Will Google Start Its Own Social Network Soon?

Competition makes the world go around and, according to the article below, Facebook had overtaken Google in internet searches in March.Weekly traffic at Facebook exceeded Google’s for the first time that month, according to data tracker Experian Hitwise. It just makes sense then that Google will offer a social network service in order to compete.This is expected to happen sometime within the next six months or so
   . . . June


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Facebook Says Google May Start Social Networking Site Within Six Months
Bloomberg:  By Mark Lee - Sep 14, 2010 2:09 PM ET 
 
Facebook Inc., operator of the world’s most popular social-networking site, said Google Inc. may offer a similar service within six months as demand from Internet users increases.

Google is expected to start “a fairly significant social media platform,” Stephen Dolan, commercial director for Asia at Facebook, said at a conference in Hong Kong today. Google may unveil the website in “three to six months,” according to Dolan, who said his projection is based on information from media reports.

Google is stepping up acquisitions after its search engine was overtaken by Facebook, whose service allows users to share photos, video, short messages and other information with groups of friends, as the most-visited U.S. website in March. Weekly traffic at Facebook exceeded Google’s for the first time that month, according to data tracker Experian Hitwise.

“Facebook is the leader in the emerging Social Web and will face challenges from many players, both large and small,” said Ray Valdes, an analyst at Gartner Inc. “Google is Facebook’s most direct competitor, because Google is dominant in the previous generation of the Web, the content-centric Web.”
Google’s social network service won’t mandate a direct response, provided Facebook continues to carry out its mission of becoming the world’s social utility, Valdes said in an e- mailed statement.

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