Facebook, the new Google?

The following article discusses how Facebook is expanding and continuing to make improvements in order to generate more money and to compete with Google: http://adage.com/digital/article?article_id=143423

Facebook is soon “launching its universal "like" button, across the internet today, setting up pipes to gather user data from anywhere on the web. And now that users can add what topics, products or content they like to their Facebook profiles”. In other words, companies will soon have a button users can click that will show up on their Facebook page. This innovation shows how social networking has expanded beyond its own page and now companies are embracing it. This new way of expressing a user’s interest is an evolved form of behavioral targeting. Instead of ads being generated based off what a user had visited (for example, Amazon will email you recommendations of a product based off what you bought), this feature would tailor content based off what a user has “liked”.

Furthermore, Facebook “also launched a documents product with Microsoft: Docs.com. It's the web version of Microsoft's Office suite, designed to share and collaborate online. The site appears to be coming head-to-head with Google Docs.”
What this news shows is that Facebook is improving its site in order to get more money from ads. This news signifies how social networking sites is not only a platform for people to communicate, but is becoming a one-stop website. If this cross-platform idea actually works, what are the implications?
Companies need to jump on the band wagon for this idea to actually be effective. While CNN, The New York Times, and several hundred companies have joined in, Facebook needs to capitalize on the idea of liking becoming “universal”. Of course smaller sites, and personal websites, will not be targeted. If bigger companies do join, then this act alone shows how social networking sites have fully become integrated into culture.

Facebook needs to remember that their users are more important than the companies paying for ad space. While the companies support the servers for the site to be running, Facebook needs to continue to implement improvements in order for users to use their site over other social networking sites such as Twitter and Myspace. To further compete with Google, Facebook should join with other software programmers to release a variety of applications, from Microsoft Office (which is now being implemented), to Adobe for Photo editing. Having a variety of applications would enforce the site as a “one-stop” website, where users can create word documents or polish any tagged photos.

Along with giving access to users, Facebook should allow users to customize their page. While Facebook is trying to create a new form of behavioral targeting, allowing users to add color, embed videos, or even music would also show a lot about the person. The videos of songs uploaded could be used for behavioral targeting, where the site could provide recommendations similar to Amazon.com.
Currently, interpersonal communication through Facebook is only text correspondence. However, the site should allow users to communicate with their friends via video or audio bits. The site should create programs where anyone with a microphone and webcam can easily record a message to a friend. Not only would this replace Skype, an online messengers where people can do exactly that, but would further differentiate the social networking site from its competitors.

If Facebook continues to accommodate to advertisers and its users, then the site will easily take out Myspace, Twitter, and other social networking sites. Furthermore, Facebook would find its own mold on the internet where people would only visit the site to do everything from generating word documents to leaving a message to a friend. Soon enough, Facebook could no longer be branded as simply as a social networking site because the site has become more than a way for friends to communicate. I would not be surprised if Facebook joins up with Microsoft’s “Bing” search engine to directly compete with Google, trying to take away its user base in every way possible.