By Benjamin Cohen
Google unveils a new product - Google Buzz - in an effort to combat the huge growth and popularity of social network Facebook and social media system Twitter.
Google is without question the most powerful company on the web, its search engine is used by more than 90 per cent of British web users.But Google is threatened by the growth in these rival networks.
Recent statistics from Hitwise indicate that the proportion of traffic to news websites from these social networks is growing dramatically, more than doubling over the past year.
Google News contributes 1.4 per cent of clicks to newspaper websites, while Facebook contributes 3.52 per cent.
The main Google search engine contributes 17.32 per cent of clicks. Google hopes Buzz can counter the growth in Facebook.
It allows users to quickly share messages, Web links and photos with friends directly within Gmail, the company’s email product.
"Buzz is like an entirely new world inside of Gmail," Todd Jackson, Google Buzz said tonight. "If I want to post images publicly I can share them to the world.
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