Google to launch Facebook competitor called "Google Me"

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Rumor: Google to launch Facebook competitor called "Google Me"

According to a tweet by the ever-so-famous Kevin Rose, Google is set to launch their very own Facebook competitor called "Google Me." The man best known for starting Digg.com is calling the news a "huge rumor," yet makes it clear that the word comes from a "very credible source." It's a little late in the year for an April Fools joke, and Kevin Rose is usually pretty on-the-ball when it comes to these sort of things.

Earlier in the year, Google became much more involved in the social networking scene when it force-launched Google Buzz upon all of its Gmail users. The Twitter-like service allows users to post status updates from various sources with no character limit, the ability to include embedded media, and an organized threaded inbox-like user interface. Google was quickly criticized for its lack of privacy consideration when Buzz was first launched, but has since rectified the issues. Buzz's direct Gmail integration makes it a convenient alternative to other micro-blogging and social networking sites.

Google taking on Facebook would definitely be an unexpected move. At the same time, Google has always pushed themselves to try and do everything that everyone else does, just better. Perhaps with "Google Me," the Mountain View company feels it has something better to offer the many oodles of Facebookers out there.

 

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Ex Facebook-CTO adds weight to "Google Me" rumours

What has started as a tweet has evolved into more than a Buzz.

After Kevin Rose tweeted that "Google [is] to launch Facebook competitor very soon", Adam D'Angelo, Facebook's Ex-CTO, has posted a Q&A on Quora. D'Angelo, who founded Quora after leaving Facebook, is confident that Google has something up its sleeve.

"This is not a rumor. This is a real project. There are a large number of people working on it. I am completely confident about this."

He also acknowledges that Twitter competitor Buzz "wasn't enough and that they need to build out a full, first-class social network. They are modeling it off of Facebook."

This comes less than a week after Rose's initial cryptic twitter comments, which have created quite the buzz in the tech community.

If validated, it shows Google knows how to pick its timing. Fresh off the heels of public Facebook privacy backlash, Google has the potential opportunity to create a new network without the concerns that have plagued Facebook. Google is known to be a major player in the search and data mining industry, and as this is their #1 revenue source, it should be clear that Google will expand its sphere of influence while also maintaining its standards of collection. If Google can balance privacy with their own business interests, Facebook could have a major competitor on its hands.

Orkut and Buzz haven't amounted to much, so what's Google got up their sleeves this time?