Google and Social Media

Earlier this week, Google hinted at a "social layer" which it wants to embed in its search engine and other offerings. Although vaguely described, it has been dubbed "Google Me." This information comes from Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt and as a result of recent acquisitions of other social networking sites. Facebook has also eclipsed Google as the most visited site in the nation and Google is recognizing the power of social networking. We even mentioned this in class last week when we thought about the amount of time spent on Google (a few seconds searching for something) vs. Facebook (much longer looking at friend's profiles, playing games, etc.). Furthermore, data is a differentiating factor and gives compaines competitive advantage. Google's strength lays in harnessing the power of data freely available on the web. Facebook, however, has massive amounts of data but it is behind closed doors. Google has of course, tried social networking before but with little success. What will this new offering look like? How will Google entice users and reach a critical mass? It will be very interesting to see how this plays out.