Google Takes On Facebook With OpenSocial
- by Gavin O'Malley @mp_gavin, November 1, 2007
Mimicking Facebook, which opened its service to outside developers several months ago, Google's OpenSocial system gives developers standardized tools to write applications and embed them on social networkers' personal pages.
The move comes a week after rival Microsoft Corp. secured an investment in Facebook, along with stronger advertising ties with the white-hot social network.
For the launch, Google is reaching out to some of the developers responsible for Facebook's most popular applications.
"The Web is fundamentally better when it's social, and we're only just starting to see what's possible when you bring social information into different contexts on the Web," a Google spokesman said Wednesday. "There's a lot of innovation that will be spurred simply by creating a standard way for developers to run social applications in more places."
Still without a dominant position in the social marketing space, Google is hoping it can leverage the developer community and establish a standard for their community.
"With the input and iteration of the community, we hope OpenSocial will become a standard set of technologies for making the Web social," The Google spokesman said.
Since Facebook opened up to outside develoeprs in May, thousands of applications have been attached to the site; those applications are credited with helping increase its community to over 48 million users.
Google said it has signed on about a dozen partners--including social networks like hi5, Friendster, and LinkedIn, along with software makers like Oracle and Salesforce.com--reaching a combined 100 million people.
Other Web companies seeking the support of Web developers include News Corp.'s MySpace, which recently announced plans to open its site.
