Google Gives Some Hints About Social Network Plan

Just days ago, Steve Ballmer, Microsoft’s chief executive, was warning that social networking may be a fad.

 

Eric E. Schmidt, Google’s chief executive, is far less dismissive.

“People don’t appreciate how many page views on the Internet are in social networks,” Mr. Schmidt told a group of reporters at the end of its Zeitgeist conference, a two-day gathering of an eclectic mix of Google partners, competitors, social activists and politicians.

Social networks, he said, account for an “enormous proportion” of Internet usage, he added. “It is very real. It’s a very real phenomenon.”

In a conversation that also included the company’s co-founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Mr. Schmidt did little to answer what was in the mind of several reporters: What is Google going to do to remedy its lack of success in social networking?

Mr. Schmidt did say that over the next year, Google is planning to use information it has about the connections between its users, something techies call the “social graph,” to improve searches and other Google services. He said the company would like to sell advertising for Facebook, a position currently enjoyed by Microsoft. And he highlighted Google’s existing social network service, Orkut, and its deal to sell ads on behalf of MySpace, the largest social networking site.

Mr. Schmidt’s comments came amid intense debate in the tech world about the value of Facebook, which has reportedly discussed taking an investment from Yahoo, Google and, despite Mr. Ballmer’s qualms, Microsoft. There have also been reports that Google will not only use its social graph information for its own services but will also create a system for other companies to use the same data — in other words, to “out-open Facebook.” Mr. Schmidt was closemouthed about that.