+ Google sees the launch of online giants in the battle for hearts and minds of the lucrative Internet users

It's 1 month since the launch of Google +, a belated attempt at a social networking tool that invites friends 'activities in their news feed, favorite games and content followed by a marked "+1". If this sounds familiar, it shows the extent to which Google catchup playing with Facebook, the brewing of a public offer in the next year this could be the company at 100 billion dollars and critical, has positioned itself as the gateway to the Web for many of its 750 million users.

Much of this pressure is down to the abrasive ambition of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. Even Google's executive chairman, Eric Schmidt, has conceded that Google has been late to the social networking space, with identity and personalisation now critical to the social experience for consumers, and the lucrative commercial opportunities that advertisers expect. But with Google's proven commercial success nudging its market value towards $200bn, and data vaults that hold the browsing histories of most of the online population, is Google really on a downward trajectory, and is the era of search really ending?

Ben Gomes has worked on every aspect of Google 's core search product and are looking for is leading research into the social navigation. Despite Google 's excursions into everything from video communities, mobile operating systems, he insists that in her heart, Google is still a search company. It was to be sought, he said, that fueled see the explosion of Web content and, not surprisingly, Gomes doesn 't social data as a substitute for the search, but as a layer that accesses the information in any other way.

"We did find a symbiotic development of the Internet and, because people could find what they want easier," said Gomes, joined Google in 1999. "We see as a social layer on the search, providing you with more relevant information in certain situations, so if you were at the product reviews that your friends in the search results would not be marked. But the most important thing is to find still the search term, and how your computer sees that ".

Although Google + is an intelligent attempt at a social networking tool, it seems a typical Google product, it's brilliant, heavily engineered, but it lacks the human focus of a social network is necessary - the fuel that has driven the Facebook in order 750 million users.

To inform the data of as many consumers as many Google products, why isn 't it more personalized? "In most cases, 'personalization" just means what you what you wanted in the first place, "said Gomes." If there are two friends search' malt are ", but you like beer and whiskey, to see different results. And if this kind of personalization didn 't work, you' d think you look just was broken. "

The issue of personalized search results based on our history has become controversial. With news, for example, how can users be presented with an objective look at a story from several sources, if Google served sites, or perspectives, the user is known as? "The diversity of results is something deep in the algorithm we use baking tools, so hopefully we give a broad perspective," said Gomes. "But if you are interested in a topic, you 'd tend to have a very specific query anyway, and our first goal is to give you the information you want."

Facebook maintains rigid social context that is historically and socially relevant. "Anthropological we have been informed and influenced over time by the people around us, and that 's just as true on Facebook, as it is offline," said Facebook' s advertising chief, David Fischer. "Now we look at the networks in human communication ...

"There are great opportunities for marketers in their messages always by family and friends connections. The social graph contains not only humans, but brands, universities, [and] facilities, wanted to connect people."

This network of social, professional and business relationships, it can always existed, but it is their accessibility as an expression online, which is unprecedented. A Facebook 's greatest successes - and a strategy strictly to Google Google + has prevailed - was encouraging real names on the site so that its network and data much more valuable. This is to create a living record, Fischer said, and will build it in a meaningful way. "It 's not a decision that a person does in their life, is not that a better decision when it is informed by the people around them that they trust."

Several hundred scientists at Google are investigating how Web users interact with and share information. How will Google refines its mission of organizing the world 's information? "We often see the future already in some form, so that things will just interesting, now be very important," said Gomes.

It describes a relationship in which users expect Google to find answers to synthesize from multiple sources to give an expert answer and expect the most noticeable changes to the mobile home, take advantage of multiple sensors such as the location to offer can be made "richer interaction models ". This could include speech recognition - already significantly improved from two years ago - and improved artificial intelligence localized, the proposals as it learns about the user.

Gomes said that instant access to information by Google on intelligent conversations, citing the time he went to see Kafka 's Metamorphosis and learn about production. "My experience with the game was richer, and I took longer because the combination of me and the Internet seem to me to have looked like someone who would have been in the past, as an expert. I was the kind of person I would have used to look up to. "

However, although Google and Facebook are both interested in their scientific credentials polish ultimately the real battle is over money. Google made 97% of revenue, or $ 32.3bn in the last 12 months from advertising. eMarketer now assume that Facebook 's will be largely ad-revenue of $ 0.74bn $ 5.74bn in 2009 to grow in 2012 - but the place has barely begun to roll out truly personalized, targeted advertising. If it be eaten at one of Google 's lunch, it's here.