Facebook Bans Google+ Ad; Disables Account

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Ingenuity is surely something to be admired. Commercial ingenuity is something to be revered.

Sometimes, though, it seems that certain tech companies only revere their own ingenuity. That seems to be the case with Facebook, which, as reported by TechCrunch's Erick Schonfeld, has removed a piece of fine commercial ingenuity from its site.

App developer Michael Lee Johnson, conscious of the need to be big on Google+ or be nobody, wondered what the best way to levitate his Google+ circles might be. He hit upon a fine idea: he placed an ad on Facebook. It was a simple thing that was headlined: "Add Michael to Google+."

The copy read: "If you're lucky enough to have a Google+ account, add Michael Lee Johnson, Internet Geek, App Developer, Technological Virtuoso."

Source: CNET

Hat Tip: Chris Brogan

Commentary

I think perhaps Facebook is feeling the heat, and is very wary of the competition that Google+ (Google Plus) represents. 

There is room for both Facebook and Google+. I think that Facebook's role should just be as a social network used by old school mates to keep in touch with one another as they grow older, and for silly games like Farmville or that Mafia Wars thing I keep getting invitations to play. 

I see Google+ as a social network that can be used by people as a social network to collaborate with one another on projects and to share things with people on a very selective level. 


Linked In is the one that should be running scared. Google+ has all the things that service should have had.