Google Press Center: News Announcement

As is normal in the social networking space, an announcement with massive implications has snuck up on us overnight, and seeing as mainstream media has not the sense nor foresight to understand its implications, the big news drifts innocently along the formal news stream of the day.

Google Friend Connect, simply, allows any site to implement users, friend lists and third-party applications using Google’s OpenSocial. So let’s say you made a great Facebook Application, and want to spread the idea: whip it into a full blown web page, implement Google OpenSocial’s FriendConnect, and now you’ve got completely control over your destiny AND a full-sized web site to boot.

While it will take a long time, my preliminary analysis is that Google will continue to improve support for FriendConnect, and continue to woo bigger and bigger companies and websites to use it, and over the course of the next few years, it will be an important part of any site that desires to be ‘connected’.

That said, Facebook just recently moved forward with their own similarly named Facebook Connect, which allows any site on the web to provide its users with a simply “Connect to Facebook” button, which will then port in all of FB’s friend and user information, and allow for the use of applications.

What’s the conclusion here? These two companies are going to war over the areas outside Facebook’s walled garden, and the next year is going to be absolutely critical to determine whether people truly value the amount of photos, friend connections and wall posts they’ve already put into their Facebook. Because Google’s FriendConnect is going to operate as most Google products do: silently. You’ll use a feature here or there, then maybe sign up one time (if you’re not already), and one day you’ll realize all your friends are on there as well, and one guy will throw up a photo on there, and a rush will occur, where everyone heads over to make their second important Social account…

Just like when MySpacians migrated to FB.

Only time will tell.

Tags: Applications, Facebook, Google, MySpace, Social Network by Neil
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So unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past few days, Facebook launched it’s chat application to the masses, maintaining it’s rapid rollout of new features and enhancements that solidify Facebook’s place at the forefront of the social web.

What will be interesting to see, however, is how big an impact this launch will have on the usage of Windows Live Messenger, AIM, and other IM applications. Back in the old days when Instant Messaging was the hot web application, keeping in touch with new acquaintances was done through exchanging IM addresses (around the time when you thought you were cool if you had a 6-digit ICQ number). But as social networks have become the medium of choice for maintaining and creating new connections (ignoring Twitter for now), it remains to be seen whether MSN/AIM can hold on, given that their core functionality is now being built into the Facebook platform. I’d surmise that until Facebook launches a standalone IM client, there will still be a role for traditional IM applications, but their day in the spotlight will soon fade as Facebook IM begins to flourish (for the average consumer, at least).

Which brings me to my next point - where is Facebook headed next? Well, their Messaging system is pretty laughable right now and as many are saying, is completely due for a major overhaul. By leveraging your social graph, Facebook has the capability to come up with an innovative email platform that will have the potential to completely disrupt Google/Microsoft/Yahoo’s grip on email. Since Facebook knows your social relationships and who you frequently communicate with, it can begin to automatically prioritize messages and enable you to more efficiently manage the increasing amount of emails and other electronic messages that we see on a daily basis. Top this off by then integrating your existing Facebook account and features into the Email application (ie. Event Calendar), and allowing 3rd-party developers to create applications that extend your email functionality even more, and you have an email platform leaps and bounds above the ever-stagnant Hotmail’s of the world.

Tags: Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Social Network, messenger by Tim McKillican
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To celebrate the coming of Facebook’s Instant Messenger, which some refer to as the “Messenger Killer”, I thought we could reminisce about the bloody history of Instant Messaging, and the current state of affairs.

Some of you may remember a simpler time of instant messaging, when ‘uh-oh’ sounds and crudely drawn happy faces reigned supreme. ICQ, the first massively popular instant messaging program on the web, attracted users with multicoloured chat rooms and basic user profiling.  However, ICQ isn’t a term we hear round these parts too often anymore. That’s because circa 1998, King Microsoft ventured into IM land with their mandatory installs and predatory practices, stomping it out with its simple (but elegant) Windows Messenger. Despite cries from dedicated ICQ’ers about the inefficiencies of the software, it was only a matter of time, and MSN Messenger’s advantage of being built in to Windows eventually powered its way to victory (not before Mirabilis, the makers of ICQ, sold to AOL in 1998 for a cool $287 Million).

