• New York Times, Friday, October 12, 2007 12:32 PM

Speaking at Google's recent (and exclusive) Zeitgeist conference, Eric Schmidt on Thursday dismissed the notion that social networking is just a fad. Quite the contrary--the Google CEO said the company has big plans for the Web's hottest trend. "People don't appreciate how many page views on the Internet are in social networks," he said. "It is very real. It's a very real phenomenon."

Few in this country know it, but Google actually has a social network called Orkut, which is a huge hit in Latin America and Asia but effectively non-existent both here and in Europe, where MySpace and Facebook dominate. Schmidt didn't sound too concerned with the company's social networking shortcomings; instead, he said he'd like to join forces and sell advertising on the likes of Facebook. Google already has a search deal with MySpace, the Web's largest social network, which has proven to be a lucrative partnership for both parties.

Schmidt revealed that Google plans to leverage its so-called "social graph" over the next year, using the information it has about its users' social connections to improve Google searches and other services. There has also been talk in the blogosphere about Google opening its various platforms for third-party developers to create Google programs that run both inside and outside Google's network--but Schmidt wouldn't comment on that one.

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