Google Develops a Facebook Rival

Google Inc. is in talks with several makers of popular online games as it seeks to develop a broader social networking service that could compete with Facebook Inc., according to people familiar with the matter.

Google (GOOG) has been in discussions with top developers to offer their games on a new service it is building, these people said. Those developers include Playdom Inc., Electronic Arts Inc.’s Playfish and Zynga Game Network Inc.–a company in which Google recently took a financial stake, these people said.

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