Comcast Corp (CMCSA.O: Quote, Profile, Research) is showing increasing signs of cuddling up to Google. It has jumped in to the social networking fray, where Facebook and MySpace are the leading players, by acquiring pioneer Plaxo for about $175 million, “plus or minus 5%,” while Microsoft last October paid $240 million for a 1.6 percent stake in Facebook, valuing newcomer Facebook at $10 billion, and proving once again that the pioneer is the fellow with the arrows in his back. At the time, Microsoft won a high-profile technology industry battle against Google and Yahoo for the privilege of making the investment.
Comcast stated that it will use Plaxo to offer social network links across Comcast-connected devices, from TVs to digital video recorders to, eventually, wireless devices, thanks to the new partnership with Sprint (S.N: Quote, Profile, Research), Clearwire (CLWR.O: Quote, Profile, Research) and Google (GOOG.O: Quote, Profile, Research) which we discussed in an earlier post. Plaxo’s own take on the transaction with Comcast is discussed in its blog and the sale was driven, in part, by Plaxo’s investors’ desire for liquidity.
Plaxo was founded in 2001 by two Stanford engineering students, Todd Masonis and Cameron Ring, as well as Napster co-founder Sean Parker, who was pushed out in 2004 by Plaxo’s financial backers, only to become the founding president of Facebook. In the last three years, Plaxo has been focusing on partnerships with big Internet companies to help synchronize address books and calendars with other Internet services rather than competing with Facebook and MySpace head-on.
I think it is significant that Plaxo announced a deal with Google to become “Social Graph Provider in Support of Google Friend Connect” just before the transaction with Comcast was announced. Plaxo has been working hard on a number of initiatives in support of its “all connected” vision including OpenID which eliminates the need for multiple usernames across different websites, microformats, a set of simple, open data formats built upon existing and widely adopted standards, OpenSocial, which defines a common API for social applications across multiple websites, Verisign’s consolidated online identity, a credentialing system for more secure online transactions, and the Social Graph API lead by Google. The Social Graph API now makes information about the public connections between people on the Web, expressed by XFN and FOAF markup and other publicly declared connections, easily available and useful for developers. Perhaps most importantly, Plaxo supports of Google’s just announced “Friend Connect initiative.” Plaxo’s announcement that it will become a “Social Graph Provider” in support of “this bold initiative to “socially-enable any webpage” was obviously in the works while Plaxo and Comcast were talking turkey.
What is a Social Graph Provider? As Plaxo says, it’s any social network that elects to let its users take their “friends list” with them to use all over the open Social Web. We agree with Plaxo’s assertion that “this is a critical missing piece at the center of a “services layer” for the emerging Social Web ecosystem.”
It’s obvious that Comcast’s acquisition of Plaxo on top of its recent deal with Clearwire (in which Google also invested) indicates clearly that Comcast and Google are becoming increasingly cuddly. One also has to wonder why Google itself did not acquire Plaxo, as money is obviously no object here. I think that there is more to this story than meets the eye, and that additional announcements will be forthcoming.
Filed under: Facebook, Google, Google Friend Connect, MySpace, OpenID, OpenSocial Tagged: | Camerin Ring, Clearwire, Comcast, consolidated online identity, David Sarna, Facebook, FOAF, Google, Google Friend Connect, ing, microformats, MySpace, OpenID, OpenSocial, Plazo, Sean Parker, Social Graph API, Social Networking, Todd Masonis, Verisign, XFN
[...] GoogleGazer wrote an interesting post today on Comcast Cuddles Up to Google, Enters Social Network Fray and Acquires PlaxoHere’s a quick excerpt … lus or minus 5%,” while Microsoft last October paid $240 million for a 1. 6 percent stake in Facebook, valuing newcomer Facebook at $10 billion, and proving o…At the time, Microsoft won a high-profile technology industry battle against Google and Yahoo for the privilege of making the investment…. [...]
David, I’ve long thought that Google was on course to become an MSO. The ties with Comcast could be a serious move in that direction.
Tom
PS – we met at Ralph’s conference in DC low those many years ago.
[...] rumers keep circulating that Microsoft would like to buy Facebook. As we reported earlier, Microsoft’s existing minority interest in Facebook vales the company atvover $10 billion. [...]