Google is supposed to contribute $8.5 million to the fund, and according to an official release, most of the money "will go to organizations focused on Internet privacy education and policy, and will make additional efforts to educate users about the privacy aspects of Buzz."

That should be the end of the dispute.  After all, Google has changed quite a lot about Buzz since its initial launch, and the company seems to have won over its critics.

Gary E. Mason, a counsel for the plaintiffs, stated, "We feel this settlement has many benefits to class members, including providing a significant amount of money to non-profit groups committed to educating users about Internet privacy and ensuring that Buzz users can join this on-line community without compromising their privacy."

Plus, although this isn’t a point Google’s liable to celebrate, it doesn’t seem like anyone even uses Buzz anymore.

Google should at least be glad to put the PR fiasco behind it, and you can bet the company will be more careful in the future.

Recent feature additions include a reshare button (basically the Buzz version of the retweet), the release of an XHTML version of Buzz (which can be accessed from many mobile devices like those running Android pre-2.0, BlackBerry, Nokia S60, and Windows Mobile), greater email integration, and the official Buzz Buttons (which can go a long way for the strategic branding of Buzz across content sites all over the web).

Do you think Google is improving Buzz? Tell us what you think.

The API should lead to a much richer ecosystem around Buzz, with third-party apps finding new ways for users to get involved with the service – much like third-party apps have done for Twitter.

Famous tech blogger Robert Scoble appears to think Buzz may be ready for a comeback (it did release to much hype, but that has since fizzled out for the most part). He wrote an interesting post highlighting 9 reasons why such a comeback could be possible. Among these are superior mobile features (compared to other social networks), the addition of features in general (he says its getting "close to matching FriendFeed", a service Facebook found significant enough to acquire itself), a good search tool, and possible SEO opportunities to name a few.

He also lists some "significant negatives", which include a lack of noise control, lists, clients, and brands. Read his entire analysis here.

Google’s own Matt Cutts weighed in as well, saying, "Do you remember when you first started on Twitter, and you didn’t know quite what to do with it? Who do I follow? What do I say? I didn’t really "get" Twitter for months. But as I found interesting people to follow and got the hang of it, I began to see the appeal of Twitter and started using it more often. I’ve noticed Buzz is tracing that same trajectory for me: an initial burst, followed by a bit of a slump, and then a steady climb as I found people that make Buzz interesting."

Again the API could go a long way in this regard for a lot of people. Scoble’s point about brands is a very strong one though. I would include celebrities in that category. Remember stars like Oprah and Ashton Kutcher did for Twitter? You just don’t hear that with Buzz.

Gmail might be considered both an advantage and a disadvantage for Buzz. Being a feature of Gmail, it automatically gets in front of Gmail users (though certainly not all actually use it). At the same time, Buzz being a feature of Gmail may be keeping others away from it. Scoble notes that it’s not available as a service that’s separate from Gmail and that it’s "a real bummer."

Buzz just may find its niche in the social web though, if it hasn’t already. It was never presented as a replacement for Twitter or Facebook (at least by Google). In fact, the company has tried hard to distance Buzz from such services, and has repeatedly referred to Buzz as simply a node, and a node that promotes an open web at that.

Some are probably still turned off by the initial privacy fiasco that Buzz launched with, but as Facebook continues to show, privacy concerns don’t necessarily impede growth.

Do you think Buzz has a bright future? Share your thoughts.

Will new features fuel Buzz growth? Comment here.

Reshare only works for public posts. Private posts will not have the reshare link. However, you can reshare posts yourself publicly or privately. If a lot of people you follow reshare the same post, the similar posts will be collapsed.

"You’ll notice that resharing creates a new post, effectively forking the conversation. To fork or not fork was a decision we debated for a while," says Buzz software engineer Sam Goto. "Ultimately, we think forked conversations help create more varied, intimate discussions around a single item. We realize people may want a non-forking version too, so we’re thinking about how to do that as well."

"When there is a chain of reshares, the names of all of the people who publicly reshare the post appear on the original item, even if they’re not directly connected to the original author," Goto explains. "If you share something that ends up getting passed around by lots of other people, it’s pretty cool to see that."

It’s also worth noting that you can "like" a reshare, and that will not translate to a "like" for the original post. This means you can like a comment without liking what the comment is about.

Google also  announced that it’s releasing an XHTML version of the Buzz website which can be accessed from many mobile devices like those running Android pre-2.0, Blackberry, Nokia S60, and Windows Mobile. This could go a long way for getting Buzz used by mobile users across a broader range of devices.

Google Buzz launched earlier this year to a great deal of hype – and why not – a potential Facebook/Twitter competitor from the giant that is Google – but much of the "buzz" about Buzz has faded in the months since. In fact, most of the discussion in the media about Buzz has been centered around privacy issues (though that has become considerably less rampant…Facebook has filled that role nicely).

