Yahoo and MySpace join with Google

by Bloomberg News

Yahoo, Google and MySpace said Tuesday that they would create the OpenSocial Foundation to maintain a neutral, community-governed forum for developing applications for social networks.

Google presented its OpenSocial network in November to lure developers who were already creating popular Web applications on social networks like Facebook.

Google, owner of the most popular Internet search engine, said the support of its rival Yahoo for the OpenSocial software would allow developers to put their programs on a broader range of social networking sites.

Teaming with Yahoo gives the alliance the backing of the most visited U.S. Web site. Google and sites like MySpace, the most popular online social network, have sought more programs to appeal to users as they compete for advertising revenue in a market that some analysts estimate could grow 69 percent over the next three years.

Internet users have flocked to social sites where they can keep up with their friends, show pictures, share music and play games. Visitors to Facebook grew fourfold to 100.7 million in January from a year earlier, while uses of MySpace rose 15 percent to 109.3 million in that period, according to ComScore, a research company in Reston, Virginia.

The increased popularity is luring advertisers, who are eager to target Web users based on their age, location and hobbies. Ad spending on social networks in the United States may jump to $2.7 billion by 2011, according to EMarketer in New York.

The alliance may help Yahoo make headway in the social networking market, where Facebook and MySpace have won an increasing share of graphical banner ads. Spending on social networking sites more than doubled last year, while sales growth at Yahoo slowed to 8 percent, down from 22 percent in 2006.

Google, based in Mountain View, California, recruited networking sites like LinkedIn, Friendster and Ning as early OpenSocial supporters, as well as makers of business software like Oracle and Salesforce.com.

Google shares fell $6.50 to $454.06 in afternoon trading on the Nasdaq, while Yahoo, based in Sunnyvale, California, rose 82 cents to $28.34. Class A shares of News Corp., based in New York, advanced 19 cents to $19.15.

Assets will be allocated to the nonprofit foundation by July 1, the companies said.

Facebook hires from Google
Facebook, the most popular social networking site after MySpace, hired Ethan Beard away from Google to help run its business development, Bloomberg News reported from San Francisco.

Beard had served as director of social media at Google, said Erin Zeitler, a Facebook spokeswoman.

Facebook also hired Sheryl Sandberg, vice president of global online sales and operations at Google, to become its chief operating officer this month.