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Today, the Google-Facebook rivalry isn't just going strong, it has evolved into a full-blown battle over the future of the Internet—its structure, design, and utility. For the last decade or so, the Web has been defined by Google's algorithms—rigorous and efficient equations that parse practically every byte of online activity to build a dispassionate atlas of the online world. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg envisions a more personalized, humanized Web, where our network of friends, colleagues, peers, and family is our primary source of information, just as it is offline. In Zuckerberg's vision, users will query this "social graph" to find a doctor, the best camera, or someone to hire—rather than tapping the cold mathematics of a Google search. It is a complete rethinking of how we navigate the online world, one that places Facebook right at the center. In other words, right where Google is now.
There's an interesting piece on Wired that I thought you'd appreciate.
Google would love to get some of Facebook's data, and, as long as Facebook keeps Google at arms length, under those terms, perhaps, it has a chance of remaining dominant.
Where are your bets going?
it's only useful in a pure 'play' way. I've had no use for it for work or effective use for it anyway.
Enter.... linkedin. ;)
I think people who use facebook have more time than me. My cousin seems to spend his life on there but for me I have some work to do.
Same as linkedin. I used it at first and occassionally people add me but I have never really made a business connection from it.
As with anything web, a lot of it will always come down to luck and implementation etc.
eg: I barely used linkedin and made a few deals almost immediately. (I was pretty impressed as you can imagine with linkedin from then on). I don't like FB, but I made fb connections I wouldn't have otherwise, and of course its great for just social connections with old Highschool buds I lost track with.
Good enough for me. And good enough to build a solid biz model (if they are smart).
Again, I'm just giving contention to all the blanket google fanship and blanket Social Networks are a fad type posts.
It seems fairly given that social networking sites/industry/biz model will get MORE advanced and sophisticated with time.... not the reverse. And its just pretty bizarre to me that ppl don't believe that (or see that).
I could be wrong.. but I know which way I'd bet if had to put money down now on "SNS is a fad: yes or no".
but that's just me. :)
[edited by: GrendelKhan_TSU at 10:48 am (utc) on June 24, 2009]
I see an ad that starts by referring to <my spouse's name> being my spouse, there's no way I'll buy from them and I wonder whether I want to be on FB at all.
An app insists on having all my data before letting me see what somebody else has done and asked me to look at - I wonder whether I want to be on FB at all.
An app pesters me to give up my friend list so that it can spam them - I wonder whether I want to be on FB at all.
An app pesters me to give up my (irrelevant to the app) data - I wonder whether I want to be on FB at all.
FB is by far the worst aggressively capitalistic environment it is my misfortune to regularly experience today. I log in less and less frequently. Unless FB rein in their advertisers I won't be there to pay for any killer app or game that may come out. At the very worst treat me like a customer and not as a data source to be mined (otherwise I won't even be a customer). If you're good enough then people will talk about you anyway without being pestered fifty times a day to email their friends about you.
I think FB may be an education to many when they finally realise how much information on themselves they irretrievably given up to marketers.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg envisions a more personalized, humanized Web, where our network of friends, colleagues, peers, and family is our primary source of information, just as it is offline. In Zuckerberg's vision, users will query this "social graph" to find a doctor, the best camera, or someone to hire—rather than tapping the cold mathematics of a Google search
That may be so. And how exactly is Facebook coming in there? They may be the platform where Uncle Mike tells his nephew Charlie what camera to get. But how are they going to monetize this?
Linkin has a niche that will get some paid subscribers. Status 203 offers a very good wrapup.
Personally, I think it is possible that Facebook could Dominate the Net, it would have to:
Dont know why I'm saying this stuff, as I'm not Facebook's greatest fan.
As for it being a trend, facebook is to social networking as ebay is to online auctions (and neither social networking nor online auctions are going away anytime soon.) Ebay dominates because people want to sell their stuff where there are the most potential buyers. Ebay's competitors have failed, even those with better websites, because who in their right mind would try to sell something at auction where there were fewer bidders? Over the years, ebay has shown itself to be incompetent in many ways, but they have even fewer competitors now than before.
In the same way, social networking is all about where the people are. My 75 year old mom is on facebook. My high school buddies are on facebook. My kids are on facebook. Truthfully, I've never noticed slow page load times on facebook, I guess that is secondary to the experience I have on facebook.
Now that facebook has such great momentum, it will be hard to stop, just like ebay. Zuckerburg could screw it up, but he's got an incredible asset that is likely to succeed for a long time to come.
I'm also surprised at the lack of imagination here for potential revenue models. Many of the possibilities do have that eerie big brother feel that the Wired article describes so well, but the possibilities at least exist with facebook where they have never existed in the history of mankind. Think iPhoto facial recognition meets a databank of billions of photos, already tagged by millions of free volunteers. There's got to be some way to monetize that.
I'm just saying...
Back to the eBay analogy: remember when Yahoo was the undisputed #1 web destination and they rolled out Yahoo Auction? It was probably a better system than eBay, and it was free for sellers, but it never took off. Google certainly has deeper pockets than Yahoo ever did, but I just don't see it scratching facebook without it being easy to use by even the technologically inept (like my mom).
Google: Type what you're looking for, click the search button.
