Google Needs Google Me

The undisputed internet advertising leader and search giant has for years been desperately hard at work to try to find alternate sources of revenue besides its ‘Adsense’ program. Numerous acquisitions and billions of dollars later – Google still hasn’t managed to find their next cash cow to give its board and investors a sigh of relief. Google execs are hoping that will all change with the upcoming rumored ‘Facebook killer’: “Google Me”.

Google already has a social networking platform to its name called Orkut – a relatively unknown networking portal outside of Brazil and India. Google also introduced recently something akin to Twitter in which web surfers could instantly share links, thoughts, pictures and a variety of other social media items through Google’s free email platform, Gmail.

Google has made it very clear with its 100 million investment in Zynga that it has made it a top mission to grab some of the social networking pie. There’s also the belief that Facebook is becoming so big that it might soon cannibalize the whole web and make Google and its main search product obsolete.

Read more about Google Needs Google Me

Google Me Will Use Games as a Weapon Against Facebook

Google is spoiling for a fight with Facebook over the fast-growing market for online games, part of the search engine giant's latest attempt to build a social networking business.

The move would pit two of Silicon Valley's most powerful companies against each other.

Google is believed to have opened talks with several of the games developers that have come to prominence on Facebook, where millions of users play simple social games such as FarmVille and Mafia Wars.

Eric Schmidt, Google's chief executive, yesterday stoked talk about a push in social networking by promising that any Google service would be different from Facebook: "The world doesn't need a copy of the same thing."

Google gets $28bn (£18bn) a year in revenues from selling advertising alongside search results, but faces questions about whether and how to diversify. Internet users are spending more time in social networking sites, and linking to outside web pages from there, potentially cutting Google searches out of the equation.

Facebook, which is privately owned, celebrated the sign-up of its 500 millionth user this month. Its revenues have grown substantially, in part because it takes a 30 per cent cut of any sales generated by the games users play on its site.

And games developers have become some of the hottest properties in the technology industry, thanks to the popularity of so-called "social games" which can be played between members of social networks.

Google has already made an investment in Zynga, which makes FarmVille, whose 60 million users run their own virtual farms, and is also reportedly in talks about partnership deals with other developers, including Playfish and Playdom. Disney agreed this week to pay up to $763m to acquire Playdom, the maker of Sorority Life, in which users can pay to dress up their avatar and take her to online parties.

Google hopes to lure games developers to build its new social networking platform, which Silicon Valley rumours suggest will be called Google Me.

Read more about Google Me Will Use Games as a Weapon Against Facebook

Wall Street Journal - Google Develops a Facebook Rival

Google Inc. is in talks with several makers of popular online games as it seeks to develop a broader social-networking service that could compete with Facebook Inc., according to people familiar with the matter.

Google has been in discussions with top developers to offer their games on a new service it is building, these people said. Those developers include Playdom Inc., Electronic Arts Inc.'s Playfish and Zynga Game Network Inc.—a company in which Google recently took a financial stake, these people said.
It is unclear when Google may launch the new gaming offering and the plans aren't finalized, but people briefed on the matter said the games would be part of broader social-networking initiative that is under development by the Mountain View, Calif., company.

In an interview this week, Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt declined to confirm the development of a social-networking service that would incorporate social games, rumored to be called "Google Me." When asked if Google's service might resemble Facebook's, Mr. Schmidt said "the world doesn't need a copy of the same thing."

Google's push into social games represents the latest attempt by the Web-search leader to capture users and advertising dollars that are increasingly flowing to social networking, an area dominated by Facebook, Twitter Inc. and others.
For social-game developers, a successful Google offering would mean they wouldn't be so heavily dependent on Facebook, where the vast majority of users access the games. Consumers' appetite for social games is booming— Zynga's "Farmville" game has more than 60 million active monthly users—and that is attracting bigger players looking to tap new sources of growth. On Tuesday, Walt Disney Co. acquired Playdom for $563.2 million plus up to $200 million more if performance targets are reached. And retailer GameStop Corp. agreed to buy online game distributor Kongregate Inc. for an undisclosed amount.

Read more about Wall Street Jornal - Google Develops a Facebook Rival

Google Me Vs. Facebook - Facebook Strikes Back?