Fast forward a few years or ten, and we’re all using Microsoft’s latest incarnation: Windows Live Messenger. It’s a sure fire way of getting in touch with friends. And it sucks. Year after year another useless feature is piled on, and now we’ve got software which takes minutes to load despite the fact that at its core, it is relaying text messages between computers.

What follows is a list of “What were you thinking?” additions. Sit back and take the time to enjoy this, because I know we’re going to feel some camaraderie on how terrible we’ve been treated for the last few years as users of Messenger. Incidentally, if anybody’s listening at Microsoft: please take these features out before a competitor beats you at the relatively simple game of instant messaging. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

1) Tabs
Is it really necessary for my instant messaging client to “Sizzle”, as the Kiwee tab in this screenshot intends? I just want to talk to my friends. This tab is obviously ignored 99% of the time, but let’s say I’ve just hit the most mind-numbing day of boredom ever conceived, and I decide to give KiWee tabbing a shot. My first impression of the service would be what you see in the screenshot: one quarter of a page where about half of a ‘tool bar’ (?) is visible. I am asked to ‘log in’. Aren’t I already logged in? Simply put: What the hell does this tab mean?  Fail.

2) Pay-for-use Emoticons
… Are you actually serious? I always have to wonder if there are actually people out there that will pay for a small yellow face that has a slightly deformed smile as compared to the default emoticons given with Messenger. If you enjoy this and are reading this (almost impossible, as we have intelligence restrictions by IP address), please, let me know that I’m “out of the loop” and “all the cool kids are doing it”. Another great element of this feature is that it now takes twice as long to load the emoticon selection window.

3) The Customer Improvement Program

Everytime I start Live Messenger (and wait a few minutes for it to load) I am rewarded with the space under my name asking me to “Learn More About the Customer Improvement Program”. Despite the fact that most of Messenger’s glaring oversights should have been handled by the designers eons ago, I decide I’ll do them the favour (without pay) of letting them know what to fix, by clicking through… Hold on a second! This pop-up isn’t saying “Please enter your feedback”: It says “let us collect statistics about your Messenger usage”.  Well I’m not signing up for that.  Where is the option to remove this ‘customer service’ notice from my limited-space on Messenger?  Nowhere?  Shouldn’t this message have some sort of option to disappear? It’s been there for two years! If I didn’t click it the first time, I’m not going to do it now. Isn’t it kind of mandatory that good software allow me to remove things like this? Then again… is this good software?

4) Winks
I know exactly what you thought of this, because it’s exactly what I thought of this. “Wow, that was pretty cool.” Probably, that was the first and last time you ever used “Winks”. I’m not sure where lies the fun-factor in letting other people have the power to slap minute long animations with terrible sound across your conversation window, and probably on top of your music. But even if that sounded like roses to me, couldn’t they come up with something better than a kid throwing a balloon? After all, this is a product of the richest, brightest, most influential technology corporation in the world. Or is that Google now? Bonus: this feature also takes a sweet minute to load. Are you seeing a pattern here Microsoft? These ‘cool new upgrades’ are slowing down my life.

5) Live Spaces
Get over it. It’s not going to work, even if all of a sudden you guys label it a “social network”. It’s just another page for me to submit photos and write information about myself. But since my actual friend list is only barely integrated into the Spaces page, I guess I’m just posting for myself. You want this feature to make some impact? Let me tag the photos, let me have circles of friends, enable bulletin boards that automatically save conversations between my best friends. There’s so much you could do, but seeing as you’re not doing anything, drop it. Did I mention relabeling Spaces as a social network is like calling MySpace user-friendly?  Check out my earlier post about this, where I have a screenshot of my Spaces news feed: (unknown name) has added (unknown name).

6) Sharing Folders
I’ve tried this three times, because I actually like the idea of having a web folder between me and my friend.  Each of the three times I’ve tried, however, it has failed to connect, and not only that, each consecutive time I boot up Live Messenger, I’m now asked to resume these connections that failed in the first place. It is a P2P technology system (think BitTorrent) and I applaud MS for getting into that game, but don’t slap this button all over the place until you can have better guarantees of functionality. It doesn’t help that there is no longer a “Send File” option in my chat window, because it has been replaced with the broken “Sharing Folders”.

