Google may have just come out of nowhere and checkmated Facebook in the social networking power struggle.
MySpace and Six Apart will announce that they are joining Google’s OpenSocial initiative. Silicon Alley Insider reported the MySpace rumor earlier today. We’ve confirmed that from an independent source, as well as the fact that Six Apart is joining. Per the update below, Google has also confirmed Bebo is joining.
Google will be making an announcement today. MySpace and Six Apart join Orkut, Salesforce, LinkedIn, Ning, Hi5, Plaxo, Friendster, Viadeo and Oracle as announced Google partners. No word on whether MySpace will continue with efforts to complete its own recently announced platform, but the answer is probably yes. They are likely to simply do both (Update: see below).
Suddenly, within just the last couple of days, the entire social networking world has announced that they are ganging up to take on Facebook, and Google is their Quarterback in the big game.
Update (12:30 PST): On a press call with Google now. This was embargoed for 5:30 pm PST but they’ve moved the time up to 12:30 PST (now). Press release will go out later this evening. My notes:
On the call, Google CEO Eric Schmidt said “we’ve been working with MySpace for more than a year in secret on this” (likely corresponding to their advertising deal announced a year ago).
MySpace says their new platform efforts will be entirely focused on OpenSocial.
The press release names Engage.com, Friendster, hi5, Hyves, imeem, LinkedIn, Ning, Oracle, orkut, Plaxo, Salesforce.com, Six Apart, Tianji, Viadeo, and XING as current OpenSocial partners.
We’re seeing a Flixster application on MySpace now through the OpenSocial APIs. Flixster says it took them less than a day to create this. I’ll add screen shots below.
Here’s the big question – Will Facebook now be forced to join OpenSocial? Google says they are talking to “everyone.” This is a major strategic decision for Facebook, and they may have little choice but to join this coalition.
Bebo has also joined OpenSocial.
Flixster/MySpace screen shots:
I don’t normally get too excited by all the Platform talk, but this is HUGE. Its basically Google and Everyone Else vs Facebook now. Can’t wait to see this play out. Let the games begin!
Good news, lets get ready to rumble!
MSFT/FB VS GOOG/MySpace
Maybe FB will decide later to join the bigger parade.
I wonder if Google helped push up the valuation of Facebook when it was bidding for investment against MS, all the while knowing the scope and magnitude of the platform they were working on.
This is not checkmate, though it may be check. Facebook still has plenty of moves left, and it remains to be seen how well OpenSocial will work in practice.
Google will win the volume battle, but Facebook will reign the Social Graph war. Facebook’s UI flows, it’s going to be nearly impossible to coordinate between a dozen or so social networks. Goodluck!
Plaxo’s new site is an interesting entry into the fray. It provides hooks into all the latest API’s and provides a more business focused answer to Facebook.
Something unpredictable could emerge from all of this, and that’s the only way it’s significant. Myspace could team up with Jesus, Mary, and Joseph and it’s still not gonna generate the hype that FB does
Checkmate? I don’t think so. The entire point of social networks is the NETWORK, not the additional apps. With all of the social platforms now going to have the same available third-party apps, what is there to differentiate them from Facebook?……the answer is where your network is at be it friends or colleagues such as in LinkedIn. On top of that, it still isn’t clear whether or not open platforms are successful at the user end. For teens the third-party apps might be, but for the mid-20’s and up I am not so sure. OpenSocial will have no affect on Facebook’s numbers. Other strategies might, but it will be hard to separate the causes from the effects if, for instance, you start seeing a change in Facebook growth.
“the entire social networking world has announced that they are ganging up to take on Facebook, and Google is their Quarterback in the big game.”
Nice.
If you can’t beat them, join them. This is revolutionary. And FB must join or may fail.
http://www.givemebeats.com
Just as I was heading out… I had to spot-check TC, and was compelled to sit and read. Definitely throws an interesting wrench into things.
Point and counterpoint.
Next?..
Oh yeah! awesome!!!
Man, i was just about to ask – why not myspace on open social?
google an myspace are already in bed..
Next question: what about Yahoo’s Mash
I don’t think it’s checkmate, Facebook’s API can be mapped to the new openSocial API. It’s just XML anyway right?
This sloppy coordination of shitty networks copying Facebook will do nothing but make Facebook stronger.
I’m with JasonH. Third party apps create best-of-breed opportunities, but people still have to like the interface and get their friends to join.
Look, guys, SOCIAL means people, friends, family. This is what Facebook has, and none of the others have. People won’t create an Orkut account so they can use apps, nor will they create a Facebook account to use Slide’s Top Friends. That’s NOT how the model works.
Google can create the coolest widgets in the world for social networks, but people won’t join a SOCIAL network for the widgets — they might if it was a WIDGET network.
Think about it!!!
How compatible will this Open Social API be with the Facebook API?
Does anyone remember Java? The JVM?
How that was supposed to be the open platform for running apps?
Then what happened? Microsoft made a JVM that was incompatible with
Sun’s. What did everyone call that?
“Evil”
Anyone noticing an analogy here?
Every other social network other than facebook will be joining opensocial social, I think facebook’s $15B valuation just cut down to $15M tops
To completely make a mess of The Ninja’s signature line…”Google looks forward to killing you later, Facebook!”
