Not that we’re saying that GOOG stock has hit $700 simply because of this announcement, but it is interesting to watch these two stories unfold on the same day.
On October 29th, we learned that Google was planning on launching it’s own social network - of sorts. Under the code name “Maka-Maka”, it was revealed that Google planned to - at least indirectly - compete with Facebook by launching an open development platform that can access not just Googles’ information, but also the information of other social networks as well. This would give developers the ability to aggregate data from Google, LinkedIn, Orkut, and other social networks in their applications.
More details emerged today when Michael Arrington revealed on Techcrunch that the platform will allow fairly comprehensive access to information. The new project, which will be called OpenSocial (not yet launched as of this writing), will provide access to any network which chooses to allow access to their information.
Arrington notes that OpenSocial will involve a set of API’s that will allow developers to access the following information in participating social networks:
- Profile Information (user data)
- Friends Information (social graph)
- Activities (things that happen, News Feed type stuff)
So far, OpenSocial will provide access to the information of Orkut, Salesforce, LinkedIn, Ning, Hi5, Plaxo, Friendster, Viadeo and Oracle.
Originally, the date given for the launch of OpenSocial was on or after November 5th, however Arrington notes today that the platform may now launch as early as Thursday.
Analysis
At SMX Social Media last week, we were involved in a lot of discussion about how there needed to be some kind of system that could access all these social networks. Between digg, facebook, myspace, linkedin, ning, and others, there aren’t enough hours in the day to be active or effective in them all. An overarching system that could access all of these systems at the same time would be a social marketers dream come true. It is this need that OpenSocial could - potentially - satisfy.
Coming on the heels of Microsoft’s acquisition of 1.6% Facebook for $240 million (to some criticism), this news would seem to suggest that Google did not have as big a stake as Microsoft in winning the small slice of Facebook. Why buy a piece of real estate if you can run the toll booth for everyone entering and leaving? If OpenSocial becomes widely adopted, Google would find itself at the very epicenter of online social networking, tied in with multiple levels of user data.
At the same time, there is potentially a lot of value for developers and savvy marketers in OpenSocial. With the ability to access multiple sources of social profile information, without having to learn yet another programming language, comes the ability to more easily tailor content to specific people. If marketers can access the likes and dislikes of a visitor, map out aggregate friend and network information, and understand what visitors are interested in, then promotional and marketing activities can be more effectively tailored to the market. And as we all know… ads can be unobtrusive - even helpful - if they are relevant enough.