[Infowarrior] - Yahoo and MySpace join with Google

[Richard Forno]

 Yahoo and MySpace join with Google

Reuters
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
http://www.iht.com/bin/printfriendly.php?id=11413976

SAN FRANCISCO: Yahoo, Google and MySpace said Tuesday that they would create
the OpenSocial Foundation to maintain a neutral, community-governed forum
for developing applications for social networks.

Google presented its OpenSocial network in November to lure developers who
were already creating popular Web applications on social networks like
Facebook.

Google, owner of the most popular Internet search engine, said the support
of its rival Yahoo for the OpenSocial software would allow developers to put
their programs on a broader range of social networking sites.

Teaming with Yahoo gives the alliance the backing of the most visited U.S.
Web site. Google and sites like MySpace, the most popular online social
network, have sought more programs to appeal to users as they compete for
advertising revenue in a market that some analysts estimate could grow 69
percent over the next three years.

Internet users have flocked to social sites where they can keep up with
their friends, show pictures, share music and play games. Visitors to
Facebook grew fourfold to 100.7 million in January from a year earlier,
while uses of MySpace rose 15 percent to 109.3 million in that period,
according to ComScore, a research company in Reston, Virginia.

The increased popularity is luring advertisers, who are eager to target Web
users based on their age, location and hobbies. Ad spending on social
networks in the United States may jump to $2.7 billion by 2011, according to
EMarketer in New York.

The alliance may help Yahoo make headway in the social networking market,
where Facebook and MySpace have won an increasing share of graphical banner
ads. Spending on social networking sites more than doubled last year, while
sales growth at Yahoo slowed to 8 percent, down from 22 percent in 2006.

Google, based in Mountain View, California, recruited networking sites like
LinkedIn, Friendster and Ning as early OpenSocial supporters, as well as
makers of business software like Oracle and Salesforce.com.

Google shares fell $6.50 to $454.06 in afternoon trading on the Nasdaq,
while Yahoo, based in Sunnyvale, California, rose 82 cents to $28.34. Class
A shares of News Corp., based in New York, advanced 19 cents to $19.15.

Assets will be allocated to the nonprofit foundation by July 1, the
companies said.
Facebook hires from Google

Facebook, the most popular social networking site after MySpace, hired Ethan
Beard away from Google to help run its business development, Bloomberg News
reported from San Francisco.

Beard had served as director of social media at Google, said Erin Zeitler, a
Facebook spokeswoman.

Facebook also hired Sheryl Sandberg, vice president of global online sales
and operations at Google, to become its chief operating officer this month.