MySpace-Google team-up to counter Facebook

Washington, Dec 9: Internet giant Google Inc and MySpace.com is teaming in a campaign to extend MySpace's reach and counter the expansion of their common rival Facebook Inc.

The official declaration of the alliance came up on Monday, Dec 8 in Paris paying MySpace's seven-month-old effort to make it easier for the 27 million worldwide users of its online hangout to connect with their social circles while they're at other Internet destinations. MySpace is trying to pull it off by making its login system, called 'MySpaceID', compatible with any Web site that wants to embrace it.

The tie-up between News Corp's MySpace and Google is seen as an effort to counter its rival Facebook. MySpace and Google previously joined forces a year ago to promote a service, called 'OpenSocial', that competes against Facebook's warehouse of online software programs.

Google which is keenly interested in extracting the advertising potential of social networks has had little success with its own online community, called Orkut. MySpace already relies on Google to sell some of its ads, so the companies are natural allies.

On the contrarey Facebook has aligned itself with Microsoft, Google's biggest rival. It has also sold a 1.6 pc stake to the software maker for $240 million in 2007.

OneIndia News (With inputs from Agencies)