Neither company has a clear record when it comes to 'openness'

Jan 24, 2012 23:01 GMT  ·  By

Facebook has managed to get the attention it wanted with its "Don't be evil" tool which adds other social networks to new Google features that only use Google+ data.

The tool is certainly good for one thing, it highlights that Google, if it wanted, using only the data and tools already at its disposal, could have built a version of Search Plus Your World that incorporated at least some data from its competitors rather than shamelessly promoting Google+.

Google doesn't really have an argument against that, its best being that Facebook, Twitter and the others wouldn't have allowed it to index and use the amount and type of data it needed for Search Plus.

Now that Google went ahead with a Google+ exclusive solution, both Twitter and Facebook say that they are more than pleased to have Google use public data. It's easy to say it after the fact and come out like the good guy, but still, Google's arguments are feeble at best.

It could have built a better feature for its users, but it didn't, opting instead to promote a product that needs all the help it can get, Google+.

There’s just one problem, Facebook can't be the one calling out Google. The social network makes it impossible for users to export data from the site and has made it very clear that Google is its prime enemy.

For Facebook to come out and point the finger at Google, taking the moral high ground, is hypocritical to say the least, even if what it says is true.

The same goes for Twitter, to a degree. It was one of Search Plus' first critics and still is a vocal one. At the same time, it severed a deal that would allow Google full access to the Twitter stream, without which, indexing millions of tweets in real-time is nigh impossible, even if those tweets are public.

The details of why the deal went cold are still missing, Google says Twitter canceled it, but it's more likely that Google wasn't willing to pay the sum that Twitter wanted. Whether that sum was reasonable or not is impossible to know, since neither party is revealing it.

In the end, Google, Facebook and indeed Twitter are only doing what they think is best for their companies in the highly competitive world. That may not always, or often, be what's best for users.

Yet Google comes out looking the worst because it's the one with the informal motto of "Don't be evil" and it's the one calling out competitors, authorities or even entire countries on their moral shortcomings.