Networks

http://money.cnn.com/2011/11/03/technology/facebook_google_fight.fortune/index.htm

The nature of Silicon Valley and burgeoning tech industry of the United States is best summed up in one word: competition. While titanic clashes have emerged before, i.e. HP vs Oracle and Microsoft vs Apple none have had truly as much at stake as the war between Facebook and Google.

At the heart of the struggle lies the prize of remaking the web in the image of the victor. Google is the hardened veteran,  based on the old internet of hyperlinks and tech analysis. Facebook is the plucky newcomer, based on the new internet of hypersharing and social networking. The two styles of these companies come directly from topics studied in class. Google relies on sophisticated algorithms and technological wizardry to produce amazingly accurate results at the click of a button. Facebook relies on network effects galvanizing the greater internet community to solve the questions of their peers.

Conflict between the two has been steadily picking up and as Stifel Nicolaus analyst Jordan Rohan explains, “It’s highly unlikely that either Google or Facebook could grow by the billions that investors expect in the display market without engaging directly and stealing market share from the other.” Critics note success on Facebook’s part has largely been to their “vassalization” of satellite sites such as Spotify and Yelp creating strong links with these websites users while denying the same links to competitors such as Google.

With Google’s response, Google+, the climax of this conflict seems none to far away. The fate of the web now lies in the hands of these two companies.