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Released: February 16, 2010

Google Buzz planning more changes to appease users

Source: L.A. Times (Free Registration)

Even more changes are coming to Google Buzz. That’s the upshot from my conversation with Google product manager Todd Jackson. His team has assembled a “war room” in its Mountain View, Calif., headquarters where engineers and executives are weighing user criticism and rolling out updates.

Google has twice tweaked its new social networking tool in response to privacy complaints. Users have also complained that the product is “noisy,” with people who frequently post or who get a lot of comments dominating. That’s one issue that Google plans to “tune” shortly.The chief issue the team tackled Friday night: creating a feature that suggests people to follow, rather than having new users automatically follow frequent e-mail and chat contacts. Early Saturday morning, the team got buy in from executives including Google Vice President Bradley Horowitz. The changes will roll out this week.

Critics are still taking the company to task. The Electronic Privacy Information Center plans to file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission on Tuesday.

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