Win = Google
No Ads
Premium CDN
Wall Tabs - create up to 10 tabs and use simple logic rules to place content. Posts by person X go to Tab Y. Posts by application Z go to Tab D. Posts by unknown applications go to Tab SPAM. etc..
Premium App Items - Sign up for Facebook Premium through Application X and get super cool bonus item Y (of course application X gets an affiliate payment from FB).
Although the above skews more heavily towards the gamers on FB. But hey the FB game developers are currently making more money than FB so they might be on to something.
Then a funny thing started to happen, my generation (35+) joined facebook. Suddenly, I started to run into old high school friends I have not seen in 20+ years. Then my family - that is all over the US - and I started keeping up with their lives through facebook. I now visit FB again, 3-4 times a day and consider myself locked into a long term user there.
I wonder how many millions upon millions of people can say the same?
This aint high school MySpace we are talking about. It is not self interested professional linkedIn. I think FaceBooks real power is not in general social networking, but in much more sticky and powerful Family networking.
Of all the sites that FaceBook competes with, I think there are 2 two that should be the most concerned: Flikr and YouTube. Facebook has/is rapidly taking over the role once played by Flikr. Videos are starting to pop up on Facebook book in rapid succession. People no longer want to post personal pics/videos in public.
I don't think FB is much of a pure threat to Google in the search realm, but I do think they are a major player for attention and eye balls.
I don't think them just going to a subscription model is workable so they're going to have to be smarter than that. It'll end up being FB Premium...more storage space, larger photo sizes allowed, e-mail account, that type of thing.
But how are they going to monetize this?
changing economy regarding ad income and that it is unlikely people will pay to subscribe
There are plenty of ways to monetize and I even posted a couple that work fine for some other similar sites. Ads and subscriptions are the most obvious, but far from the only possible ways to monetize.
And the other monetization options aren't theoretical. I'm talking similar sites that monetize successfully NOW. FB could easily benchmark them.
I'm also surprised at the lack of imagination here for potential revenue models. ...the possibilities at least exist with facebook
That's what I'm saying.
Why is everyone so stuck on ads and subscriptions as the only possible ways to monetize?
where they have never existed in the history of mankind.
Actually, as above, they have and DO exist. Again, Cyworld in Korea is a prime example.
I don't think FB is much of a pure threat to Google in the search realm,
That's also what I was saying...
I see FB and Google more likely to end up co-existing, just with more cross-over areas, if with equal animosity. some will always just search. some will always look for more interaction.
Youtube and Flickr are specialized, so in the least I think FB could leverage them rather than worry about them. reverse though, youtube and flickr should worry if FB eats up their market share.
From the search perspective, when it gets down to it, I think twitter is more a direct potential threat in the search area (ie: real-time search).
ie: The premise FB vs Google is misleading in the first place. They are both fruit... but apples and oranges. ^^
they will collide... but maybe to make fruit juice.
[edited by: GrendelKhan_TSU at 5:29 am (utc) on June 25, 2009]
it will be interesting to see what apps are created for google wave, to see if it can dent the social scene.
Just today I noticed that FB lets you define family relationships with other users. There's an updated basic info section. What's next, wanna know my shoe size too?
Paraphrasing - facebook are changing things so that users can;
a) define groups (possibly on the fly)
b) post stuff to these groups only
So now I'll be selectively passively updating friends and family through facebook - and facebook hope I'll start updating the world as seen in twitter.
* Birthday
* Link to / or discussion of maternal grandparents.
* First pet
* First school
* Favourite film/book/music etc
etc
Hmm, sure I've seen that list somewhere else as well.
And as for everyone saying FB can't make money, at least they are making some, how much does Youtube make ?
And once you have your browser favorites or bookmarks full of good sites you can go straight to them.
Today i have spend 3 hours finding a way to resell facebook as i do with my AdWords MCC account. I have search for help, cant find anything. even in facebook site. what a bad service. i will make some money for them and they don't have even a good FAQ page?
One Google Wave will rule them all. Yea, mom cant use it, but u will be a dad and your girl a mom in a couple of years.
I think Google is going for that long-term. Little by little they took docs, sites, photos, analytics, adwords, merchant center (ebay competitor), checkout (paypal competitor), rss, etc ...
They have been to smart, they even have a "google professional program" where you do exams. To be certified you need to manage more than $10K in adwords.
HU? On google i pay they for being certified, resell their product and give my clients the support they dont ! what a good business is that.
On the other hand i have facebook, i can figure out how the hell i can sell their ads service.
So If I had the choice I would go for Facebook Advertising. AS they show pics and to the demographics I want.
Why cant the 2 things co-exist.
Social Networking is fun fro some pople.
Searching is important for other people.
So people do both, some people do neither.
I think Googe Wave will be impressive but I doubt it will pass the "mom test", that is, it will be too complicated for my mom to use it, therefore it is unlikely to have mass appeal like facebook does. Social networking without mass appeal won't work.
Then a funny thing started to happen, my generation (35+) joined facebook. Suddenly, I started to run into old high school friends I have not seen in 20+ years. Then my family - that is all over the US - and I started keeping up with their lives through facebook. I now visit FB again, 3-4 times a day and consider myself locked into a long term user there.