As we’ve been saying since long before Buzz was announced, the key to a Google social network offering is in the integration with its other products. This made launching Buzz within Gmail seem like a smart move, but there is still much work to be done if Buzz is to become a real player in the space.

Adding features, such as the reshare feature is a start, but what may have a more significant impact was an announcement that came last week.

During Google I/O, I attended a session in which Google quietly announced the launch of the Buzz API. The news was generally overshadowed by other Google announcements, such as the unveilings of Google TV and FroYo, but with developers getting access to the Buzz API, there is room for much to be done around the service in terms of third-party apps, which should ultimately make Buzz much more useful. That’s what happened with Twitter. Developers like TweetDeck, Boxee, Buzzzy, Klout, Meebo, Seesmic, Vinehub, Shareaholic, and other have already taken advantage of the Buzz API.

It’s hard to say if the general public will find a real need for Buzz alongside Facebook, Twitter and other services, but as Google grows its presence in mobile via Android, and soon into television via Google TV, there will be more potential gateways for Buzz adoption, as well as integration.

Is Buzz headed in the right direction? Do you think Buzz use will explode? Share your thoughts.

The session was aimed at "taking a deep dive into building with the Buzz APIs and the open standards it uses, which include ActivityStrea.ms, PubSubHubbub, OAuth, Salmon, and Webfinger."

Chris Chabot, developer advocate at Google announced the launch and a number of partners that have helped the company get it started. Among these: Seesmic, Tweetdeck, and Ping.fm.

The Buzz APIs were introduced under the labs label, as Chabot says, "a few things still need to be developed. We’re still talking to the community."

The APIs utilize Acivitystrea.ms, which defines who performed the action, what they did, and when. There can be other bits of info like mood, context, or location. Everything is geo-enabled.

With Buzz, you can choose whether you want your posts to be completely public or if you want particular people to be able to read them. There are precautions taken within the code that prevent private posts from being used in the APIs. "We don’t want to accidentlly expose private data," says Chabot.

Documentation for the Buzz APIs can be found here.

It is somewhat surprising that Google, being the search giant that it is, does not have a search feature here, where new users could look for other people they know. If you were looking at joining a new social network, you’d probably want to see if you have friends that are already using it. How much could this be impeding the growth of Google Buzz?

Granted, Facebook, the king of social networks doesn’t have a search feature, but look at Twitter’s home page. Search is very prominent. In fact, they made it this way in the era of everybody trying to figure out why they should be using Twitter. Google Buzz still has some convincing to do of its own.

Buzz has often been presented as a Gmail feature, but the profile is really the center of any user’s Buzz presence.

Even if a user does not wish to use Buzz, they may still find value in having a Google profile, given that they appear in search results.

Klau notes that if you use Chrome, you sill have a way to search through profiles, and if you visit your own or somebody else’s existing profile, you will find a search box at the bottom.

"Yes, adding a search box to the Profiles page is going to happen Real Soon Now," says Klau.

That will be one improvement. I’m thinking they should consider adding a Search Buzz field to individual profile pages as well – not to search for users, but to search for content. Remember how much more useful Twitter became with a search feature (granted, there is a Search Buzz button within Gmail)?

Fast-forward a few months

After the initial hype-fest died down, and the dust settled, most of the positive buzz has dissipated. What we’re left with are privacy concerns, a rampant spam problem and copyright issues from users. In an effort not to be totally negative in regards to Buzz, it should be noted that Google has been very quick addressing / fixing certain aspects of the service.

Do you think Google Buzz is a flop? Tell us what you think. 

This past week we asked the question, “Would you consider Google Buzz to be a flop?” on our WebProNews Facebook page. We were surprised by some of the answers left by our fans. My personal favorite comes from Steve Blaze; he states that Google Buzz is the biggest flop since the Edsel. (For those of unfamiliar with the Edsel, it was a brand of car from the Ford Motor Company with a disastrous history so therefore “Edsel” has become synonymous with failure).

One has to ask, why is Google having such a hard with social media? In many ways Google was a pioneer of social media, with their Orkut service (which is still immensely popular in both India and Brasil – but now the US where it counts).

Recently Chitika, an online advertising network, did some research within their network and found some interesting data pertaining to Buzz.

The report goes on to say… ”February 9th, 2010 – the day Buzz was launched – the search engines lit up with queries.  The Chitika network saw about 1,500 searches that day for the term “Google Buzz,” approximately 15 times the number of searches for “Twitter.”

However, those searches dropped off quickly – on February 10th, there were 580 searches; on the 11th, 147.  From the 12th on – only three days removed from Buzz’s much-hyped launch – searches for Google Buzz failed to break three digits, and in most cases elicited less than 10 searches per day.  During the same time, searches for Twitter remained fairly stable, averaging about 87 searches per day.”

What are some possible fixes for Google Buzz?

