Google \'obsessed\' with chasing Facebook

A former Google executive has gone public with a lament that the web star has become passionate about advertising and seizing the web social networking crown from Facebook.

James Whittaker left Microsoft in 2009 for a high-level software engineering job at Google only to recently jump back to the California-based firm's rival.

In an individual blog post he explained why he left what's one of the world's best workplaces.

"The Google i used to be enthusiastic about was a technology company that empowered its employees to innovate," Whittaker said.

"The Google I left was an advertising company with a single corporate-mandated focus."

That focus was to vanquish the net social networking realm where Facebook rules and Google stumbled with offerings comparable to Buzz and Wave, in line with Whittaker.

"Larry Page himself assumed command to right this wrong," he said, bearing on the Google co-founder who took over as chief executive last year.

"Social became state-owned, a company mandate called Google+," he continued.

Emphasis was wear synching Google+ social network with the company's popular services akin to search and online video venue YouTube.

"Just like the proverbial hare confident enough in its result in risk a short nap, Google awoke from its social dreaming in finding its front runner status in ads threatened," Whittaker said.

Google shut down its Labs initiative to support experimental projects and soured on a policy that lets employees spend 20 per cent in their time on ideas unrelated to their usual jobs, in line with the previous 'Googler.'

"Because the trappings of entrepreneurship were dismantled, derisive talk of the 'old Google' and its feeble attempts at competing with Facebook surfaced to justify a 'new Google' that promised 'more wood behind fewer arrows'."

Whittaker told of engaged on Google+ but seeing the social network make little headway against Facebook.

"Because it turned out, sharing was not broken," he said. "Sharing was working fine and dandy, Google just wasn't part of it."

"Google was the wealthy kid who, after having discovered he wasn't invited to the party, built his own party in retaliation," Whittaker continued. "The truth that no person came to Google's party became the elephant within the room."

Google declined to comment for this story.

- AFP