Rumours that Google is about to have another go at social media have been confirmed as true by a former Facebook CTO. The story began last week with a Tweet from Digg founder Kevin Rose, which read “huge rumor: Google to launch facebook competitor very soon ‘Google Me,’ very credible source.” Conspiracy theories were only exacerbated when the Tweet disappeared shortly after posting.

But Adam D’Angelo, a former Facebook executive, confirmed: “This is a real project. There are a large number of people working on it.”

Google’s attempts at launching social networking platforms have been patchy at best. Buzz never generated much buzz, only complaints about privacy, Wave fell a bit flat, Google Friend Connect was a poor relation of also-kinda-pointless MyBlogLog, and Orkut might have been big in Brazil, but it never set the rest of the world on fire. Would Google Me work where they’ve all (kinda) failed?

Mashable editor Pete Cashmore hopes so. Writing for CNN, he says:

Facebook’s mountain of personal data could also provide the backbone of an ad network many times more targeted than Google’s keyword-based advertising. If Facebook were to launch both a search engine and ad network, it could put a significant dent in Google’s more than $23 billion in annual revenue. But Google shouldn’t be the only party concerned about Facebook’s rapid ascent — the lack of a Facebook alternative is a threat to consumer choice, providing no escape route when things turn sour.

What Cashmore doesn’t spot when he’s talking about consumer choice is that there is a significant difference right now between Google and Facebook. It’s perfectly possible to use the internet for significant parts of your life, without touching Facebook. I know several sane and normal people who don’t even have accounts. It isn’t compulsory to play Farmville or Scrabble. Facebook is a cul-de-sac and you don’t have to go down it.

But try using the internet without touching Google. It’s not just search: docs, ads, analytics, Google follows you wherever you go. For the most part I love them and their free services and the cheque they send me every month for posting their ads… but they have quite enough information about me, thanks: if we want a balance to the huge amount of data that Facebook has on us already, that balance is not Google.

FWIW, if I were Google, I’d just offer a blank cheque for Twitter.

What do you think? Do we need a “competitor” for Facebook? Does it bother you that these companies have so much data on you? Leave us a comment.

photo credit: Mykl Roventine

Valleywag asks why a website would need 15,000 employees. eBay and PayPal have rather more support staff than your average website, so we might speculate that an overall reduction in staff would hit them hard, so directly impacting already disgruntled sellers. Others have suggested that layoffs are unlikely to affect sellers at all. I guess we’ll find out tomorrw (or not).

If any ex-employees want to get in touch and give us the inside information, particularly on how this will affect eBay users, we’d love to talk to you.

“Horrible for engineers.”
“Too many talkers, not enough doers.”
“eBay attracts a lot of great people, then the company culture beats them down and they leave within a couple of years.”
“Ebay – the stuff Dilbert cartoons are made of.”

There are rumours that eBay are preparing to lay off up to 10% of their employees. Though a spokesperson for eBay said that the company “does not comment on rumors or speculation”, Brad Stone in the New York Times commented that the reports have “the ring of truth”, and cited another report from Deutsche Bank, which said that a decrease in employee numbers could help offset falling revenue from fee changes and flat sales.

Whether they’re true or not, the rumours can’t be helping morale in San Jose or in Richmond. Witness, for example, the conversation overheard by Dan on a train yesterday; sadly we only have one side of it:

- Didn’t you know I’m working for eBay now?
- Yeah, X months now.
- It’s fucked.
- Maybe a year ago. But it’s fucked now.
- Total lost cause.
- I’m a Senior Manager, XXXX . Yeah, dealing with XXX.
- They had me in for 13 interviews.
- Yeah. Fucking ridiculous.
- Fucking stupid.
- Haven’t got a clue.
- The Managing Director’s an idiot.

It all seems rather unlikely, but the rumour isn’t going away. From a British perspective it is extraordinary that someone could go from CEO to ‘a heartbeat away from the presidency’ in less than a year. She has never, after all, been elected to any political post. Ever.

The job of Vice President was famously described by one incumbent as being “not worth a bucket of warm piss” and has no executive power, many ceremonial duties and comes with the right to preside over the Senate. So in some ways it might be rather less thrilling than being CEO of a multi-billion dollar corporation. But it does come with a plane (call sign Air Force Two): a perk shared with the CEO of eBay.

Dan Wilson is a writer and consultant and the bestselling author of ‘Make Serious Money on eBay UK’.

Of course, any sensible business will publicise their Skype name and that their customers can make Skype-to-Skype calls for free. But the new scheme being proposed is like their current SkypeOut service: you can use it to call ordinary landlines, except in this instance, you wouldn’t need to buy credit first. Sounds good?

How about if you got adverts before you could make the call? I cannot imagine a scenario where I would listen to 30 seconds of adverts just to be allowed to make a free national telephone call. I’m not even convinced I would put up with 5 seconds. What do you think – is this a service you’d go for if Skype decide to offer it?

