Google, Google Vs. Facebook | featured news

For Google, it's personal. The Internet search giant is no longer going to roll out the same search results to everyone... It's doing this in three ways. First, it's expanding search beyond public Web pages to the photos and posts you and others have shared privately. Second, as you type a person's name into Google, it will automatically suggest people you are close to or may be interested in. Third, Google is guiding users to profiles and Google+ pages related to the topic of interest.

"You know, Google, I think, in some ways, is more competitive and certainly is trying to build their own little version of Facebook," Zuckerberg says. "But you know, when I look at Amazon and Apple and I see companies who are extremely aligned with us, right? And we have a lot of conversations with people at both companies just trying to figure out ways that we can do more together, and there is just a lot of reception there."

The search giant's social network poses a further challenge to Facebook by allowing companies to set up their own pages. The US firm says the Google+ Pages facility will help companies and campaigns engage with their audience. Organisations will not be charged to use the scheme and Google says it will not put adverts on their pages.

Google took its biggest leap yet onto Facebook’s turf on Tuesday, introducing a social networking service called the Google+ project — which happens to look very much like Facebook.

Google plans to infuse its core products with social-networking elements, its chief executive said, ratcheting up the Internet giant's rivalry with Facebook.

U.S. Web surfers are spending more time socializing on Facebook than searching with Google, according to new data from researchers at comScore Inc.

The search giant's rumored foray into social networking has analysts and bloggers atwitter.

Social networking platform Facebook racked up the most U.S. hits on its Web site last week, edging past search giant Google to be the country's most-visited site for that period, according to data from research firm Hitwise.