Google Developing A Rival To Facebook

Though Google hasn’t directly admitted that they are developing their own social network site to rival Facebook, the pieces are starting to fall into place that serve as evidence. The Wall Street Journal reported this week that Google is currently in discussion with several online game makers. The goal of these talks would be to develop a social networking site with broader capabailities than Facebook. The expected site would have a much larger variety of abilities than their already existing Google Buzz. Learn more by reading the article here.

Facebook and Amazon Join Forces

Facebook and Amazon officially teamed up this week as the one-stop online mega shop will start using Facebook Connect to send users reccommendations for their online shopping. The service would be available on both the Amazon’s US and Canadian sites. The deal comes as Facebook also annouced that it would allow publishers to contact users who click the Like button a particular story.

Facebook Launches Questions

On Wednesday, Facebook offically annouced the release of their new service Facebook Questions. The service will let you ask questions to the community, and the answers could come from both your immediate friends and the public. Though the product is only being released to small beta group, more news about its release will be revealed based on how the service performs in the tests.

Facebook Launches User Safety Page

With the social networking site now surpassing a 500 million user milestone, the question of privacy becomes an even bigger concern. Facebook announced this week that they will be releasing a safety page to compliment their security page. The page will allow users to receive updates on the best ways to protect their safety and privacy on Facebook.

Facebook Launches New Media Page

Another new Facebook annoucement this week was the opening of the Facebook Media page. The site serves to help media organizations by offering tips and reaching out in the interest of better utilizing their Facebook ages. The page also offers great separate reference tabs for journalists and developers.

Facebook Launches Public Relations Page

Another Facebook page that launched this week was PR for Facebook. The page will serve as a great networking tool within the profession and also offer helpful tips and resources for professional in the field. Seeing as Facebook is a focal point on any PR campaign, it is a logical step for the site.

Facebook won a lawsuit in Delaware this week against Leader Technologies. The lawsuit was intially filed in 2008 when Leader claimed Facebook had infringed one of its patents. After a six-day hearing the jury ruled in favor of the social networking site.

Spanish Facebook Hacked

Those who have used the Translation application and put their Facebook page into spanish may have noticed some offensive terms where their daily birthdays were supposed to be. It appears that this was caused by tricking the application. If enough people vote on an incorrect translation, it has the ability to replace the correct phrase.

Don’t Wait For Facebook To Go Public Anytime Soon

A recent story published by Bloomsberg revealed details about Facebook’s 2010 revenue and IPO. Mark Zuckerberg and company continue to delay the public offering, and see no need for it in the immediate future. Don’t expect Facebook to go public before 2012, and that is still no more than an estimate.

LiveWorld Launches Fan Engagement Platform

LiveWorld, one of the numerous Facebook Page service providers, released LiveConnect this week. LiveConnect is a new product which aims to help Page administrators more effectively engage with fans.

The Contract Lawsuit

Over the past few weeks much dispute has come out over whether Mark Zuckerberg signed a contract giving Paul Ceglia 85% of Facebook’s rights. Facebook and its lawyers are claiming the contract is a forgery. Now news of Ceglia being busted for shrooms and defrauding customers is showing up.