Kijiji has popular classifieds categories such as For Sale, Housing, Cars & Vehicles, Jobs, Pets, Services and Personals. In addition to the U.S., Kijiji has online communities in Canada, Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Japan and Taiwan.

Meanwhile, PayPal are celebrating their tenth anniversary with a special microsite detailing the history of the company; the video interviews are particularly worth a look, especially to see JD looking relaxed.

However, rather quieter of late has been eBay partner Skype: they were not in evidence at all at Live, dispite plenty of empty floor space in the exhibition hall which could have easily accomodated them. I heard a rumour that this was due to “an internal issue”, but no more details than that: one has to wonder if Skype CEO Josh Silverman’s insistance that the relationship between Skype and eBay is as strong as ever is something akin to Richard Gere and Cindy Crawford’s Times ad to say they weren’t getting divorced.

So for a bit of fun while Chris and I are on the plane, two questions for you:

1. What do you think JD will have to say on Friday?
2. What would you like him to say on Friday?

According to TechCrunch, a new Google partnership with – or even outright acquisition of – Skype may be announced shortly. There doesn’t seem to be much substance behind the rumour; news.com called it Valley gossip at its finest.

Nevertheless, I think this would make sense. eBay spent a lot of money to get Skype, they took a lot of flack for doing so, and then they left their shiny new toy sitting in its box. For months, eBay sellers were not allowed to add Skype buttons to their listings; it seems eBay’s fears that we might use Skype to cut them out of the selling process took precedence over any desire to make the most of their new acquisition. And even now, with ?? worldwide users and profits of $400m in 2007, it feels like Skype is growing dispite eBay, rather than because of it.

A Skype sold to Google could be integrated with just about every aspect of Google’s services. Imagine Skype click-to-call buttons on every company in a page of Google search results. Imagine Skype buttons for local services on Google Maps. Imagine shared Google Documents which could be automatically imported into a Skype whiteboard and worked on simultaneously across Skype’s network. The possibilities are endless, and more than anything, they’re possibilities that make sense for Skype themselves.

Of course, given the amount of April Fools’ nonsense that TechCrunch posted yesterday, it’s always possible that this is just not true, but its appearance on Seeking Alpha under an April 2nd dateline makes me think that the rumours do at least exist. Mashable had the same rumour as far back as last November, and Silicon Alley Insider and ZDnet seem to think there’s something in it.

In a hasty attempt to look like I know what I’m talking about, I’ve discovered that Musiq Soulchild was nominated for three Grammies last year. He is labelled “a soul artist whose unique style blends R&B, Soul, Funk, Rock, Blues, Jazz, and Hip Hop, creating a sound unlike any other”. Something for everyone then?

If it’s correct, this is a big departure from previous years which have booked bands that middle-aged ladies like myself have heard of: Kool and the Gang, Huey Lewis and the News, the B52s, and so on. Perhaps Mr Soulchild is opening for another Eighties band?

photo credit: pmo

Skip McGrath is obviously hearing the same rumours I am, that this year’s eBay Live in Chicago may be the last. I hope it’s not true, but I wouldn’t be surprised: collecting pins, the clapping tunnel and dancing to Weird Al Yankovic seem somehow to belong to an eBay that’s gone with Meg. eBay’s execs these days seem to prefer a more business-like forum: witness JD making the big announcements about eBay changes at the Ecommerce Forum, and now Lorrie Norrington giving the keynote at PeSA’s conference.

eBay Universities also seem to be on their way out. eBay will not be running any UK universites in 2008, though Ireland still have events planned.

Personally, I think this is a shame. I can understand that eBay want to talk to the big sellers, and putting on expensive events for newbies and hobby sellers and those of us who only sell beads is a poor return on investment. But the chance to meet other sellers, network, brainstorm, and just remind oneself that eBay can be fun as well as work, this I will miss. Who’s up for organising our own event?

Via Only eBay.

The front runner to take the reins is still John Donahoe, that would signal a change from a leader who puts the community at the fore to one who appears to be more interested in stocks and shares then the humble eBay seller.

Rumours of Meg leaving eBay are nothing new, and have been circulating on a regular basis for a few years, based on an old statement that “no CEO should stay more than a decade in the job”. That comment has been following her for years ever since her ten year tenure was achieved.

Many are saying that it’s time for change as the eBay group of companies is not in particularly good health. The share price is down, sellers are spreading their wings to Amazon and other auction sites and setting up their own websites. Skype wasn’t a great buy and was written down last year. I prefer to look back at the fledging company Meg joined when the eBay was still called “Auctionweb”. Just as she’s overseen the sight change from a dull black, white and grey site to a rich multicoloured multimedia site she’s also overseen the growth from a small startup to a company that’s created more self employed traders than any other in the history of commerce.

If Meg does leave eBay many will count it as leaving a failing company in need of revitalisation, and in some ways they’ll be right. I’ll look back on her management of eBay as the golden era when ecommerce became available to the man in the street and the age of opportunity and entrepreneurship.