Rumor Mill: Google Me social network to challenge Facebook

Google is reportedly at work on a new social networking platform designed to challenge social media kingpin Facebook. Rumors about the so-called Google Me project first surfaced over the weekend, when Digg founder Kevin Rose posted a now-deleted Twitter message reading "Ok, umm, huge rumor: Google to launch Facebook competitor very soon ‘Google Me,' very credible source." Early Facebook exec Adam D'Angelo--co-founder of Q&A search solution Quora--later corroborated Rose's tweet, explaining Google "realized that Buzz wasn't enough and that they need to build out a full, first-class social network. They are modeling it off of Facebook. Unlike previous attempts (before Buzz at least), this is a high-priority project within Google. They had assumed that Facebook's growth would slow as it grew, and that Facebook wouldn't be able to have too much leverage over them, but then it just didn't stop, and now they are really scared."

Google Buzz launched in February 2010--the handset-optimized version of the service integrates Gmail with social networking features. "Google Buzz lets you share web links, photos, videos and more with those who are important to you," wrote Google Mobile product manager Punit Singh Soni on the Official Google Mobile Blog. "Rather than simply creating a mobile version of Buzz, we decided to take advantage of the unique features of a mobile device--in particular, location.", Google Buzz for mobile allows users to post status updates and comments directly from their smartphones, additionally using location to identify places in the immediate vicinity; users can select those sites to add as tags to their posts, or read what others have posted about a particular landmark.

Facebook ranks as the most popular mobile application across rival smartphone platforms according to survey data compiled by The Nielsen Company. Thirty-nine percent of smartphone owners used the Facebook social networking app in the last 30 days--it is the most popular app on the iPhone (used by 58 percent of consumers) and BlackBerry (39 percent), and the second most popular on Android (51 percent). Google Maps is second across smartphone platforms, used by 33 percent of consumers in the last 30 days--it's the most popular app among Android owners (used by 67 percent), second on BlackBerry (34 percent) and third on iPhone (47 percent, 1 percentage point behind Apple's iTunes).

For more on the Google Me rumors:
- read this InsideFacebook article

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