Friend Connect by Google

Friend Connect by Google
- Is it the next big thing?

According to TechCrunch, Google will unveal it’s long-awaited preview of it’s latest endeavor called Friend Connect on Monday the 12th of March. Friend Connect “will be a set of APIs for Open Social participants to pull profile information from social networks into third party websites”.

Last Thursday, Data Availability (by MySpace) was released and Facebook is planning to release Facebook Connect sometime in the future, both are competitors to Google’s Friend Connect. The reason for this latest drive is because these companies are feel that whoever surfaces as the top players in this field, they are most likely the ones to control user data over the long haul.

According to sources, Google’s Friend Connect may not be as attractive as MySpace’s and Facebook’s because they are keeping a closer eye on data by requiring third parties to show it directly from Google’s servers in an iframe…. Whereas MySpace and Facebook are sending data via an API and trusting third parties not to abuse it. So there may be some drawbacks to Google’s Friend Connect, but if the rumors persist… their version of this social network system will be a more secure place to use. We shall see.

Sources:

Google brings Friend Connect to the masses
http://www.news.com/8301-13953_3-9941411-80.html?tag=nl.e703

Google To Launch “Friend Connect” On MondayThree’s Company Or Three’s A Crowd?
http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/05/09/threes-company-google-to-launch-friend-connect-on-monday/

Will Google Join the Crowd With A “Friend Connect” Platform?
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/google_to_join_the_crowd_with.php