Orkut

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Vostu Harvests Funds from Facebook, Zynga Backers

Nick Wingfield, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal in News on November 29, 2010 at 10:00 am PT

Some well-known investors are placing a bet that Brazil is fertile territory for the spread of social games. Accel Partners and Tiger Global Management are investing $30 million in Vostu, a startup that has grown quickly in Brazil with a collection of games that have spread through Orkut, a Google-owned social networking site that’s popular in Latin America’s biggest Internet market. Jim Breyer, a partner at Accel and Facebook board member, will join Vostu’s board of directors.

No Facebook User Emails for Google–But Yahoo and Microsoft Already Have Access

Liz Gannes in Social on November 9, 2010 at 6:06 pm PT

Facebook and Google are hardly friends these days, and they’re having more and more trouble containing their dislike.

Say You, Say (Google) Me–When Will the Search Giant Get Social Graces?

Kara Swisher in News on August 25, 2010 at 8:16 am PT

We all want to be something else, don’t we? And so it is with Google, the robotic, algorithmic, black-box search behemoth girding the globe with datacenters stacked up to heaven. As it turns out, all it really wants is to be our friend. The big question is when it is going to do that, by introducing a social strategy that actually works, even as perceived rival Facebook barrels ahead.

Voices

Google Makes Change to Orkut as Facebook Wins in India

Amir Efrati, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal in News on August 25, 2010 at 12:00 am PT

Facebook appears to have overtaken Google’s Orkut in India. At the same time, Google has rolled out new changes to beef up Orkut as it continues to work on a broader social-networking service.

Is “Google Me” Real? “I Won’t Say,” Says Eric Schmidt.

Peter Kafka in Media on July 2, 2010 at 4:23 am PT

The Google CEO refuses to deny he’s got a team building a home-grown Facebook. Which doesn’t mean he does! But it is interesting.

Is "Google Me" Real? "I Won't Say," Says Eric Schmidt.

Peter Kafka in Media on July 2, 2010 at 4:23 am PT

The Google CEO refuses to deny he’s got a team building a home-grown Facebook. Which doesn’t mean he does! But it is interesting.

Google: Can Someone Help Us Out With This “Social” Thing?

John Paczkowski in Social on May 10, 2010 at 4:05 pm PT

It’s no secret that Google’s social networking strategy could…use a few more friends. No surprise, then, to learn that the company is looking for someone to refine its social strategy and perhaps better leverage the social network that already exists in services like Gmail.

Will Nexus One Be a Hit? Maybe. But Not Every Google Launch Lands Well.

Drake Martinet in Social on January 6, 2010 at 12:05 am PT

Google has big plans to reinvent the mobile business, introducing its Nexus One smartphone yesterday. But the search giant has shaken up other industries before (ask any newspaper publisher). The flip side: While Google does launch lots of stuff, many of its products are now on the shelf with other dusty tech curios. Our latest slideshow illustrates this topic.

Voices

Power.com Suit Against Facebook Is Dismissed

Andrew LaVallee, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal in News on October 23, 2009 at 2:52 pm PT

A U.S. District Judge dismissed a lawsuit against Facebook by Power.com Thursday, the latest move in a back-and-forth legal battle between the two social-media services.

Friendster: The Orkut of Asia

John Paczkowski in News on August 5, 2008 at 2:01 pm PT

If Orkut is the Facebook of Brazil, then Friendster is the Orkut of Asia. The company, which created the social-networking market only to forfeit it to Myspace and Facebook, is apparently doing quite well in Asia. So much so, that it’s used its success on that continent to secure some new venture funding and a CEO with a Google pedigree.