Image via CrunchBaseThe tweet sent a quiver through the blogosphere: "Google to launch Facebook competitor very soon."
That line, from Kevin Rose, the tech entrepreneur who founded the Digg content-sharing site, unleashed a sense that the online world as we know it was about to fundamentally change.
The idea that Google, the world's dominant online search company, would take on Facebook, the world's dominant social networking site, intrigued business analysts and bloggers alike. They set out to guess what the service, reportedly called "Google Me," would be like.
They predicted Google's efforts could yield a "Facebook killer." Google has confirmed so little about its strategy that it's unclear how or what results it might bring. But the speculation has been rampant.
What is Google after? Your time. Networking takes more of it than searching. And time is money, as they say.
Some wondered whether Google would integrate its existing social-networking services, Orkut (a "friends" network popular in Brazil and India) and Buzz (a messaging tool integrated into Gmail). Analysts estimate that the two would have a combined membership of 400 million - making it a decent-size competitor to Facebook's 500 million-plus-member service.
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