Google and MySpace Hook Up
Google announced on Thursday that MySpace will be joining Google’s “OpenSocial” application platform. These mini-applications, or widgets, can be used to display and share music, videos, and other content within the social media framework.
MySpace rival, Facebook, has had their application platform available for a short time and it was thought that MySpace would be developing their own widget platform. By partnering with Google, MySpace will instead capture more developer support and leverage work being done with small social media networks who’re already working with Google.
Google also gains from this move since their “OpenSocial” effort wasn’t being taken that seriously since neither MySpace or Facebook were participating in it. Now this should give them a worldwide audience of over 200 million users. It also sets up Google to face off with Microsoft since MS recently invested nearly $250M in Facebook.
For those of us interested in making money online through marketing in various ways through these widgets what does this mean?
My prediction is that if Google successfully standardizes the platform we could see a period of time similar to when Microsoft and IBM standardized the PC platform in the mid 80’s. At that time many companies released software and you could easily make a few million a year doing so. Will it be that big this time around? Who knows? Exactly how these widgets can be monetized is still up in the air but being in the right place, at the right time, with the right product will be the key to it.
What do you think? Are you building any social media widgets?
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