Marketbright, Inc. announced it has added its leading on-demand marketing automation and email marketing platform to the Google Apps Marketplace(TM), Google Inc.s recently launched online storefront for Google Apps(TM) products and services. Marketbright is an on-demand marketing automation solution which enables self-service campaign execution, automated lead nurturing and scoring, and closed loop marketing analytics. Marketbright provides a cost-effective alternative for mid-market to enterprise companies that want an easy-to-use on-demand marketing solution while still supporting complex business functionality. Marketbright's solutions help marketers stay connected to valued customers and prospects, collaborate with sales teams, and track leads all the way through to closed business. Delivering this ability as an on-demand application in the cloud helps companies dramatically improve their marketing programs and strategies with very limited up-front risk and investment.

Google Inc. last week was sued in Rhode Island for allegedly violating data privacy laws when it launched its Buzz social networking service in February. The plaintiff, Gmail user Andranik Souvalian of Cranston, Rhode Island, claims that, "Google intentionally exceeded its authorization to access and control confidential and private information" in violation of the Stored Communications Act and the Electronic Communications Privacy Act. The complaint states, "Google, through its Buzz social networking tool, has unlawfully disclosed its customers' private communications and records, including but not limited to, the automatic and unauthorized importing of its customers' private e-mail contacts into the Buzz social network. Buzz has raised privacy concerns including, but not limited to automatic importing of private contacts and showing them to friends and importing without authorization the customers' private photos onto the Buzz social network. Following the launch of Buzz, Google twice changed the way the service worked to address widespread privacy concerns. In addition to apologizing to users, Google responded to complaints by making the option to not display follower information on public profiles more visible and by making it possible to block followers who have not created a Google Profile. It subsequently switched from automatically setting up followers to providing a checked list of suggested followers that the user can approve, or alter prior to approval.

Google is open-sourcing the code for its recently acquired ReMail application, citing strong interest in the mobile search product. Google, which released the code under the Apache 2.0 license, faced some complaints after removing ReMail's iPhone application from Apple's App Store with plans to discontinue it. The open-sourcing of ReMail signals a trend for Google acquisitions when it plans to kill off a product. The application was considered by many iPhone users to be the best of its kind. Google faced some complaints after removing ReMail's iPhone application from Apple's App Store with plans to discontinue it. ReMail would, however, continue to work for those who downloaded it. Cselle, a former Google engineering intern who rejoined Google as a product manager on the Gmail team, said after considering a number of options for keeping the product available to users, Google decided to open-source the code under the Apache 2.0 license.