Abstract

In late 2007, leading Internet software com-pany, Google Inc. (Google), launched a social networking platform, OpenSocial, in its effort to create a breakthrough in the fast growing social networking space. Google contended that the platform would benefit software developers, websites, as well as users. Ana-lysts noted that Google, known for its offensive strategies, was resorting to a defensive strategy aimed at nullifying some of the advantages enjoyed by the world leading social networking site Facebook, which had initiated a similar platform earlier in the year.

Learning Objectives

The case is structured to achieve the following Learning Objectives:

• 0

Keywords

Competition, offensive strategies, multi-faceted competition, defensive strategy, Internet software, social networking, online advertising system, social networking-oriented advertising, social data, news feeds, social applications, Google, OpenSocial, Facebook, Microsoft, application programming interfaces, APIs, MySpace, Orkut, Oracle