Google fired what was initially seen as a powerful shot earlier this week in its ongoing rivalry with Facebook by adding content from the Google Plus social network and Picasa photo-sharing service to its search-engine results, but could that shot have backfired?
Charges of monopolistic practices tend to be thrown around any time a company as dominant in its field as Google is in search makes any sort of big move.
Think back to the uproar when Time Warner and Turner Broadcasting System merged in 1996, with critics howling that the same company could not own both the distribution channels (cable systems) and the content (cable networks).
Google Plus will now play a much more prominent role in Google search results than Facebook does, and the anti-monopoly banter is out in full force.
And the fact that Facebook will not allow Google to access much data has been lost in the shuffle.
But right now, Google is the flavor of the day when it comes to the Internet’s bad guy, temporarily pushing concerns over privacy on Facebook to the back burner.
Readers, do you think this is good or bad for Facebook — and how long will the effects last? Share your thoughts in our poll below, include any rationale in the comments section and be sure to come back later to see how others are voting.
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