The battle over your online identity rages on. Google Friend Connect, the search giant’s platform that lets you accept Google and OpenID accounts on your site, has just made implementing the service about as easy as it could be. And it did it exactly two days after Facebook released its own streamlined install process for Facebook Connect. Except Google’s is better.
Up until now the install process for Google Friend Connect hasn’t been too difficult — the site walked you through a handful of steps, asked you to upload two files via FTP to your webserver, and you were done. Up until very recently Facebook Connect’s install process was significantly more confusing, but two days ago they updated it to closely match Google’s flow (though you only have to upload one file instead of two). Today Google has managed to one-up Facebook once more: Friend Connect’s new install flow doesn’t require any file uploads, which opens the door to an entirely new set of users.
Now all you need to do to implement Google Friend Connect on your site is visit this page, enter your site’s name and URL, and you’re done. Google will present you with a gallery of HTML widgets that you can copy and paste into your site.
Aside from making things easier, this opens the door to a new set of users. Namely, people who either don’t know how to use FTP, or who run their sites through hosted services that don’t grant FTP access — and there are a lot of them.
Looking at raw numbers, Google Friend Connect appears at first glance to be besting Facebook Connect by a large margin: Google reports over 5 million sites using Friend Connect, while Facebook Connect has around 15,000. But those figures are misleading. In terms of mind-share, Facebook Connect is running circles around Google Friend Connect — just look at how many mainstream sites use Facebook Connect but not Google. Facebook has made it clear that it’s trying to attract more small sites that don’t have development teams, so don’t be surprised if it strikes back with its own super-streamlined install process in the next few weeks.
“online identify” or “online identity”?
Identify has a larger profit motive
the benefit of facebook connect is user actions have the oppty to be more easily published to their friends news feeds. Will be interesting to watch though.
I think Google has an advantage here because of OpenID and easy integration.
no one cares. sorry
Um, actually, I do. Thanks.
+1
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Exciting to see where all of this is going, but in 5 years there might be a monopoly on web communication?
Net neutrality will save us.
Staples wants my identity? I guess staples.com is trying to build a community around my ink cartridge purchases.
Wierd.
Exactly. I wonder if this shoe fits all that use it? I know we’re still mired in the meme of “make your site more sticky” but does every site need social networking features?
if only Facebook Connect allowed OpenID login on the login page as well as facebook ID that would be great !
regards
John Jones
THis is more ike it. EZ Does it: http://vimeo.com/5215815
TC- FYI: I’m getting an authentication dialogue in my browser (Safari) when I hit any pages on your site. It seems there’s some protected element being served from spa.tofucube.com:80 that requires a password.
sean
Thanks Sean, looking into it.
The tool is a bit ugly and “googly”. They need to allow for more customization like width, colors, designs etc before I would slap this on my site.
Does anyone know of another social widgets bar out there with better quality design?
that button is huge!
This tool is essentially going to pull more people into google wave.
don’t think google will win this one , google has no community
Gmail? Orkut? Wave? Seems like they have a huge community to me…