• BBC News et al., Tuesday, February 16, 2010 12:43 PM

Join the club, Google! The search giant, which has had little success in the world of social media, continues to struggle with its latest and most aggressive effort, Google Buzz.

Indeed, Google just admitted to BBC News that testing of what's been branded its "controversial social network" was insufficient. "The firm has had to make a series of changes to the service after a ferocious backlash from users concerned about intrusions of privacy."

According to the BBC, Buzz was only tested internally and bypassed more extensive trials with external testers, which are typically used for many other Google services.

Google product manager Todd Jackson tells The Wall Street Journal that the number of people initially uncomfortable with the service basically proved that the company's approach of testing Buzz among its employees wasn't sufficient.

Google has gone so far as the create a "war room" in Mountain View to bring together engineers and product managers to make decisions about what changes need to be made to Buzz.

"The team was surprised by the negative feedback but moved quickly to respond to it, working around the clock since Friday when Buzz became a major topic at the weekly company meeting," writes The Los Angeles Times' Technology blog.

By Monday, Google had already changed its new social networking tool twice in response to privacy complaints.

One problem that raised concern was Google's decision to automatically give users a ready-made circle of friends based on the people they most frequently e-mailed.

Users also complained that the Buzz is "noisy," with people who frequently post or who get a lot of comments dominating the "discussion."

While Google has been credited for responding quickly to user complaints and the addition of new features, that isn't deterring the Electronic Privacy Information Center from plans to file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission over Buzz.

"The bottom line is that self-regulation is not working," center director Marc Rotenberg," tells the L.A. Times. "Google pushes the envelope, people scream and they dial back the service until the screaming subsides."

Read the whole story at BBC News et al. »