Open Social.
I think I just heard about the marketing (as a service) idea of the year.
For those of you who haven’t been following; today Google announced a new open web API called Open Social (URL not live till Nov 1). This allows developers to write widgets/applications ONCE, that will then run on ANY social networking platform that also adopts Open Social. This list happens to include pretty much every social network EXCEPT FACEBOOK. Marc Andreesen has a fantastic writeup of it here.
Spectators have already connected the dots:
(i) On May 24, Facebook goes from being hot to blazing hot by opening itself up to applications from outside developers. Andreesen (again) writes the seminal piece on this.
(ii) Microsoft and Google engage in a bidding war to serve advertising for Facebook. On October 24, Facebook picks Microsoft also getting a $240 million investment as part of the deal.
(iii) Google gets pissed because Facebook makes lots of noise about a creating a completely different advertising model online. SocialAds.
(iv) Everyone piles on. The sharks smell blood and even Motley Fool thinks the time is right for Microsoft to crush Google.
(v) I admit it…I have my doubts about Google too…
(vi) On October 31, Google comes roaring back with Open Social, instantly making Facebook/Microsoft seem like the closed, proprietary solution. By the way, they also just KILLED Facebook’s advertising advantage making their November 6 event much less important. Yet the biggest news is that they’ve done this without engaging in a war or words. Instead, they’ve done this by creating a service that delivers huge amounts of utility to a vast number of different companies!
(vii) I mutter under my breath that I won’t doubt Google again.
David Esrati Says:
November 3rd, 2007 at 12:34 pmnever, ever, doubt Google.
They’ve shown from the beginning that they get web 2.0 and will invent web 3.0 before anyone else. The powerful idea of free combined with useful is a winning combination.
They have the money, the brains (comes with all the money) and the critical mass to be a bigger gorilla than Microsoft can ever be (M$= expensive and difficult).
Facebook just lost it’s cred.
Remember Googles mantra: do no evil? It works.