Social media users want services that make there experience easier… not just another service that brings nothing new to the table. There are numerous things that Google could add / tweak to make Buzz more user friendly, specifically here are 5 things that I would like to see…

1.) Lists – Twitter has them and so should Buzz.
2.) Groups – Again, Twitter has them so should Buzz.
3.) Hide all comments – until I want to see comments" option.
4.) Comment moderation – block directly from the comments (like on FriendFeed).
5.) Content filter – Don’t show me any photos from Picasa or posts from a specific user.

Do you have any ideas to improve Google Buzz? Let us know what you got.

Something else that would’ve made this list is Buzz not pulling tweets in real-time. It appears as though this issue maybe getting fixed, a recent message from Josh Wills, an engineer on the Buzz team, explained…

"Okay, change is out everywhere. Here’s the scoop: we’re doing an experiment where we’re going to trust the timestamps on tweets (and by "experiment," I mean rolling it out to everyone, everywhere, all at once.) The net effect of this should be to do away with "tweet dumping", where you’re buzzing along and a whole bunch of tweets show up all at once because we just crawled them and push your page all around. Now, if a tweet shows up at the top of the stream, it will be because it just happened, or because a buzzer commented on it.

Personally, I really like Twitter, and I want better integration between Twitter and Buzz. My hope is that this is a temporary change until we work out a way to play nicely together that is beneficial to everyone."

So Google Buzz might not be exactly what we expected when it first launched earlier this year… but only time will tell if it becomes a major player in the social-space.

Do you see Google Buzz becoming a major player? Or will it just fizzle out? Tell us what you think.

This really does make for a significant trend.  In just the past month or so, we’ve discussed a Buzz widget for Android, the integration of Buzz with Google Apps, the blending of Buzz and Gmail for mobile, and a tie-in with Blogger.

Of course, whether these steps are entirely welcome may be a different story, considering that the majority of Buzz users appear to be bots and an international group of data protection authorities is still protesting Google’s rollout of the service.

We’ll leave all that alone for the time being, though, and move on to the most recent development.  A post on the LatLong Blog explained it by stating, "We’ve received a lot of requests to make the Google Buzz layer available on desktop Google Maps, and today we’re doing just that."

The post then continued, "To view the Google Buzz layer from your computer, go to Google Maps in your web browser and select Buzz from the More… menu in the top right corner of the map.  Find an interesting area like your neighborhood and select any available icon to see what’s going on there.  In the post’s window, click on the name to see the author’s public profile, the timestamp to comment on the post, or the place to see it in Maps."

The data protection authorities weren’t too hard on Eric Schmidt (to whom the open letter was addressed); they recognized that Google’s participated in many discussions regarding privacy, and that the company’s just one of many operating in a similar fashion.  Also, they applauded the manner in which Google responded to complaints about Buzz.

Still, what follows is definitely the takeaway point: "It is unacceptable to roll out a product that unilaterally renders personal information public, with the intention of repairing problems later as they arise.  Privacy cannot be sidelined in the rush to introduce new technologies to online audiences around the world."

Then the data protection authorities later stated that they’d "like to receive a response indicating how Google will ensure that privacy and data protection requirements are met before the launch of future products."

So it looks like Google will face a lot more international scrutiny due to its mishandling of Buzz’s launch, even if the company isn’t hit with any immediate sanctions or fines.

Chang Kim, a Blogger product manager, explained on Blogger Buzz late yesterday, "[W]e’re excited to announce that Blogger has made it easy to share to Google Buzz via the Share button in the Blogger navigation bar.  Just click ‘Share’, choose Google Buzz, and you’ll be able to customize your message before posting to Buzz."

Then one more interesting comment followed.  Kim wrote, "We are committed to make the sharing experience better on Blogger: more updates are on their way, so please stay tuned."

Anyway, it should be interesting to see if Buzz gets a boost in popularity thanks to this development.  To be fair, the move isn’t an illogical one.  As the above picture shows, Blogger users could already promote their posts through Facebook, Twitter, and Google Reader; it would almost be stranger if Google didn’t add its latest "social" product to the list.

This step follows a pattern that involves pairing Buzz with Google Apps and Gmail for mobile, too.

No app downloading or menu digging is required in order to make this combination work.  iPhone and Android device users can take advantage of the development just by visiting Gmail.com.

Then, as software engineer Alex Kennberg explained on the Official Google Mobile Blog, "[Y]ou’ll see buzz in your inbox on your phone just like you do in the desktop version of Gmail, complete with the little Google Buzz icon."

Also, "When you open a buzz post from your inbox, you can perform all the standard functions, such as liking the post or commenting, just as you can from the desktop Gmail inbox."

Making Buzz more accessible might help solve its popularity problem, insofar as current users are liable to act as advertisements for the service while playing around with it in public.  There’s a chance people will transition from being light users to heavy users as they get the option to interact with it more, too.