minutes of his time. "Now there are no layers to go through," said Michael Cassidy, director of search product management at Google.

Google is set to shut down Latitude, a location mobile app, next month, making it the latest in a long list of notable services killed by the search giant. Latitude, which allows people to let others know where they are through the use of their smartphone's GPS, will stop functioning Aug. 9. Google is urging people who want to share their locations to use the company's Google+ app on Android. The company says the location-sharing feature will be added at some point to the iPhone version of Google+.

Google Inc. made another play for the social networking space Friday with its acquisition of Slide Inc., which makes games, applications and widgets for websites such as Facebook and MySpace. The San Francisco developer makes free apps that Facebook users can install on their profiles in order to play simple games with friends or to arrange photo slide shows. Slide's SuperPoke application and its animal-centric variations, for example, are a family of popular social games with which players can virtually hug friends or raise a pet pig. A feature similar to Slide's Top Friends was eventually implemented by Facebook into every profile, allowing users to rank online buddies.