UPDATED 08:26 EDT / JULY 02 2010

Google Me Wouldn’t Be Any More Private than Facebook

Rumors of a new Google product that could blow Facebook out the water are gaining steam, with social media pundits weighing in on Twitter and elsewhere. Adding fuel is Google’s own CEO making vague comments about the launch of a social network. And as unfounded as the rumors are, the possible project is something that a lot of people seem to be looking forward to.

Blame it on Facebook, or our current times. We’ve reached a point with our social media behavior that made us realize just how much information is being shared amongst each other. It doesn’t always look pretty, it sometimes leads to divorce, and it’s all done in a way that seems pretty sneaky to some users. Opt-in versus opt-out, default versus these 101 radio buttons on your privacy settings page. Who will save us from this peril?

Apparently, Google Me. The rumored project is one that could create a social existence around your current Google activity, and offer highly personalized search tools. The reason behind such a project would be to circumvent the need to tap into Facebook’s social data in order to offer such personalized feedback to users. It would also give users an alternative to Facebook.

Are we ready to jump Facebook’s ship already? I feel a lot of you would say yes to that question. In many ways, I’d give an emphatic “yes” myself. But I’m not sure I’d be throwing myself at Google just for the sake of leaving Facebook. They’re not going to offer any more privacy to users than Facebook.

Looking at Google’s launch history, most of its products don’t wind up being the most widely adopted. Many projects get rolled into larger initiatives, and we find ourselves using them without even knowing. Google has its own web-based portal, its own mobile platform, and a very long to-do list. Google has been battling the privacy war from the very beginning.

Facebook’s been tweaking its privacy settings and options these past few months, trying to win back its default popularity. Anyone that launches a worthwhile alternative to Facebook will bring more options to users, but will have to compromise privacy in an effort to monetize in the end. Google may have the resources to do so, but it’s previous social launches have fallen short in the popularity and privacy departments (Buzz, anyone?).

With Microsoft getting first dibs on Facebook’s social search data, it’s understandable that Google would want to launch its own social alternative. But whatever it launches, I doubt it will be a concentrated effort to merely undercut Facebook. Google’s strength is in aggregating the many access points it has, connecting users with data. Microsoft is working its way back through social mechanisms, while Google is moving forward into the social realm.

Which means, Google will have to become social anyway. Whther this social status emerges from a Google Me network or merely leverages existing connections you have throughout your Google network, the social thing will happen for Google. In order to achieve the level of personalized search tools and action items Google wants to offer, they’ll have to become more social.

Google’s social project will probably have just as many privacy issues as Facebook. Both Google and Facebook updated user privacy controls this past week in order to appease consumers–they’re both potential privacy black holes. In the end, Facebook and Google are going to have more comprehensive privacy settings that can be managed throughout a network or service, becoming a part of the network instead of a time consuming, administrative nightmare. Consumers will need to think more about the ways in which they can control their own privacy themselves or through third parties–not which site is less likely to compromise it.


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