Google-led OpenSocial alliance gains more strength

Two major social-networking services, MySpace and Bebo Inc., on Thursday agreed to join a new Google-led alliance, called OpenSocial, giving boost to the Internet search giant’s efforts to take on social-networking website Facebook Inc.

Google’s OpenSocial is intended to give developers one set of standards, known as application program interfaces (APIs), to create Web-based software applications that will run on different competing social networks.

With the addition of News Corp.'s most widely-known lifestyle portal MySpace, which has 110 million active members, and Bebo, which is Britain’s numero uno site with 39 million active users, Google's OpenSocial consortium could pose a potential threat for Facebook that launched its own developer platform last spring.

In May, social-networking Web site Facebook.com opened its door for public, calling on thousands of technology companies and programmers to contribute features to its service. These outside companies would build the applications for the Facebook Web site, and will be able to generate revenue from those services by showing ads or selling goods and services within special pages in the site, the company said at the time.

In a keynote at the company’s f8 event in San Francisco on May 24, Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg launched Facebook Platform, inviting all developers to build the next-generation of applications with deep integration into Facebook, distribution across its “social graph” and an opportunity to build new businesses.

The alliance, which is promoting a common set of standards for software developers to write programs for social networks, includes many other social networks, including Google's orkut, Hi5, Friendster, iLike, LinkedIn, Ning, Plaxo, Slide as well as the blogging network SixApart and the software makers Oracle and Salesforce.com.

Google hopes its new OpenSocial APIs will become a standard set of application programming interfaces for building social applications that will work across social networking and other Web sites. If all goes well according to Google’s wishes, the OpenSocial alliance could put pressure on Facebook to drop its own standard and join the consortium.

“OpenSocial is going to be become the de facto standard for developers right out of the gate,” said MySpace’s Chief Executive Officer Chris DeWolfe, in a press conference while announcing the partnership. “It will have access to 200 million users, making it way bigger than any other platform out there.”

Addressing the reporters gathered at its Mountain View, California- headquarters, Google said they had invited every major social network, including Facebook, to sign on to the new set of standards. “The most important principle about openness is that everyone is invited to join,” said Google CEO Eric Schmidt.

Founded by Zuckerberg and his Harvard buddy, Dustin Moskovitz in February 2004, the Palo Alto, California based, Facebook is the Internet’s second-largest social network, with 24 million members (less than half of whom are now in college), and adding about 150,000 each day.

Facebook was originally popular on college campuses, but last September the site opened up registration to non-college students. Since then it evolved into a major social networking destination to rival MySpace.com, owned by Rupert Murdoch's media conglomerate News Corp.

The Los Angeles based MySpace has become a common target of child protection advocates after the reports and lawsuits filed by so many victims of predators accusing it of failing to protect underage users from sexual predators.

The most widely-known lifestyle portal has been getting increasing pressure from the governments, parents and advocacy groups over the vulnerability of its users to child predators. MySpace has taken steps to ensure that its users are safe online, but many feel that the company's efforts just aren't enough.

MySpace, which also has become a common victim of spammers, is taking tougher measures to keep it from the people who launch spam attacks to retain its rapid growth.

Founded in January 2005 by Michael Birch and his wife, Xochi Birch, Bebo Inc. is a social networking website, designed to allow friends to communicate in various ways.

As of May 2, 2007, Bebo is the 89th most popular English-language website, according to Alexa Internet. It was the fastest growing social networking site in June 2006 according to Hitwise, Inc. Bebo also announced on March 17 2007 that it was the most popular website in the Republic of Ireland.