Google Buzz-New Social Networking Tool

Google the search engine giant injected social networking features into its popular webmail product in the world’s No. 1 search engine tries to fend off competition from Facebook and Twitter.

Google introduced a new product called Google Buzz on Tuesday that allows users to quickly share messages, web links and photos with friends and colleagues directly in Gmail, the company’popular electronic products.

And the company unveiled a handful of new products to make the new social networking features designed for mobile devices, such as smartphones based on Google’s Android operating system.

Google’s new social networking technology mimics some of the key features of popular social networking services like Twitter and Facebook, which are increasingly challenging Google for web surfers,’online time.

Gmail is the third most popular Web-based e-mail in the world, with 176.5 million unique visitors in December, according to comScore. Microsoft Corp.’s Windows Live Hotmail and Yahoo Inc’s Mail was No. 1 and No. 2, with 369.2 million unique visitors and 303.7 million unique visitors respectively.

Beyond the Buzz features for Gmail, Google says it is setting up a special mobile application for the Buzz, Buzz and weaving technology into the mobile versions of its flagship Web site and its mapping products.

Google has tried to ride the social networking wave before, launching Orkut social network in 2004. But while Orkut is big in some overseas markets such as Brazil, it has failed to attract as many users as social giants like Facebook and MySpace in the U.S..

The construction of a social network on top of an email product, Google following in the footsteps of Yahoo, which has taken a similar approach in efforts to keep up with Facebook.