Microsoft Adds Facebook And MySpace To Outlook, Countering Google

Google’s (GOOG) new “Buzz” social network feature which has been added to the firm’s Gmail e-mail system was crticized because it could allow people access to private information from other users. Google will fix the problem, but it has had a negative impact on a successful launch.

Microsoft moves its own pieces into the social network/e-mail board with an announcement that it will integrate access to the two most popular social sites, MySpace and Facebook, into its widely distributed Outlook program. According to the AP, “Microsoft is releasing a “beta” test version of the Outlook Social Connector.”

The Microsoft action may trump Google’s. comScore data show that Facebook and MySpace are often among the ten most visited properties in the US. Outlook is popular because it is part of the Windows operating system that is installed in more than 90% of the world’s computers.

Microsoft has decided, perhaps wisely, not to invent a new social network of its own. MySpace, Twitter, and Facebook are so popular that mounting an effort to displace them would be nearly impossible. By opening Outlook to the majority of social network members, Microsoft taps a market with hundreds of millions of users by making very small changes to its existing OS code base.

Douglas A. McIntyre