Update: Facebook just opened up FB Connect as well in a self-serve fashion. It’s mano-a-mano.
The battle over who will control access to your online identity is heating up. In the wake of more and more partners finally starting to take a shine to Facebook’s competing FB Connect (which we just implemented on Techcrunch), Google’s Friend Connect is now in an open beta. Before it was in a limited preview release, but now any website can add Google Friend Connect as a login option.
Google Friend Connect is OpenSocial’s answer to Facebook Connect. It lets other websites accept a member’s OpenSocial OpenID username and password to log into their sites. More importantly, it also lets websites access users’ social data, which includes friend lists, profile information, feed messages, reviews, ratings and the like.
Since it is based on OpenID, visitors to a Website that adds Friend Connect code will be able to sign in using their Google, Yahoo, AIM, or OpenID usernames and passwords. The Websites will also be able to add any OpenSocial apps developed by third parties. And it supports the OAuth data portability standard.
When you drill down into the technical details, there are some differences between Friend Connect and FB Connect. But ultimately, what is at stake here is what will become the identity and data portability standard on the Web, and who will control it. While Friend Connect is taking a more open-standards approach, Facebook has the users and the momentum. Who are you betting on?
Am I the only one who thinks Google should be promoting existing services instead of wasting time developing more that no one will know about?
I completely agree. I feel like they have so many different products and services but only a small few of them are actual used. Maybe they should take all their talent and have them improve existing products rather than working on new ones.
Peter Epstein
http://www.thewebwar.com
On the other hand, flagship Google products like google news or Gmail were at some point such new products. I guess Google as a company is slightly more into exploring new products than others, but it seems to pay off so far.
Isn’t it feasible for Google to lump up similar services and let them function independently as businesses? While Google should focus on search (text, pic and video). the independent companies could use Google’s resources. I wonder how many files,emails, presentations Eric, Larry and Sergey look at in a day. No matter how brilliant they are..they are Human. The law of diminishing returns never fails!
I disagree.
I think Google doesn’t work like traditional companies and therefore doesn’t abide by the same rules.
I don’t think Eric, Larry and Sergey look at a presentation of every new tiny little thing Google does.
Google hires great people and lets them do their thing. I think it’s a great strategy, it’s proven itself so far.
wvx
Pat has a point, Google’s big projects such as Gmail came from small ideas or now small projects just like this. Its very bold of them to do this and most of the time they do a pretty good job and even better that what is already existing out there.
When is techcrunch going to add this?
Eh whatever. I use IGoogle, Google Calender and Google Docs, so if it saves me a registration in the future, I’m all for it.
I’d be interested in seeing Techcrunch use Google Friend Connect as well. Although it *is* pretty cool that you got Facebook Connect working
(been debating about it myself!)
Ken of http://free.naplesplus.us – a Google Friend Connect enabled site (tho’ not FAcebook connect yet – still thinking about it!)
People apparently care as much about FriendConnect as they do seesmic.
I thing Google’s Friend Connect is a lot easier to install then Facebook’s Connect.
Anyone having problems installing the Facebook Conect?
It is all relative – Facebook Connect has an actual API that you can integrate with existing social networks. You can exchange data between your site and Facebook. With GFC, you cannot. That is why it’s so easy to simply embed and forget.
It isn’t very useful for existing social networks. You can embed the widget(s) to allow members of other networks to log in, but there is no way to integrate GFC with existing member bases. GFC is really only useful for sites that are static in nature or have no social networking presence. I hear there may one day be an API – I’m not going to consider doing much more with GFC until then, at which time it will likely be too late.
PS. I DID, however, use GFC to allow members to invite others to my social networking site. I just had to make sure they understood that “logging into” GFC was in no way linked to their Madtown Lounge login.
Allen
http://www.madtownlounge.com
Google friend connect is much easier than facebook connect…plus Goolgle is already a money making business so they are a million times less likely to sell users or developers out like facebook plans on doing (and have done countless times with their app platform). iGoogle, Gmail, Android, Docs, Reader, Analytics, Blog Search, Translate, Gadgets, and now Connect..SOLID MOVES!
We have integrated GFC to our site. To allow customer to leave reviews/ratings on our services.
http://www.kimbley.com
I think Facebook Connect will be more use than Google FriendConnect. Beacause Facebook grows faster and faster around the world, its database will be the biggest. However it misses application equivalent to Google Services (Docs, Calendar)…
What is your real name? It’s hard for me to keep track of your post in my database if you don’t provide your real name in Facebook. Please go back to Facebook and change your name to a real name.
FYI, Google Friend Connect and Facebook Connect are very different beasts. GFC is more for static sites that want to add social network-like features at no programming cost.
Adding GFC to TechCrunch would look ridiculous due to its limitations.
I ramble about it here a little (skip to the bottom for a shorter version):
http://geekninj...s-facebook.html
Spot on.
Exactly. I don’t think enough people have done their homework when comparing these. FBC is a pain to use but way more powerful as far as integration goes. GFC is just widgets.
Just trying out a comment using Facebook Connect.
