We here at Windy City Strategies work hard to keep you posted on the territorial battle that is the Google vs. Facebook wars. Simply because it’s so interesting. And it’s results will define the next decade of the Web. So, let’s quickly catch you up to speed with the latest news in these digital turf battles.
Facebook is working hard to become your personal home page – that the first thing you see when you turn your computer on is A) who’s connecting with you and B) what your friends and network are up to. You may notice a message on the top of your screen when you log-in to Facebook next that will automatically make Facebook your homepage. And this makes sense. Because Facebook is growing into a near stand-alone operating system. The entire Web is integrating with it, and it’s where everything is. Google has been doing their own version of this for years now, with iGoogle. But while iGoogle has the nice app layout, it lacks the same social intrigue of Facebook.
In terms of e-mail, while Gmail has been the savvy e-mail choice for the past five years, if Facebook mail takes off, we could see a migration. More and more advertisers are looking to the hyper-targeting benefits of Facebook ad campaigns, while Google has been an SEO provider’s entire world for the past decade.
Google Voice’s free phone lines are seeing a new Facebook alternative in Facebook’s Skype integration. Google Docs is seeing a new Facebook alternative in Facebook’s Microsoft Office integration. And Google Latitude and Facebook places are both provider’s attempts at geo-location, neither of which holds the trump card.
Here’s the point. Facebook is trying to figure out why people have to leave Facebook. And if they can provide a place that provides users with, not just a substitute, but a socially charged upgrade, why would anyone ever leave?