7) Windows Live Onecare Scanning Software
I’m sure any regular Messenger user saw this gripe coming back in section 2. It’s what prompted the article. The ‘last straw’, or so they say.

About a year back, I received a file from my brother. “This file may potentially be harmful” appeared to me in an anciently styled grey box.  Considering the only option was to click “OK”, I did.  Heading over and checking my “My Received Files” folder, I noticed the file was deleted without notice. It had taken an hour to transfer. This now happens daily with users and files of all types, and it’s gone so far as to condition us to avoid clicking the download link from within our Messenger window… for no good reason. I’ve virus-scanned and  tested files that have been blocked, and there was nothing wrong with the file.  If you ever get this error, please ignore it, then open the file in a separate window, and try scanning it: 9 times out of 10 it’s fine. What an absurd, unacceptable user experience. If software like this was released by a new startup technology company, it wouldn’t just fail, the company would get purposely and systematically refused funding for ever launching another project again.

This gets better though. A few months ago, Microsoft released Windows Live OneCare Scanner. My first impression was that it took literally 10 minutes to load while some obscure and frankly unofficial looking window loaded the software the first time a file was transferred. The second time, the window hung up and never disappeared. The third time? See image.

Windows Live OneCare informs me the file has been scanned and is fine. I click the link, the first time in a long time that I felt safe to click without my transfer being deleted… And that pop up appears again!  “There seems to be a potential problem with the file”!? That’s impossible. OneCare just said that it was fine… I give up.

In closing, Microsoft, this scathing catharticism is not an attempt to ‘beat on the big guy’ as has been done to you so many times before. It’s not any sort of Damocles’-esque suggestion to switch to open source software. Heck, I’m not even harping on the constant, rotating banner ads (remove them). This piece is a request from a legitimate, long-term user who has put up with annoyance after annoyance and simply has come to a point of exhaustion. I’m not going to stop using Messenger, nor are all my friends. We’ve grown together using Messenger. But please, for the love of money, pay attention to your users… or else!

Rant.End();

Tags: Facebook, Google, Usability, messenger by Neil
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Popular Mechanics has thrown up a thought-provoking article bringing to light the implications of social networking on the entire search industry as we know it.

I’d like to draw out one point.  Search today is being used as a tool for anonymous consumers to find the relevant information they need.  But what search today lacks is the ability to leverage the individual consumer’s social graph to provide much more relevant search results.

If I’m searching for a takeout restaurant in my area for food, I don’t just want a random list of close-by restaurants, I also want to know whether my friends, who’s opinions I trust, recommend each place or not.  I also want the search engine to know that I particularly fancy Italian food, so that it will prioritize those results.

Social media adds a new dimension to the relevancy of search results.  And with modern information overload, whoever can provide the most relevant search results will win.

Tags: Google, Search, Social Network by Tim McKillican
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I just ran across one of the most interesting blog posts I’ve read lately speculating on Web 3.0 over at Master of 500 Hats.

Not to steal Dave’s thunder, but there are a couple points I want to highlight.  The Microsoft bid to buy Yahoo is primarily to shore up it’s dominance in the Email/Instant Messaging online sectors.  Sure there are side benefits like buying up Yahoo’s advertising, search and traffic, but the winner of the Internet will be he who controls the user.

But with the battle to own the user comes the battle to own the user’s social graph, currently controlled by Facebook/MySpace/Bebo/hi5/could continue to list ad nauseum.  I keep referring to it, but all future web advertising will be contextually driven by your social graph, where brands are providing social relevance to users.  Ie. “Your friend Katie just saw (insert cookie-cutter Will Ferrell movie) and rated it 5 stars!” (ok I kid, it will be impossible for a Will Ferrell movie to be rated as excellent again… the days of Old School and Anchorman are over).

I think it’s also highly important to note the fact that we as users on the Internet now have hundreds of logins/passwords for every individual site on the net.  This is a problem that needs to be solved, and while attempts have been made (Microsoft Passport or the community driven OpenID), nothing will happen until one company owns enough of the user’s Internet life to make it beneficial for the user (really, what’s the difference in consolidating your logins from 60 to 50?).  Alternatively, if the smaller communities can build enough momentum around the OpenID concept, it could be viable, but whether that is a possibility remains to be seen.

