Have you ever seen a webpage with a collection of buttons for sharing or logging in like the ones below?

Not all of these buttons are equally relevant, but because there is currently no convenient way to share your preferred services publicly, this approach has become extremely popular, even though the complexity of this interface may actually inhibit sharing!

On the desktop, this problem was solved long ago with what is called the “system registry”. When you install a new application, you are asked whether you want the new application to handle certain kinds of files, like photos. So, for example, if you install a new app and set the new application to be the default “handler” for photos, when you double click a photo next time, it’ll automatically open in your new application.

Until today, that kind of registry didn’t exist for the web, but thanks to a new collaboration between Meebo and several parties including Google, an initial launch of a service that acts as a registry for the web can be found at xauth.org.

Let me explain how XAuth works in simple terms: when you sign in to your Google account, Google will notify xauth.org that a user has signed in to a Google account and is maintaining an active session. Throughout this process, Google never shares any of your personal information with xauth.org — only that you have signed into some Google account (Google doesn’t even share which Google account you signed in to). This information is stored locally in your browser, and never on XAuth's servers; XAuth only acts as an intermediary that facilitates sharing this information with third parties that ask for it.

This is similar to installing a new desktop application which registers itself in the system registry. Because the registry is the central place where this information exists, any application that needs this information to function can ask the registry for the list of applications that perform certain functions. Similarly, any site that you visit can ask for the list of your active sessions from xauth.org, and customize its interface according to your preferences.

Now, there are two importance differences between xauth.org and the system registry:

• First, when you sign out of your Google account, Google will notify xauth.org that your session has ended. Any site that asks xauth.org for the list of active sessions from that point forward will no longer see Google listed.
• Second, you can control which sites show up on xauth.org, and are therefore available to the sites that you visit. In fact, on xauth.org, you can choose to delete or block service entries, or disable XAuth altogether.

We think that XAuth can simplify and improve the social web, while keeping your private information safe. This is just one of many steps that Google is taking, along with others in the industry, to make the social web easier and more personalized.

Posted by Chris Messina, Social Web Team

(Cross-posted with the Official Gmail Blog)

We've seen lots of people using Google Buzz to share interesting links from around the web. To do so, you had to copy and paste the link from one browser window to another — there weren't buttons that made it easy to post to Google Buzz without leaving the site you're on. Savvy sites like Mashable and TechCrunch quickly got creative and implemented their own Buzz buttons, using Google Reader as the backend. But not every site owner should have to hack together their own version of these buttons (and not everyone who uses Buzz also uses Reader), so this morning we're making copy-and-paste Buzz buttons available for anyone to use.

Starting today, you'll see these buttons around the web on participating sites including: The Washington Post, The Huffington Post, Glamour, YouTube, Blogger, MySpace, GigaOM, PBS Parents, PBS NewsHour, The Next Web, TweetDeck, SocialWok, Disqus, Vinehub, and Buzzzy. Mashable and TechCrunch have updated their sites to use these new buttons too.



A number of sharing platforms, including ShareThis (pictured below), Meebo, Shareholic, AddThis and AddtoAny have also incorporated the Google Buzz button into their sharing functionality, so you'll see Buzz listed as a choice when you go to share something on many other sites around the web as well.



If you want to add Google Buzz buttons to your site, just go to buzz.google.com/stuff, configure your buttons with a couple clicks and copy a few lines of JavaScript. Paste this code where you'd like the Buzz buttons to appear and you're all set.



And if you'd like to promote your own Google Buzz account, we have a button for you, which allows people to follow you on Buzz right from your blog or website. Here's an example using the Google Buzz team's own Buzz account (clicking it will take you to the Buzz team's profile page and from there you can easily follow our team's posts):

Follow on Buzz

You can grab that button code from buzz.google.com/stuff.

By Mussie Shore, Product Manager

Hi, my name is Jay Patel and I'm a software engineer at eBay. I'm excited to introduce the Google Friend Connect community to the new eBay Social Shopping Gadget (Alpha).

Add "Social Shopping" functionality to your Web site

We built the new eBay Social Shopping gadget with site owners in mind, so you can easily add "social shopping" functionality to your website. The eSS gadget lets users browse on eBay in almost the same way they could if they were on eBay.com, and also allows them to share their shopping experiences with friends. For instance, users of your site can recommend eBay items to friends and browse their friends' recommendations — all in one place.


In addition to searching the entire eBay site, your users can also view item details at a glance and watch items within auctions or buy-it-now listings. If your users already use eBay, then they can easily link their eBay account to their Google Friend Connect (GFC) account, which will let them monitor their eBay watch list from eSS, receive personalized recommendations and bid and buy directly using eSS.


For publishers and web site owners

As with all Friend Connect gadgets, the eSS gadget enhances your site's appeal by adding social features, allowing you to customize eBay recommendations and listings to suit your site content. For example, if you own a blog about "twin parenthood," visitors to your site would probably see items such as twin strollers or baby monitors. No spam, no football memorabilia.

For more eBay Social Shopping gadget details, visit http://ess.ebay.com. To install the gadget, visit the Google Friend Connect Gadget Gallery by logging into Google Friend Connect and clicking on the "Gadgets" link on the left-hand side. Then click on the "All gadgets" tab to locate the eBay Social Shopping Gadget.

We hope you'll take advantage of the eSS gadget to add a "social shopping" dimension to your website. Please contact us at ess@ebay.com with any feedback or questions.

By Jay Patel, Software Engineer, eBay