Google Who?
Google Me, for those who have not heard, is Google's rumoured attempt to drop the gloves with Facebook. After six years, Google is finally acknowledging Facebook's threat to their global dominance (read this if you're not sure why Facebook threatens Google). Are we about to see a full blown war?
Skeptical are most people of this due or die comeback. After all, we're talking about the company that produced Wave, Buzz, Orkut, and Friend Connect. Some argue that Google - like a shy, awkward nerd - is inherently incapable of being social. Adam Rifkin wrote a nice piece claiming that Google sucks at making "lobster traps." Others suggest that, with Facebook already at half a billion users, Google's best efforts will be rendered moot by sheer network effect. "Too little, too late," the pessimists bemoan.
Although leaning bearish as well, I'm reluctant to rule out Google Me. Sure, those Googlers are socially awkward, but they're insanely intelligent and creative. Even the nerd can make a few friends if he sets his mind to it.
How exactly can Google make an impact in the social arena? After weeks of listening and reading what others have to say, I've put together focus points that Google might be able to exploit:
Privacy
This one is a no brainer. For years, Facebook has been lambasted for fuzzy privacy options and mercurial privacy changes. Google needs to ride this wave of protest and present themselves as a viable alternative. The media loves "David vs Goliath" and "Good vs Evil." As long as Google keep up its typical "Don't be evil" demeanor, the media will hail victory even the if Google me is utter crap.
Privacy, however, will not give Google anything close to a victory. In fact, I'd argue that an over emphasis on privacy will only be a waste of time. Obviously, users want more power and control over their privacy ... but at what cost?
Facebook has already shown us that supporting granular privacy controls only causes confusion. Unless someone at Google comes up with an ingenius idea on how to simplify data infiltration within a social network, the "give control to our users" approach will only yield the same mind boggling cockpit that was Facebook. I would even argue that the very act of "being social" involves "being open and transparent." and that the future of human behaviours on the internet is about being more open and transparent. Mark Zuckeburg gets that. Does Google?
Developers, Developers, Developers!
Since 2007, Facebook has strived to be the almighty web platform. In the early days of applications, one pundit even hailed Facebook as the "Windows on the web!" While successful by most standards, Facebook as a platform is a far cry from Microsoft's ubiquitous operating system. The network's attempt to be the social glue of the internet is still work in progress. The problem seems to be that nobody knows exactly what this platform should look like, resulting in numerous iterations and alterations. Unlike new user interfaces and new features which take no more than five minutes to understand, platform changes require weeks or months in development time to devour and concur. The utter immensity of the social platform only compounds the problem. Developers like stability and Facebook hasn't provided any.
Looking back, Facebook has gone from Applications to Facebook Connect recently to Open Graph. The latest attempt, thanks in large to Bret Taylor, is delightfully simple relative to previous attempts. Nevertheless, meandering through the various pages of incomplete documentation remains frustrating.
With this in mind, Google can certainly win a few developers over if they keep up their high quality APIs. Friend Connect and Wave may not have won many users over, but the efforts and thoughts dedicated into the two platforms enticed a number of developers to try their hands. Of course, the two products combined multiplied by ten still won't yield a killer app, but Google's developer-centric attitude coupled with a decent social network might lead them to the promise land that Facebook has yet to reach.
Mobile
The future of social networks is mobile; that is clear. Still, Facebook's offerings on the mobile space remain unimpressive. While the mobile version (m.facebook.com) and the touch version (touch.facebook.com) deserve praise, Facebook's Android application is a joke and their iPad application is nonexistent.
We've yet to see a social application that exploits all that mobile has to offer. Fourquare is not much more than a location service but they already have a million users and counting. What if Google Me is Foursquare and more?
Android, too, is growing at a fierce pace. The exact number is unclear, but at least several million users have Android handsets. If Google Me is installed to Android by default and offers an innovative mobile social experience, who can stop them from gaining momentum?
Unfortunately for Google, the gaping hole in the Facebook mobile environment is probably temporary. Facebook's new mobile chief Erick Tseng (who ironically came from Google) seems to understand social, mobile, and location quite well. What we are currently seeing from the Facebook mobile team might just be a lull before an overwhelming takeover.
Marketing
As I mentioned earlier, with the media being media, Google Me will have little trouble lifting off. Reaching critical mass, however, will take more than just a media blitzkrieg. If those Googlers are serious about "Me", then they will ad bomb the crap out of the internet like they've done with Chrome.
The acquisition of AdMob will come in handy, especially if Google Me focuses on the mobile experience like I mentioned.
Ads is just one prong of many. It's feasible Google will push people's Me profiles atop search results. Too evil for Google, you say? That's exactly what they did in the early days of Google Profiles. For Google, the meaning of open is when it's convenient for them.
So can Google Me be something more than nothing? I've shown already that Facebook isn't perfect. So yes, it's possible. But these weaknesses are no more than cracks and fissures. Unless Google pulls off multiple ingenious ploys and Facebook stops innovating, Google Me's success remains improbable.
