Google to take on Facebook

Web giant to develop a social network game service

Google is in talks to develop a broad social networking and online games service that would rival Facebook, according to insiders. Though Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt remained tightlipped on whether or not a Facebook-like site will be released, he did say in an interview this week that “the world doesn’t need a copy of the same thing,” reported the Wall Street Journal. Analysts say that Google is developing a social networking service after losing advertisers to Facebook and Twitter. The games, like Zynga’s “Farmville” which has more than 60 million players and is played on Facebook, attract billions of dollars in revenue and have attracted bigger companies into the market. Google has partnered with Zynga, a game-site, and recently bought Orkut, another social network service.

Wall Street Journal