The final piece of the puzzle are the e-commerce/payment conglomerates.  Look for the Microsoft/Google duopoly to put pressure on eBay (and their very valuable PayPal) and Amazon for merger/acquisitions in the next few years.

Where do the small players stand in this heated battle?  Well, I sort of compare it to the open source community who has not only weathered giants like Microsoft’s attempts to push them out, but actually blossomed in the modern Internet era.  If the small guys can provide real value to users, by churning out innovations while being completely flexible to quickly capitalize on new ideas, they will have a direct line to sink their (small) teeth into the necks of Google and Microsoft.  And instead of a one-sided parasitic relationship, Microsoft and Google will leverage these small-time players to come up with new innovations and either partner or swallow them up for big money when it makes sense.  And sometimes these guys will have such momentum that they will swim past these sharks to potentially become a shark themselves (could Facebook be this shark?  That question requires an entirely new post) (and one more side point - I’m not sure whether I should perhaps be calling Microsoft and Google ‘whales’ instead).

The Internet and Web 2.0 is a playground for innovation due to the extremely low barriers to entry and it’s massive channel to instantly reach all users around the globe.  It’s an exciting time to see all the fish in the sea battle (and work symbiotically) to control the Internet.

Tags: Advertising, Facebook, Google, Marketing, MySpace, Social Network by Tim McKillican
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A great interview with the founder of SocialThing!, one of two competing “lifestreaming” services. In short, services that collect and interact with information on all the different services available to you on the web.

Check it out here.

With recent moves by FriendFeed to open up its API, it’s clear that the application, developed by former Google programmers, is taking a direct shot to become an integral social tool for the web.  This threatens Facebook, MySpace and even the traditional concept of a social network.

Eventually, we may see a feed oriented web supplanted by either OpenID or perhaps a Google sign-in first.  Only time will tell how FF and Twitter progress.

Tags: Facebook, Google, MySpace, Social Network, Usability by Neil
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I recently jumped on the insider bandwagon and installed FriendFeed (www.friendfeed.com).

My first thoughts:

The interface is absolutely simple.  It’s not necessarily elegant, but the cleanliness helps navigate this functionality-heavy site.  I’m sure it will get sleeker and Googler with time.

I can’t believe how many of these services I already had accounts to: Flickr, StumbleUpon, Digg, Twitter, Google Reader, my Blog.  It felt really good to consolidate all the content into one place.

The seamless integration into Facebook is genius.  It points you to the Application without you knowing you’ve even left the site, then redirects you right back, before you know it, your Facebook is now hooked up to FriendFeed.

My second thoughts:

Every single activity I’ve ever done on any site is now completely visible to all my friends.  Wow, I completely don’t see the need for it at all.

Perhaps we really will move into utility based social networks.  Facebook for friendship and (see my last post) chat, LinkedIn for your profesional lives, and FriendFeed for finding good information and entertainment content.  I can see FriendFeed overlapping with Facebook, but I can also see this sort of model propagate and settle over the next few years.  I think the general consumer will enjoy it and slowly get used to having the multiple accounts and multiple points of usage.

Am I wrong?  Will all services assemble into one, with filters and options separating the network?  Facebook is trying to do it, with their recently announced privacy controls, they’re trying to be your work site and your private site.  I have my reservations about whether people will be able to sort out the complex controls.  I imagine people will try, and then just appreciate LinkedIn for what it is, a separate area where you can manage your ‘business’ side.

Tags: Applications, Google, Social Network by Neil
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One of the traditional kingpins of mass marketing - the Television - is slowly beginning to see the light shining from the modern advertising revolution. The 6 big cable companies in the US are teaming up to develop a customized and targeted ad system, paving the way for potentially lucrative advertising deals that can target ads based on a viewer’s viewing habits and demographics, giving the viewer a much more relevant and contextual ad viewing experience.

Now how does this relate to Facebook? Well, the goal of any advertising platform is to produce relevant ads that are in line with each individual’s interests and demographics. It’s in the advertiser’s best interest to maximize the relevance of the ad for each user, as forcing a 25-year-old male bachelor to watch a commercial on teen fashion products is pretty damn inefficient.

