Search Engine Optimization News Blog

Lately we have heard about Facebook, one of the popular social networking site’s plans to launch the Connect feature. Using the connect feature users can sign in to any of the partner sites using the Facebook login. Google as always has managed to surprise the online community with its own version of Connect feature by name Friend connect. Google is always fierce in fighting its competition. Google, visibly does not like to lose its market share in any form to Facebook or to anyone, it will do everything possible to strongly guard its market share if not increase it.

A number of web publishers have been getting Google’s invitation asking them to try this feature in their website since yesterday. This has become the talk in twitter. Google was swift with its version of Connect feature while Facebook is still trying to popularize its version. Facebook’s open efforts were seen last month when it tried the beta version of the connect feature on CitySearch, one of the local review sites and other sites.

The online community feels that Google’s move may not be a highly beneficial one to Google. If Facebook is launching Connect feature, it is building the entire feature on its popular social networking interface. Whereas Google does not have a social networking face. Google user profiles are relatively lesser when compared to the popular social networking site, Facebook. Facebook sees at least 125 million users every month. Probably Google’s reasoning behind it should be that it should not lose users, just because it does not have something others have for instance in this case, Facebook’s Connect feature. Alternatively, Google could have tried Friend Connect or based Friend Connect on YouTube; such a move would have made more sense rather than trying this feature without any strong base.

When you use Friend Connect, you will be able to log into Orkut or your Plaxo profile. However, Plaxo seemingly had already volunteered for Facebook’s Connect feature. Google’s Orkut is not as popular as Facebook in all the countries otherwise; Google would have probably used Orkut as the platform for Friend Connect. Orkut is not famous in the US for some reason.

According one of Google’s original announcements, Google will allow you to sign into Google accounts using Facebook login. But Facebook was careful not to take the bait; it blocked access to Google. Another social networking competitor MySpace though it is not competing on the Connect feature with Google or Facebook, it is also not ready to allow Google to access its user database. With other social networking competitors proving to be less cooperative, Google has to gather its own flock for its Friend Connect feature. We can never be sure what Google is capable of doing to fight this competition. The complete launch of the Connect features from both companies is scheduled for coming spring. So there is some time for each of them to work on their clout.