How Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook plan to conquer the rest of the world
After spending the morning at f8, the Facebook developers conference, I’m convinced more than ever that Facebook is about to take over the whole Web. And by the whole Web, I mean, well, all of it.
And if Google isn’t trembling over this, they ought to be. We might look back at this day as the moment when Facebook set itself on a path to eventually dwarf Google in size, power, and eventually, revenues.
Simply put, Facebook is positioning itself to become deeply embedded in almost every single website. And the way it’s structuring this platform, it places Facebook itself at the center of Web more than ever.
Here’s why I think Facebook is about to become a monster.
First, there are the numbers, which are astonishing. Facebook has 400 million users, and that number is increasing at a faster pace than ever.
“If you’re building a website, there’s a good chance that most of your users are on Facebook,” said Zuckerberg. “And if they’re not, they will be soon.”
That might sound like a boast, were it not true. But what really left my jaw on the floor was what Facebook has coming next.
Facebook Connect, announced at the last f8, has been a killer for Facebook, making it the default sign in for millions of websites. Facebook is going to expand on that, creating a kind of super Facebook connect that makes sites more social for users without them actually even needing to sign in.
And by all appearances, these new platforms will be even easier for developers to implement. You can see the details here on the official Facebook blog.But what you’re going to start seeing all around the Web is the “Like” button you’re used to seeing on Facebook. When sites implement Facebook’s “open social graph API,” you will visit a site like CNN.com and see what all your friends “liked” there and you’ll be able to “like” an article as well — without even signing in.
See another example of what this will look like here.
At the same time, Facebook will make it easier for these other sites to access the data of users via the “open social graph API.” That means I’ll be able to go to CNN.com and see a stream of my friends’ activity there, again, without even logging on. It creates what Zuckerberg called an “instantly social” experience everywhere you go.
That “like” gets shared right back to Facebook, which is also creating a better way to search through all of this. And Facebook will now begin pulling in those likes from sites like Yelp, Pandora, and so on. The Web is about to get even more social, and Facebook is placing itself right at the center of this.
There will be some hurdles. I expect this to raise some privacy issues. And Facebook still has the challenge of doing a better job monetizing all of this.
But it’s clear to me that Facebook is on a path to making itself the most essential element of the Web. Sitting here, it’s hard to see how Google, or anyone else, slows down this march toward world wide Web domination.
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So Facebook will have a way of mining even more consumer data than before, something I prefer to try and keep as private as possible. What value does telling my friends about the things I like provide to me? Absolutely none, but it provides a wealth of information to company interested in selling me and my friends more and more unnecessary junk. It is disgusting to watch websites become more and more polluted with banners, ads, commercials, etc. I refuse to provide any assistance to a company who’s sole purpose has become the delivery of more personally tailored copy. Suck it Zucky.
Yeah, but facebook sucks and plenty of people hate it.
I beg to disagree that facebook sucks!actually its cool!i love it ’cause i can see all the activities of my long time friends that i cant visit nowadays..i can easily connect with them anytime i want.Facebook is so much effective/helpful for those people whose friends and families are not with them.And facebook has a lot to offer….keep it up!=)
It will be interesting to see how Facebook will spread its reach on the web.
Although as far as I know, FB still hasn’t really figured out how to put this wealth of information to good use and create a succesful business model
Gougul will be hurting very soon and Facebook may well overcome the “monetization” issue but that is unlikely.
Where is the Like button here?
With the wealth of consumer data they’ll be harvesting, FB can easily eclipse Google search if they want to. I think they’ve already started monetizing with the FB ad placements, which are far more targeted and demographic-specific than Google can ever hope to be.
Dan F.
Google needs to do a hostile take over with Facebook fast.