I have a site and debating whether to embed GFC. Any ideas how exactly will GFC help me drive traffic to a static site with good content?
It may not help drive traffic directly, but itmay help keep visitors around once they realize they can interact with each other — it adds another dimension to your site.
Google FriendConnect is a very important project, and I think many people miss its significance because they don’t fully understand how it works (including the coverage in this blog post, for instance). FriendConnect provides the “Open Stack in a box” to the long-tail of the web–under the hood, it lets any site instantly become an OpenID relying party (something TC has often urged for more of), an OAuth consumer, and an OpenSocial container (meaning they can also now add any 3rd-party OpenSocial gadgets). This will, I believe, have a dramatic impact on the rate at which these open building blocks gain widespread adoption, and ironically it will let the smaller sites leapfrog the larger sites in terms of technical capabilities, because Google is essentially hosting and proxying all of the work needed to support the Open Stack. And Google is going out of their way to provide this functionality in a way that doesn’t give them an unfair advantage–for instance, any FriendConnect user can hook up their Plaxo account, bring in their profile and address book, and share activity back into Pulse, because we support those open standards too. So in conclusion, there’s a lot more to FriendConnect than “OpenSocial’s answer to Facebook”, and anyone who’s a fan of OpenID, OAuth, Portable Contacts, etc., this is definitely something to cheer for.
remains to be seen, who will win this battle
@ JSmarr and ALL:
I’d agree that it’s an important tool. However, the key is figuring out how to make the best use of it in a website.
We have one early example online, an integration with Wordpress, at our blog: http://codekind...e-on-wordpress/
Cheers,
–Dave
Google has an API for doing what Facebook Connect does, it’s called OpenSocial REST and PortableContacts. Granted, not every container implements this at the moment, but as it gets rolled out, it will nicely complement OpenID, meaning if you have a login at an OpenID enabled container, third party websites can put or get social graph data in much the same way as FB Connect.
I think the analysts are making the assumption that websites will be “either-or”. Look at sharing options today. I click on “Share” on most websites, and like 20 icons popup for different networks.
The reality is, many sites will opt to support both systems, and then some enterprising startup will create a bridge that subsumes FB connect and OpenSocial, and make these connections exactly what they should be:
A commodity.
Really now. $15 billion valuation for what is essentially, a propriety walled-garden fancy Rolodex? No one company is going to own every user in the world’s social graph. Sooner or later, and I predict sooner, this stuff is going to be consolidated big time, and the big losers will be the companies who bet they could win by walling in users.
And by consolidated, I don’t mean in handing a monopoly to one company, I mean, technically consolidated into an open standard — commodification.
And by consolidated, I don’t mean in handing a monopoly to one company, I mean, technically consolidated into an open standard — commodification.
There’s no glue holding Google FriendConnect together. there’s a bunch of developer-centric crap with nothing to encourage website visitors to even bother using their widgets.
What is the point of “joining” a website? It doesn’t do anything.
agree… no glue holding Google FriendConnect together.
I agree with @JosephSmarr – I think this will be something to cheer about.
I am not sure of all the inner workings just yet, because I just integrated it. Help me test by coming by and joining:
http://www.smal...onlinecoach.com
It looks like a real interesting race!
Hi Matthew, Link does not work!!
Facebook is great, but it’s still a “closed garden”. Google is a huge search engine, think of all the linkbacks!!!!
We just implemented GFC on http://mloovi.com and it took about 10 minutes. We added the possibility for people to rate and review translated blogs. I’m sure there’s a lot more we can do with it but for a real quick integration it does a pretty good job. Just looking at FB Conect now to see which one will work best (seems a little more complicated to implement). Maybe we will end up using both?
This is great news. I was lucky enough to get into the early preview of Friend Connect and added it to my site.
So far there it’s been a nice way to start a little community and meet some friends on my blog, but there aren’t very many compelling apps for it yet. I’m optimistic based on @Joseph Smarr’s comment above that it will enable a lot of interesting things as it gains momentum.
Passport is the… I mean openId is the…FB connect is the….Friend connect is the wave of the future. I’m sure of it. …
Cool
Facebook Connect for the win!
So can I comment on youtube without a separate login yet?
My partner & I run a subscription based website called http://www.swingmangolf.com and we would like to create some sort of social networking like Facebook Connect or Google Friend Connnect. We have close to 2000 paid subscribers and we want them to be able to connect with each other. Could we do this on the internal part of the site where they have already paid or will we encounter problems?
If not on the internal part of the site, we have a blog so we could start there I suppose.
I recommend using Facebook Connect for this.
I also recommend hiring me at a $120/hr consultancy so that I can enable a smooth integration for you. >:)
Why would you recommend Facebook Connect?
It’s on! Google vs. Facebook…and the winner is…US?! o.0
Right now, it seems that a lot of the users coming to my site, either to use it for what its for (Naples FL News, Jobs, For Sale, etc) or to check out google friend connect, are fellow WEBMASTERS who are also working on integrating Google Friend Connect into their systems.
