There have been rumours about Google building a social network to rival Facebook ever since departed Google CEO Eric Schmidt refused to deny it in the middle of last year. Since then the SEO blogging community has been awash with rumours of a 'Google Me' and 'My Google' as two potential names of the rumoured network and a slew of expected launch dates.
While the Google Facebook killer has not yet arrived, Google has been busy integrating the social web in its organic search results and existing web properties (like Google Places) and it has, quietly been experimenting with what, to all intents and purposes, appears to be a borderless, Internet-wide social network based around a Google Account.
Let's look at the evidence. Back at the beginning of 2010 Google started showing social recommendations, made by friends, at the bottom of organic search results (the so called social search initiative). To do this Google started taking into account Tweets and Facebook comments as well as recommendations made through Google Buzz. At the tail end of last year these recommendations stopped appearing at the bottom of the organic search results page and, for users who were logged into their Google Account, appeared integrated into the search results.
It was a small move with huge strategic implications, which not many spotted. Google has struggled to apply a cohesive social web layering across its many properties but finally, with the unveiling of the Google +1 Button its strategy, and for now at least, is beginning to appear more clearly.
The +1 Button is the Google equivalent of Facebook's 'Like' button, with plans to make it available to websites as well as Google search globally, it allows Google to leverage its powerplayer position in search to jump-start social sharing. Google's vision is a social network without borders based upon individual preferences and powered by a Google Account.
In addition to the +1 Button it has in place Google Hotpot where it allows people to rate services across the web, the results of which then appear in Google Places (Google's indexing of information on businesses which don't even have a website), and Google Latitude - its location-aware mobile app also powered by the Google Account.
With Google search being able to be tailored to individual preferences and likes through the Google Account it would appear that Google is using that as the hub around which its millions of global users will be able to experience a personalized experience in the social web.
The billion dollar question here, quite literally, is whether this is enough to stop Facebook's attempts to encroach more and more into Google territory and, more importantly, online ad revenue. Facebook has managed to get where it is because it has proven to be a site that is sticky to its many users and provides a clearly-understood path advertisers and marketers can follow when it comes to reaching their potential audience.
Whatever Google does will have to provide the same simplicity for business and sense of empowerment for the end-user. Failing that it is unlikely that ideology alone will be sufficient to make the global social web concept the success Google needs if it is to successfully challenge Facebook.
Of course, we could, in just a few months be privy to the roll out of 'Google Me' or whatever else Google might call a social network, in which case all this will be redundant as a brand new hunting ground for Internet marketers and advertisers will suddenly be on offer.