Who’s Afraid Of Facebook? Google.
At least that’s the latest argument being made, this time in an article by claiming Adage that Google is afraid of Facebook.
Just as Google has become what some people call the operating system for search, Facebook is turning itself into the operating system for social networking. While Google knows what millions of people are searching for, Facebook has something the search giant hasn’t been able to grow: a network of connections between people that creates a viral distribution platform unrivaled by any portal or search engine.
There’s some pretty good facts in this article, which mainly focuses on what makes Facebook such a prized target out there if anybody can manage to snatch it up.
For instance, think about when you go to Amazon.com. You are immediately greeted with a recommendation for a book or movie or CD that Amazon thinks you might enjoy. But what makes them think this? Well, from judging what you’ve bought in the past and what items you’ve reviewed, they can built a rough estimate of your taste. Yet this is only a rough estimate, for hardly anybody does ALL of their book and movie shopping through Amazon. I personally only buy old and used books through them and instead buy new ones that I want to read immediately at a nearby bookstore. Plus, if I see a used book cheaper on Half.com, I’ll easily buy it there. Thus Amazon only knows about maybe 20% of the books I purchase. Surely that other 80% should factor into Amazon’s recommendations, no?
Now imagine if Facebook were to sign a partnership deal with Amazon and give them access to everybody’s profile. Immediately, Amazon could scan your profile, see the movies and books you’ve listed as your favorites, and build a much stronger suggestion system. Heck, take it one step further. They could easily scan your wall comments and see what books or movies you and your friends have talked a lot about, thus giving Amazon a good idea of what items have strong buzz and thus should be pushed heavier.
There are many other scenarios where buying Facebook wouldn’t just make sense, it’d make the purchasing company boatloads of money. The only questions at this point are A) Will Facebook actually be sold? and B) For how much?