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Google is being stupid, they are giving facebook too much importance just like microsoft gave to Google. Seems facebook is the smart player here, find a bigger enemy and look at pair with it
Yeah, so basically… i see it like this. Facebook came out of nowhere to top myspace and reign supreme… all of a sudden myspace’s home page design (when logged in) looks a whole heck of alot like facebook… especially their new functionality… did myspace see a spike in new registrations or traffic? no.
so why should this? unless all of these sites are becoming one, i think this is pointless… good to see that ill be able to write apps for the masses on other platforms, but people arent going to be like “OH WOW” and start joining…. at least in my eyes…
Such a choice, GOOG+Microsoft or GOOG+FOX…
This is good mainly for developers looking to get wide distribution of apps. I don’t think it hurts facebook too much yet. Like a previous poster said no one will join a network because of the apps. Especially if facebook has the same ones. This will only work if one side has a killer app that the other does not.
Facebook should launch a search engine. Now that would be some counter Check..What say?
Who cares.
Google has checkmate Facebook as much as Facebook has checkmate Google with their SocialAds stuff.
More than few google execs must have lost sleep after facebook announced that stuff. On the other hand, myspace is a total fad that lasts only until people haven’t heard of facebook.
I would not call it a Checkmate… by the end of the day, the USERS are the ones who will rule the Chess game here…
I really dislike MySpace. Google you used to be my friend, but I feel our relationship is on the rocks…
Google is supposed to go this way otherwise they cannot maintain their position as the No.1
Umm… That’s Alley Insider. Wrong coast.
I’m excited about this!
I never got a MySpace account. Facebook got my attention enough to try it. I don’t have the time to manage multiple accounts. I have enough connections on Facebook that there has to be some monumental shift to OpenSocial (ie everyone else I know gets an OpenSocial account) in order for me to join. What I do not want is to have to create a new profile every 2 years for the next new networking site.
whats up with all of these facebook-fanboy commenters? have they not read the 5 googillion facebook/myspace comscore posts on tc?
myspace is to facebook as google is to yahoo.
stop drinking arrington’s fb flavored coolaid and look at the numbers. myspace dominates facebook and this could put a lock on the door (at least until everyone gets bored with this social network fad).
Here’s what it means:
Everyone’s joining-in to justify and support Facebook’s ridiculously-high valuation.
Yeah!
Did Google seek MySpace or vice versa?
MySpace is smoke. It’s the poor man’s social network. While it may reign in terms of pretty graphs Facebook will eventually surpass it. Actually, who even cares, Facebook and MySpace will be things of the past in a next two years. Social networking needs to get far more involved than simply sitting at a computer and adding friends and comments, after a year of it you realize…wtf did I just accomplish? The answer…not a whole lot.
Whatever. I’ll believe it when I see it. Google has a lot of work to do to make everything happen smoothly, quickly, crisply, and I am not exactly holding out much hope in that direction. We’ll see.
The only winners I see here are end users.
Every time you sign into an OpenSocial enabled network, your information can be automagically ported over from your existing networks — contacts, relationships, statuses, everything.
Question: do the set of common APIs that make up OpenSocial work *across* platforms?
I mean, if I can tag of photo of one of my myspace friends from a Hi5 or Ning account after we’ve both added an app, that’s really huge; if not, I agree (a la JasonH and seamus) that people are gonna follow their friends to facebook, or their colleagues to LinkedIn.
I’m really curious, if someone can please answer this.
Thanks.
I sure hope this provides GOOG stock one final juicing up to $720 plus. This is setting up an extraordinary shorting opportunity. This platform means very little to GOOG revenues.
Nice. I was wondering when MySpace would join this party.
Re: 39. Mike B: You don’t think this will increase Google’s Adsense Network revenues? Sounds like more pageview = more add impressions which, albeit a small percentage, increases clicks.
@39 my strike price is 800
Voices: no, not in a meaningful way.
Richard: I think 800 might happen, and it will be an amazing place to short from.
not checkmate, but now at least it’s a game worth playing.
for the record: MySpace, not “open standards”, makes this an interesting move.
what would make it even more interesting? Gmail and YouTube implementing Open Social. start the over/under at 6 months on both
it was reported first in silicon *a*lley insider (no ‘v’)
This is the greatest one upper move in the history of everything
wow, this is pretty crazy. What I find most funny about all this is OpenSocial makes it easier to do exactly what I can’t stand at Facebook, the millions of stupid apps!
I really liked facebook before, but as soon as they opened their API, it seems like I get 10 requests a day to join the zombie force or send someone alcohol. What a waste of time…
Have you seen some of the pages people setup too? I swear, I need a super computer at my desk to process all the Javascript required to load 100 apps on a single profile.
I think the complete opening of the API is where Facebook miss stepped. They should have put a lot more regulation into it…
Zuckerberg will be lucky to sell FB for $1 billion. Hedge Funds will be stupid to invest on FB now. Even if it was true that they are trying to invest on FB, it will be smart for them to wait until this OpenSocial pans out. Good Job Google. Right on your face..facebook..Zuckerberg and his investors got too greedy too fast. Should have sold the company to Yahoo last year
“Something unpredictable could emerge from all of this, and that’s the only way it’s significant. ”
Skynet?
I would imagine that FaceBook had a huddle today where Zuckerburg started off by saying “Well, … crap.”
Does anyone know what time the Google announcement will be made today and where I can follow it?
I definitely don’t think it’s check-mate for Facebook. In fact, I think that OpenSocial is a good thing for Facebook. Facebook has the option to join OpenSocial (and eventually will), and that will only make that Facebook more useful as a product and monetizable as a business. With OpenSocial, everyone wins, including Facebook. Google stands to win “more” than Facebook, but that should be fine in Facebook’s eyes as their goal should be to make their platfom more valuable in absolute terms (rather than in relative terms to Google).