
False Alarm: Google Circles Not Coming Now, And Probably Not Ever - sant0sk1
http://networkeffect.allthingsd.com/20110313/false-alarm-google-circles-not-coming-now-and-probably-not-ever/
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zmmmmm
The fact that Google is going out of their way to pour water on this is kind
of interesting in itself. It almost suggests that they have some kind of
under-the-covers agreement (I guess it can't be Facebook, but maybe Twitter?)
that they're trying hard not to step on?

From what I've observed they seem to have firmly adopted a different strategy
for social which involves organically growing their existing products with
social features rather than trying a high profile (and high risk) product
launch. To me this demonstrated some much needed corporate self-awareness
(there are some things Google just isn't good at) and so I was pretty
surprised to see that they would have reversed that and gone for a big splash.

I honestly think Google has all the seeds to make a competitive social
offering but they need to play their cards very carefully and tie things
together in the right way. If they can weave Gmail, Google Talk, YouTube and
Picasa together then they basically have Facebook's feature set. All of these
products are best of class and loved individually by their users. Add Android
into the mix and Google even has a trump card they can play. The question is
how Google can gently usher all those users / technologies into one cohesive
social offering without harming the individual products, alarming people about
privacy or any other negative consequences. It has to be done carefully and
gradually and with sensitivity. I think this is exactly what they've been
doing and is the smart strategy.

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elithrar
> ...rather than trying a high profile (and high risk) product launch. To me
> this demonstrated some much needed corporate self-awareness (there are some
> things Google just isn't good at)

Well said. Wave was far from great — mostly because it was hyped as an email
replacement, rather than real-time collaboration.

Further, UI hasn't been Google's strong suit (this is slowly changing for the
better, however), and for a social network to steal people from Facebook, it
needs to have a great (not just good) design. Facebook started that way
(especially compared to MySpace), but has fallen a little by the wayside over
the last couple of years.

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rue
Thank goodness. If Google took over social, too, I'd be forced to quit the
Internet.

Ceding all that power to one entity (a company no less), is just insanity.

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danssig
Oh how I wish more people saw it this way...

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warfangle
They released a video a /while/ ago (6mo to a year, I think) that explained
research into the "Google Circles" idea. That's where this rumor started.

I spent about ten minutes googling around for it, but apparently my google fu
is weak tonight.

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akkartik
Maybe this one? [http://www.slideshare.net/padday/the-real-life-social-
networ...](http://www.slideshare.net/padday/the-real-life-social-network-v2)

~~~
warfangle
yep, that's the one.

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nyellin
In case you missed it, the confusion resulted from an old Google page that
explains how social search works.

See <http://www.google.com/s2/u/0/search/social#socialcircle> and
<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2319412>

~~~
Kylekramer
Not really. That did get dug up during the frenzy, but the rumor got started
with a ReadWriteWeb post [1] and a since retracted confirmation from Tim
O'Reilly.

[http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/google_to_launch_major_...](http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/google_to_launch_major_new_social_network_called_c.php)

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h5n1
Glad we don't have to deal with another Google social media flop.

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joshuamarch
Although they're obviously doing something around social search, as in their
own system:

<http://www.google.com/s2/u/0/search/social#socialcircle>

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Stuk
Posted here[0] where it was pointed out that that page has been around since
2009

[0] <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2319412>

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moblivu
Honestly, I'd rather see Google and Facebook joining forces than trying to
make competition! If those two work together, imagine how to web could be!

~~~
moblivu
Why the downrank? Facebook is the biggest Social Network in the world, the
second most visited website. Google (search engine) is the biggest web search
engine in the world, the most visited website.

Even if Facebook launched the best search engine, we are used to Google and it
just works, look at Bing even if the engine is somewhat more defined and
powerful, we still search on Google because there's that little something we
like. It's the same thing right now with Google and their (maybe unannounced)
social networking plan.

Imagine a social integrated search (kinda like Greplin) where your search
results maybe be influenced by who you are and what you might try to find.
Where we're not posting YouTube videos across the social network but it is
integrated to it in a blended experience where you can even watch videos with
your friends live. Imagine Google Docs connected directly to your Facebook
contacts, your calendar synchronized to your events - a unified experience.

Yes at some point it might sound silly, but think about the possibilities, the
face isn't the reality, beneath it is.

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PakG1
This lacks a fundamental understanding of free markets and corporate nature.
When there is no competition, innovation dies.

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moblivu
There will always be competition (Friendster, QQ, VKontakte, MySpace, Live
Spaces, Path, and many others), and there will always be innovation. Facebook
has no competition right now and it's still innovating!

~~~
joebadmo
How is Facebook innovating? Serious question, I'm not on FB and I'm
interested.

