The Clip Report

Danny Sullivan:

“Google’s long expected second shot at taking on Facebook in the social networking space has arrived in the form of the Google Project. It has some interesting twists on the social networking model but is far from a Facebook-killer.”

The preview site is live here. At first glance it looks promising, but time will tell. Circles in particular seems like it may encourage people to get closer to those they care about most and leave the rest.

There’s a bigger story here, however, that the Times nails. This project is critical to Google because, between an Internet of apps and an Internet dominated by Facebook, the searchable web is slowly evaporating - and thus so could Google’s cash cow, eg ads.

“At stake is Google’s status as the most popular entry point to the Web. When people post on Facebook, which is mostly off-limits to search engines, Google loses valuable information that could benefit its Web search, advertising and other products.”

A Hail Mary? It may seem far-fetched that the web could erode, but remember that Google rose to prominence in a different time. They came of age in an era where the open web reigned. Now, however, with more traffic taking place inside walled gardens like mobile apps and Facebook, that same premise does not ring as true as it once did.

So that’s why, above all, they need a competitive play in social networking and why they’re leveraging the formidable social network they are sitting on, Gmail, to make their own play. This at first glance seems less about finding new ad revenue streams as it does about preserving what they have. It’s a preemptive strike.