Sorry, but I have a hard time getting excited about little additions to big companies. Facebook redesigns, fine. Amazon loses a price war. Hey, it happens. Steve Jobs runs his mouth about his ex-friends. All’s fair. I have the same feeling about Google Buzz. It’s a small change at a big company. I’d sooner get excited about the Winter Olympics. Let me go a step further, I’d sooner get excited about ice hockey at the Winter Olympics.

Buzz will not be a "Twitter-killer"

Here’s why. I disagree with what seems to be the general assumption that Google is launching Buzz to compete with Facebook. I don’t think so. If Google wanted to compete with Facebook it would have bought Twitter.

Buzz is a small change. It could have been launched with a Super Bowl ad if it was that big. It will not be plastered on any kind of mass market campaign. It will grow as most all of Google's products have, including Gmail.

In fact, it's more notable for its connection to Gmail, than for its designated birth as the social network of the next decade. And for digital publishers and advertisers, it is that Gmail connection that is really worth paying attention to.

Content-sharing 101: Make it easy and scalable

Gmail has 176 million users. Buzz makes Gmail stronger, and vice versa. Buzz is not a social network. It is a new animal. One that balances email and social media. It is a hedge against social media taking over email, but that hardly counts out Facebook.

It doesn’t count out Twitter either. Twitter is still formidable, although I would be completely, like, freaked, when you count up the lack of teen usage. The new competition for social media will come from new networks that attract lifestyles. Fabulis, for gay men, is a good example. It’s hardly a niche, but it’s a lifestyle. By that measure, a sports fanatic social network might succeed. A football network would not.

I don’t spend much time thinking about single companies. I do think that single companies point the way to new trends, and publishers should use Google Buzz as a clarion call to reinforce the importance of email marketing, and the coming diffraction of social networks. Now those are some things I can get excited about.