But in order to optimize efficiency, the more information that is available about the user, the more the ad can be targeted to his or her interests. And who is best positioned to have a complete view into the details surrounding every individual’s life? Yes - Facebook.

Social networks are unique in that users frequently volunteer many details about their day-to-day activities and social connections, not to mention they provide detailed demographic information (education, age, political views, relationship status, etc.). Whoever owns this data has the ability to leverage it to build a very powerful advertising system. I’d imagine Facebook will first use this data to build an ad platform internal to Facebook - but there’s nothing stopping them from then going one step further to license this information to 3rd parties, whether it be CNN.com or a new TV-advertising platform (I know, I know, that privacy point again). Google’s grip on contextually-based online advertising is about to face another dimension in the advertising wars. And don’t you think Google has realized this disturbing fact?

Now to address the privacy police. Of course Facebook, Google, and anyone else who owns private customer information would not dare to release it without the user’s consent. No one is disputing that fact. But as with any market-driven solution - Facebook et al. must will come up with an incentive so that it’s in the user’s best interest to make their demographic information available (individual identities will remain private, of course, so this scenario is quite feasible). Those who choose to remain anonymous can do so, but their personal experience will be limited, and most will end up consenting so as not to disrupt their experience.

This mutually beneficial relationship will drive unmatched efficiencies in modern advertising. You’re a 25-year-old male who just bought a new pair of skis? Let me show you an ad for Whistler promoting the powdered ski slopes and the happening party scene. Swap the 25-year-old to a 55-year-old and we’ll instead contrast the powdered slopes with some fancy dining and relaxing amenities. This will all be done automatically and will drive ad relevance and positioning to new extremes.

It’s an exciting time to be a part of the modern advertising revolution.

Tags: Advertising, Facebook, Google, Marketing, Social Network by Tim McKillican
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AllFacebook.com is reporting that the ex-vice president of Global Online Sales & Operations for Google is heading to Facebook. The strategic implications are obvious, but I will say that from personal experience, becoming a VP at Google means you’ve got the intelligence and the drive. It was the number 1 place to work for top candidates, two years ago.

But according to an unnamed source involved in Microsoft hiring, these days, the toughest part is attracting the golden candidates away from Facebook. The potential there is unlimited, and the possibility of growth means if you get in now, you’re set. They’re recruiting top notch candidates, across the board. All the while making connections with Apple and of course, Microsoft.

Specifically, she’s in to make Microsoft’s investment pay off.

How, you ask? I’ll quote SearchEngineWatch:

If there’s any question about her charge at Facebook, the answer lies in the Supernova Conference in San Francisco last year. Ms. Sandberg was featured in a Spotlight solo presentation.

Her topic: “Google cracked the code on monetizing search advertising. Where is advertising heading next?”

Tags: Facebook, Google by Neil
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So unless you were hiding under a rock last week, you would’ve noticed that Google announced the launch of their “Open Social” platform, creating an open standard for creating applications that run on any social networking system that implements Open Social. Several high-profile social networking companies were mentioned as partners in the announcement, including Orkut, LinkedIn, Hi5, Friendster, Salesforce.com, Oracle, iLike, Flixster, RockYou, and Slide.

What does this mean for application developers?

Well, this is great news, first of all. The movement towards an open standards-based API for application development will help alleviate the concerns many developers had about Facebook and it’s walled-garden approach to application development. This also expands the market for all application developers, as one application can be developed for a plethora of “container” social networking sites.

The floodgates that Facebook opened with the launch of their Developer’s API have now been smashed open, expanding the application development market a great deal.

What does this mean for Facebook?

This is both good and bad for Facebook. Bad, of course, since their control over the reigns of application development are being loosened (somewhat). They still have a stranglehold on the market, but a viable alternative has now been created, backed by a solid company (Google) with an open standards-based approach that developers crave.

On the other hand, this still may be good news for Facebook. The Application Development scene has been blown wide open. If there wasn’t already enough incentive for developers to start looking into social networking application development, this announcement just blew the doors wide open. The pie is only growing bigger, and Facebook stands to profit immensely.

Where have MySpace and Yahoo been lately?

Um, yeah… good question.

Tags: Facebook, Google by Tim McKillican
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