Let’s follow the money for a moment. Both companies get most of their revenue from advertising. They pitch their ad services based on their ability to serve highly targeted ads that get good results for brands and businesses. They are able to target ads based on the data they gather about users.
But here’s the main difference: Facebook gathers data based on user-submitted profile information. Google has to rely on roundabout ways to get data for ad targeting. And some of those methods, including cookies that track browsing behavior, are coming under fire from citizens and governments.
As you can see from the chart below, Google has a lot to worry about when it comes to competing with Facebook for ad dollars. Google commands 12.6% of the annual $10.1 billion U.S. online ad spend; Facebook trumps that figure by nine full percentage points:
Here’s how Google’s +1 may pit the search giant against the social network in four key areas.
New User Acquisition
Google’s +1 buttons will soon appear in Google Search, one of the most widely used services on the Internet. And clicking them will require the user to have a Google profile.
As Google’s Manager of Global Communications Jim Prosser told us in an email, “We think it’s important for users to know who they are seeing +1′s from, which is why we have the upgrade or creation of a Google profile as part of the flow of a user’s first +1.”
Facebook profiles are more or less de rigeur for anyone with an Internet connection. Meanwhile, Google Profiles — and...
