Facebook Fights Google In User Data Face-off

Thinsg are about to get messier as Google takes on Facebook in a battle to determine whether a service provider can control user generated content and/or data as tension between the two giants flared over the last two days.

Google initially made tweaks to prevent Facebook from importing data from Google Contacts and Facebook managed to get a DIYworkaround to allows its users to circumvent Google's checks.

 Users would have to download the Gmail contacts to their computers before uploading it again to their Facebook account. A spokesperson for the company said that Google was "disappointed that Facebook didn't invest their time in making it possible for their users to get their contacts out of Facebook."

Facebook's Mike Vernal told Techcrunch that Google's policy on openness hasn't been consistent pointing to the fact that Google preaches data liberation on its dedicated website.

But he failed to mention Facebook's own painful failings, starting with the fact that it has been less than opened in the past and has never shied away from trying to exploit user data openly to its advantage (remember Beacon?).

Google is still one of Facebook's referrals with nearly one in every 24 users going to Facebook after visiting Google.com and the fact that millions of Facebook Vanity URLs have been indexed by Google's bots show how intricate their relationships is.

via ITProPortal