Any rumor, no matter how thinly sourced, that involves the clash of Internet rivals Google and Facebook gets attention. This time Silicon Valley is speculating that Google is working on a social network to compete with Facebook called Google Me.
That speculation stems from a tweet by Digg CEO Kevin Rose that he has since deleted (“Ok, umm, huge rumor: Google to launch facebook competitor very soon ‘Google Me’, very credible source”)...
Google has made no secret that it's very focused on becoming more social. So far, its attempts to create social networks have not met with much success. Google Buzz, which it launched earlier this year, has not taken off. Its social network Orkut, which has been around since 2004, is popular in Brazil but reaches only 2% of Internet users.
But Google already has a significant number of social properties including YouTube.com, Picasa, Blogger and Google Latitude, not to mention Google Profiles, which it could roll into a single platform. It added Twitter updates past and present to search results. It has made search more social by including results from your social circle.
It's unlikely that Google is preparing to roll out a Facebook clone. Whereas Facebook is basically a universe unto itself, Google emphasizes openness. A Google service that runs on open standards and with an open ID system, i.e., letting users punch in one password on multiple sites, take their personal data with them when they leave a network or maintain the same profile on multiple services, could give Facebook a run for its money.
The stakes are high: Facebook is speeding ahead, gathering tons of data through its recently launched "Like" feature.Now lets see if Google Me really comes in the market...
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