Google vs Facebook: the gloves are off

The bitter battle between the pair of tech giants is being fought quietly but the stakes are enormous for the future of the web and how everyone gets information, communicates and even buys and sells travel, among other areas.

“In the long history of tech rivalries, rarely has there been a battle as competitive as the raging war between the web's wonder twins,” reports Fortune Magazine.

On the one hand, young and upcoming Facebook is trying to secure its position as the champion of the social web. The more aging veteran Google, in the other corner, is the contender that organized the world’s set of information and how to find it.

For a decade Google has dominated information searches by individuals. Facebook changed the match by adding the help of friends to find information in another way.

“This shift to a more social web changes everything for businesses and consumers alike,” according to Fortune.

Whatever Facebook does in the future, there are persistence rumors Google is increasingly interested in the travel field. Its launch of Google Hotel Finder further spurred that speculation.

Google is intent on becoming an online travel agency, maintains Bruno Perez, co-founder of RevPar Guru. He says Google has the potential, capacity and “desire for revenues” to become an OTA.

“Google’s excursion into the travel industry follows the company’s trend of challenging established markets,” Perez told Tnooz. “The 0TA opportunity for Google is just too great for it to ignore.”

Google is already heavily involved in travel. Observers say that is one of its largest sectors.

New company moves on both sides of the battle show more aggressive behavior. Both sites are adding new services that make them increasingly more competitive.

Google Plus, for example, is their latest attempt at social networking dominance.

“Seeking to improve upon the Facebook model, (it) has already created quite a stir in the tech world, but critics argue that its chances for long-term success still remain to be seen,” writes the Huffington Post.

“With its still-in-limited-field-test social network Google Plus, Google looks poised to challenge Facebook head-on in the increasingly important social media space,” writes Computerworld.

Facebook has a head start with what it claims are a half billion active users worldwide, but Google reached a billion users a while back. Winner by the numbers: Google.

Concluded Computer World:

“Google is still the Internet's leading brand in terms of number of users. Facebook has an enormous base of regular users who spend a considerable amount of time on its site — much more time than on Google.”

However, Facebook's users were not particularly happy with their experience last year, the site added.

Google is a well-known and long-established Internet brand, analysts say. It has better customer satisfaction ratings than Facebook. It’s also a larger company with more international resources, analysts agree.

But Facebook has momentum. It is a high-growth concern. It also has access to top employees and investor cash.

So who’s the winner? Perhaps everyone.

“Social media users, who will benefit from two strong companies battling to improve their products to either keep or win over customers,” concludes Computerworld.

By David Wilkening