Google and Facebook are kind of in a war on multiple fronts—for Silicon Valley talent, for Internet dominance and now for social networking.
Facebook is essentially setting itself up as a secondary Internet, while Google is doing all kinds of things and already basically runs the original Internet. They’ve been fighting for Silicon Valley developers (possibly overpaying them and creating a Talent Bubble).
And now they’ll be going head to head on social networking with the launch of Google+ yesterday.
The jury is still out on Google+ of course. For one, it’s not the first time Google has dipped their toes into the social networking pool. And those little dips—including Wave and Buzz—didn’t turn into full-scale swims.
The Washington Post has some skeptical, sarcastic chat comments up about it…
“Can’t wait to try Google+, because if anything Wave, Latitude, Buzz, Orkut, Jaiku & Dodgeball proves Google knows how to run social networks.”
“This Google+ thing is totally going to make Buzz look like Wave.”
But the overall first impressions seem to be positive rather than negative. PCWorld thinks Google+, despite a few things to work out, could be legit.
According to the online magazine, it has a “slick interface” and offers some subtle improvements on Facebook, particularly with content sharing and security (a concern for many Facebook users). It could give Facebook a run for its money, in fact.
And some experts think Google+ could be a boost for Google’s market value. Larry Haverty, portfolio manager for Gamco Investors Inc., had a lot of positive things to say in an interview with Bloomberg Television. Gamco has $35 billion in assets under management with Google as a top-ten holding.
Haverty said Google+ could exploit a few flaws in Facebook and could be “a huge market for them if they get it right.”
According to Haverty, the market hasn’t been giving Google enough credit with its valuation because Google has lately been focusing efforts on talent acquisition and development. Also, Google never lets the cat out of the bag on new developments before they’re actually released (as was the case with Google+).
But Haverty thinks Google’s stock is gonna rise, helped by Google+ and the other things the company is doing, including dominating the smartphone market with Android.
“This is gonna be a wake-up call for Mother Market,” he said.
It’s not crazy to think that Google+ could compete with Facebook, which has actually lost a good many users recently (over 6 million last month). Some people think Facebook may have peaked as a social networking site. (It’s still evolving as a business networking site and as a secondary Internet.)
In any case, I’m just wondering where these two juggernauts will finally collide down the road—they’re both still evolving. What will they finally become and which will win?
I’m also wondering in the short term how Google+ will affect Facebook’s value and its I.P.O. scheduled for the first quarter next year. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see. In the meantime, it’s fun to watch.