The general consensus seems to be right: that at the moment, Google Friend Connect is best for Blogs and Websites that lack a good sign in / commenting / rating system — and there is DEFINITELY a great need for that: socializing the unsocial sites.
More and more features will come though – of that I have no doubt.
I looked at the Facebook Connect, and while it is very powerful (I’m using it to login to Techcrunch), it might be overkill for a lot of webmasters / bloggers who simply want OpenID login capability, or adding a commenting system easily without having to go through changing much of the fundamentals of the site.
Whatever happened to LDAP? I’d like to make better use of that, or XML-RPC… new systems keep coming along and perfectly good ones that paved the way fall by the wayside.
Ah well. I think in the end Good Things Are Coming : nay, good things are HERE! and with Google Friend connect, it’s giving my website that “bbs” feeling that I missed from long, long ago.
Kenneth Udut
Founder of http://free.naplesplus.us
Naples, FL USA
Wordz.
So where can we see a live implementation of Google Friend Connect?
And will techcrunch be implementing it? Would be nice to have a few options.
My money is on Facebook (and Microsoft).
Hail to the Thieves
Any developer and proponent of a truly Open web must take an active roll in pushing for the success of OpenID.
In my views this is an area where one cannot be on the side lines, we have to take an active roll in making sure that members identities and their data are owned by members and not companies that want to lock in with proprietary solutions.
So interesting that a short time ago Microsoft (A closed source company) wanted to push forward a standard (Passport) that would have give users the ability to have one log in that worked for many sites. At the time many in the tech and development community saw this as just another Microsoft Land Grab for our Identity and our Content. Many people saw Passport as a Microsoft effort to finally gain control of the internet by becoming the standard for digital identity.
Today we have no less than 3 closed source companies in a race to become the “Standard” for holding or Identity and therefore having access to the content that we read and the content that we creates.
All of this at a time when there are many Open Source standards that could be used (Openid is just one that comes to mind) that if properly deployed would do the right thing by putting the user/member in charge of their log in as well as their relationships across many sites.
Have we forgotten the lesson of the not so distance past ?
Why do we not see a problem with the big 3 trying to become the proprietary standard in this very important area ?
Why do developers especially Open Source developers continue to build and extend applications for closed source companies that under mind open source standards and ideals ?
Why do users continue to view giving control of their identity and content to these companies as a win, when in fact the win is clearly on the side of the company that you have allowed to take control of your identity and to generate value and revenue from your content. In return for our compliance we do not even have a right to take our identity and our content where we want.
Open Source developers, please do not write any code to extend the propitiatory services of Facebook. They are not your “Friend” When you write code for a company like Facebok you undermine the integrity of the Open Web.
Anyone able to compare GFC to Facebook Connect for ease of implementation and integration?
GFC is much easier to integrate, as it’s just cut and paste of gadget code, but it doesn’t do stacks. Facebook Connect looks much more powerful (OpenID and oAuth rivalling power) but needs a developer on it to custom build the code you put on your site.
We’ve put up a test page for Google Friend Connect on our site at http://www.weca...iz/googlefc.php – come and leave a comment to see what it can do!
Ian Hendry
CEO, WeCanDo.BIZ
http://www.wecando.biz
Looked for Google Connect, Facebook Connect and OpenId on TechCrunch website, but found none. Does TechCrunch intend to implement them on its website soon?
GFC code can be easily added to blogs or websites ,Google says sites will great traffic using GFC but at least there will lot of interaction between fellow blogger through this.
Hmmm, not working for me.
Google friend connect does not work with Blogger? How is that? Is it only me, or domainless people do not deserve GFC?
could google friend connect work together with facebook connect on the same website?
Not working for me.
Still not working.
Google friend connect looks very promising and I like the features added within gmail and google reader.
I believe with what it can do it will dominate over fb connect and anything late-comer MySpace brings to market.
I agree w/alexander-social media guy
Google friend connect is working just fine for me
Most people hates it when I run a trial .
Read it in my blog :
http://www.only...social-bar.html
Same Google Friend Connect on my site AND on my Blogger blog – -Possible?
I know this might not be exactly the right place to ask this question, but I’ve been googling the solution without success for 2 days and I’m beginning to go nuts.
It’s a simple question – I have GFC on my site
http://www.real-english.com/
It works fine.
I want to have the same Google Friend Connect on my new Blogger Blog
http://the-orig...h.blogspot.com/
WITH my existing members. But when I add the widget to Blogger in the normal way, I am the only member. The other 400 members are not present.
I tried copying my “successful code” used on my site to Blogger, and that didn’t work, so I tried tweaking the code in an attempt to understand the error message
“We’re sorry…
This gadget is configured incorrectly. Webmaster hint: Please ensure that “Friend Connect Settings – Home URL” matches the URL of this site.”
Any ideas? Boy, would I be grateful!
Mike Marzio
I hope that Google Friend Connect does not go the same way that ‘notebook’ went (not being developed anymore).
I like very much the writings and pictures and explanations in your adress so I look forward to see your next writings.
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