For weeks, techies have speculated about Google Me, the company’s secret project to take on social networking king Facebook.

But Google isn’t the only one that can play that game.

On Wednesday, Facebook unveiled a new question-and-answer service for the 500 million users of its Internet social network that could have serious implications for Google.
The new service isn’t a traditional search engine, per se, but it addresses many of the same needs that a search engine does, and thus could pose a threat to Google’s lucrative search empire.

Facebook Questions, as the new service is called, allows any Facebook user to tap into the collective knowledge of the vast Facebook community for recommendations about restaurants and music, gardening tips, or whatever else tickles their fancy.

Facebook said on Wednesday that the service is currently being “beta” tested with a limited number of people, but that it hopes to make it widely available as quickly as it can. All answers to queries will be publicly visible to everyone on Facebook and classified according to topics or themes for easy browsing by Facebook users.

Read more about Google Me Vs. Facebook - Facebook Strikes Back?

Google Me - Possible Scenarios

The Internet hype for Google's product in development "Google Me" has steadily grown ever since rumors were said to be started on Twitter not long ago. Today's questions are basically, what will
'Google Me' be? Will it be similar to Facebook, and if so, how? Is this a new step for social networking, or will it be a flop like certain recent attempts at websites of a similar nature by Google? Here are my thoughts on the situation.

In this article I will look back at past examples involving Google, and discuss what the future could possibly hold for 'Google Me'.

You may have heard the term, the past holds the key to the future, or some variation. Looking back at Google's previous attempts at creating social media like applications, you will see that they have been unsuccessful at many attempts.

Read more about Google Me - Possible Scenarios

Enough Space for Google Me - second opinion

Matt Brittin, the Google UK chief executive, says that there is room for more social networking sites than just Facebook. He also did not deny suggestions that Google is working on its own site, Google Me, giving the standard Google response that they do not respond to speculation.

Brittin says social media is significant enough that there can be more than one major player. He cited the popularity of Orkut and Bebo in many countries, before adding:

“It’s a phenomenon that is with us to stay. I think what we’ll see is the internet becoming more of a social place, as well as people being social within the context of social networks.”

Read more about Enough Space for Google Me - second opinion

Google Me Vs. Facebook - part 2

Up until now, Google has had a hard time breaking into the social media landscape. They have had various attempts over the years, and although they have acquired a couple of the big players in the industry (Blogger and Youtube), they have yet to produce a successful social media platform of their own. However, there has been a lot of speculation recently that they will soon reveal “Google Me” as a social media experience to rival Facebook. Both Digg founder Kevin Rose and former Facebook CTO Adam D’Angelo have stated that this project is in the works. If successful, this would be huge – the two biggest presences on the web going head to head.

And the timing couldn’t be more perfect for Google. If you remember a few years ago, Myspace was the popular social media place to be. But when people started to complain, saying that it was too crowded and dangerous for teenagers, Facebook stepped up and took advantage of those aspects, effectively creating a platform that incorporated all the good things that Myspace had while leaving out the bad. In a short period of time, Facebook became number one in the industry. And now Google has that same opportunity. Facebook has begun to decline, and general complaints about lack of privacy and that same danger concern have surfaced. If Google capitalizes on these points and creates a newer, better version of social media, they can begin to capture Facebook’s lost market.

Read more about Google Me Vs. Facebook - part 2

Google Me Vs. Facebook - What Are the Odds

Facebook user base tops 500 million.
Google Me user base tops 0

That means about one out of every 14 people on planet Earth is on Facebook.
Facebook, by far the world’s largest social network, announced it had crossed the 400 million user threshold in February of this year, which means the Palo Alto, California-based company added 100 million new users in about six months.

So, Google is really in deep trouble now. For Google to start the race against Facebook in the social media space the release of Google Me should start now. Not in 5 or 6 months time. By then it may be too late for Google.
Or will it be too late?

Read more about Google Me Vs Facebook - What Are the Odds

Is There Enough Space for Another Social Network?

With the insane success of Facebook (now 500 million accounts and 140 million uniques a month) and the decent success of Twitter (close to 20 million uniques a month) everyone wants to be the next Mark Zuckerberg. Now with Google rumors floating the idea of a new social network apply named “Google Me” in the works, we need to ask ourselves do we really want another social network?

