What's up at the IoD?

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I see that Dan Martin pointed to an IoD post entitled Google Buzz – Good for Business? Interesting you might think until you read through. What’s wrong with the piece? Answers after the jump.

IOD: Seen by many as the Facebook and Twitter killer

Really? eWEEK reports that:

Google Buzz is not intended as a challenge to Facebook or Twitter, but as a unique complement to those Web services, the Google executive overseeing Buzz told eWEEK.

Next:

IOD…making it simple to find interesting information and allows friends and strangers alike to have an insight into our lives.

Isn’t that setting off any alarm bells?

IOD: Facebook’s popularity is booming and it is fast becoming a substitute for email and instant messaging. Web-based email however, has become a virtual passport that is required to enter the various social worlds but is quickly becoming an obsolete method of communication.

I’m struggling. Google posted $761 million in license revenue last year. That’s for GMail and its other web based apps. That number has grown 90% in 2 years and I don’t see any sign of it falling. Business seems happy with the service. Is Facebook taking money off Google’s table? I don’t see it but am willing to be proven wrong.

IOD: Users can post information about the location that they are in, creating an interesting read when looking at different locations and searching for interesting activities.

Sure – let me tell you when I’m away so some nefarious person can come rob me blind.

IOD: Most companies now have their own ‘corporate’ email accounts and to switch to an unsecured email provider would be a massive obstruction to companies wanting to use the service. However, given Google’s quick reaction to user privacy needs last week, (Google had to roll out a major privacy update two days after the official launch), the creation of a business ‘app’ or an enterprise version in the next few months is likely.

Sheesh. If you pull out the piece in brackets in the second sentence, it doesn’t make much sense. The IoD obviously hasn’t heard of Postini, a Google service that secures email. Neither has it heard that Google announced its intention to release a version for GAPE anyway.

The fact the IoD didn’t include a single link in its piece to support any of its statements is telling. I think I know what they’re trying to say but for someone coming to this topic for the first time, there’s an awful lot of ‘stuff’ that is at best mildly misleading. If this is indicative of the quality coming out of there, is it any surprise that UK business gets confused on tech topics?

Tagged as: facebook, google, Google Buzz, iod, Search Engines, Social network, Twitter