Social Success

Any social network relies on one extremely important element to it’s success. NUMBERS! There is no point to be the lone user on a social platform. In fact the integrity, power, and future use of a network can easily be measured by it’s current accounts and it’s ability to grow.

If we rewind to 2 years ago we’d see several versions of similar social networks competing for market share. Facebook v MySpace or Twitter v Tumblr, etc… Now we can easily see a natural progression to one single network in each genre. Facebook and Twitter clearly being the leaders in personal networking and LinkedIn presiding over business social networking.

As users of social networks we want to keep things simple, now more than ever. We want a singularity, one stop shop where we can update and consume content with out having to do it in 10 different places. There used to be hundreds of places I could potentially feel good about posting a photo of my son and I playing ball. Now it’s on Facebook and possibly twitter if I think it’ll get a laugh. Flickr is still a predominate place for networking around media but again it has it’s place.

Another Network In The Mix

So where will Google Me fit? Just like Google Buzz I think we are looking at a social network with an expiration date of about 6 months from their launch date if they continue on the same path these rumors put them on.

I would imagine Google’s plan is to launch their new social service to all their current Gmail users. Forcing their users to press a “Join” or “Remind Me Later” button between logging in and viewing their Gmail account. This is pretty much exactly what they did with Buzz.

Read more about Is There Enough Space for Another Social Network?

Google Me – Not Just a Rumour? part 2

Another famous name confirms that new social network is just around the corner. This time it's Adam D'Angelo, a former Facebook executive who was, as he likes to say, 'involved in Facebook early on' .
'This is not a rumor. This is a real project. There are a large number of people working on it. I am completely confident about this.
They realized that Buzz wasn't enough and that they need to build out a full, first-class social network. They are modeling it off of Facebook' , said Adam...
Read More about Google Me – Not Just a Rumour? part 2

Paul Adams Offers Preview into Google Me

A Google employee, Paul Adams has offered a preview to the upcoming 'Google Me' service that is likely to challenge social networking site, Facebook through a presentation.

Mr. Adams released a 216-page document that analyses human interaction ways when they interact online and also focuses on social networks online and offline. Paul openly draws examples from competitors like Facebook and Twitter where a child can come across an inappropriate image on Facebook.

Read More about Paul Adams Offers Preview into Google Me

Are Youtube Users Already Part of Google Me?

Over a year ago, Google announced that it would start requiring all people signing up for YouTube usernames to have a Google account. Now they're going to start requiring all users of YouTube that signed up prior to that to connect their accounts to Google accounts as well.

Read More about Are Youtube Users Already Part of Google Me?

Google 'researches' social networks

Google has been researching social networking patterns, in what is believed to be preparation for the launch of its new social network, ‘Google Me’, according to reports.

Last month Kevin Rose, the founder of Digg, started a rumour that Google was to launch a new social network, tweeting: "Ok, umm, huge rumor: Google to launch Facebook competitor very soon "Google Me," very credible source" on June 28.

Ever since technology pundits have been speculating as to how a new Google social network might work.
According to technology sites, Mashable and TechCrunch, the search giant has been commissioning research into social networking habits, as preparation for the new launch.

TechCrunch’s tip-off leaked that the study is to take place at Google’s Dublin office and will take 60 minutes with pollsters receiving 60 Euros per survey. The questions are believed to centre around how social networking affects people’s lives both off and online.

A Google spokesman was unavailable for comment.

Read More about Google 'researches' social networks

Google Me - Not Just a Rumour?

(CNN) -- If online reports are to be believed, Google could be cooking up a rival for Facebook -- and bringing the maker of popular social games like "FarmVille" with them.

Google Games, built around some sort of partnership with casual-gaming company Zynga, is in the works and would be part of a larger social network called Google Me, according to technology blog Tech Crunch.

Statements from notable internet players, including Digg founder Kevin Rose and a former Facebook chief technical officer, have suggested in recent weeks that the search-engine giant is working on a social network geared toward rivaling Facebook.

Read More about Googleme - Not Just a Rumour?