????扎克伯格注意到了谷歌在移動領域的優勢，因此轉向谷歌在移動領域最大的競爭對手——蘋果公司（Apple），開始加強雙方的關系。據知情人士透露，Facebook與蘋果已經進行了數輪磋商。或許是因為兩家公司曾經的過節，目前雙方尚未找到可行的合作方式。去年蘋果曾試圖將圍繞iTunes建立的社交網站Ping與Facebook互聯，但卻被Facebook以所謂技術問題予以回絕。蘋果公司很少會公開指責其他公司的行為，但此次史蒂夫?喬布斯甚至親自召集媒體，表達了他的不滿。此外，蘋果在其最新版本的移動操作系統上選擇了與Twitter合作，而不是Facebook，這也對雙方的合作商談產生不利影響。不過雙方的磋商仍在繼續，因為他們都清楚，結盟有助于對付共同的競爭對手谷歌。

????也許你會問：假如這是一場戰爭，那么誰將是最終的贏家？這個問題非常復雜。谷歌的社交媒體業務有兩個目標：一方面是遏制Facebook 的發展勢頭；另一方面則是利用Google+收集的數據來改善谷歌的搜索、地圖服務和廣告等業務。剛鐸與佩奇都表示，后一個目標更為重要。剛鐸稱：“根據這個目標，我們可以進一步改善搜索體驗，提高YouTube與Gmail的性能，并使廣告更具相關性。Google+將幫助改善公司的所有業務。”

????為了實現這個目標，谷歌并不需要打敗Facebook，但它必須坐上社交領域名副其實的第二把交椅。如果說把谷歌與Facebook的關系比作赫茲租車公司（Hertz，全球最大的租車公司——譯注）與安飛士汽車租賃公司(Avis，全球第二大租車公司——譯注)，或許很離譜。搜索引擎技術網站Search Engine Land的編輯丹尼?蘇利文稱：“就目前的形勢來看，谷歌更像是富田租車公司（Thrifty Car Rental）。”要爬到第二位，谷歌需要在社交領域加大投入。例如，今年10月，一家科技博客網站報道稱，包括執行董事長埃里克?施密特在內的多位谷歌高管自己都還沒有開通Google+賬戶。幾天后，施密特的賬戶便悄然出現在Google+上。此外，谷歌還需要其他推動力，那就是提供不同于Facebook的價值定位，說服大量用戶轉投其陣營，或至少是同時成為這兩家社交網站的活躍用戶。目前，我們還無法知曉在Google+的4,000萬賬戶中，有多少用戶在實際使用該網站。谷歌自然不會透露這一數據。當被問及用戶為什么應轉投Google+時，谷歌高管一再表示，傳統的在線共享功能已被顛覆（這話還是去跟Facebook的8億用戶說吧），而通過圈子功能，Google+用戶可以分享他們在真實世界的任何活動（但Facebook現在也具備了這項功能）。

????對于Facebook來說，Google+上線伊始的成功意味著一旦扎克伯格出現失誤，后果將難以承受。過去Facebook經常出現產品失策和用戶隱私泄露的問題，但基本都得到了外界的諒解，或者不了了之，公司并未遭到過多責難。從現在起，如果Facebook惹惱用戶，Google+將很樂意接收他們，當然，他們的朋友也自不必說。因此，扎克伯格現在在繼續前進的同時，還必須密切關注佩奇和谷歌的動向。扎克伯格也許可以對Facebook在用戶總數上的領先感到欣慰，對成功挖到數十位谷歌高端人才竊喜不已，但佩奇在補充谷歌人員儲備方面根本沒有什么難度。在最近的這個季度，谷歌新增近2,600名員工，幾乎相當于Facebook的員工總數。而新招募的員工肩負著一個明確的使命：將谷歌打造成為社交網絡世界的超級巨頭。

????譯者：阿龍/汪皓

????That last point is not lost on Zuckerberg. It has prompted him to seek closer ties with Google's biggest rival in mobile: Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500). The two companies have held multiple rounds of discussions, according to people with knowledge of the talks. But they have yet to find a compelling way to collaborate, perhaps because their courtship got off to a rocky start. Last year Facebook rebuffed Apple's attempt to connect Ping, a new social network built around iTunes, with Facebook, purportedly for technical reasons. It was a rare public rebuke for Apple, and Steve Jobs personally called some reporters to voice his displeasure. That Apple chose to bake Twitter, not Facebook, into the most recent version of its mobile operating system has not helped. Still, the two companies continue to talk, knowing full well that an alliance could help them fend off a common enemy.

????We know what you're probably thinking: If this is a war, who's going to win? The answer is not straightforward. Google has two goals with social media: One is to slow the momentum of Facebook; the other is to use data from Google+ to improve things like search, maps, and ads. Both Gundotra and Page say the latter goal is the more important one. "We can make search better," Gundotra says. "We can make YouTube and Gmail better. We can make our ads more relevant." He later adds: "Google+ will touch every aspect of Google."

????To meet its goals, Google doesn't need to best Facebook, but it needs to become a credible No. 2. Think Avis to Facebook's Hertz. That's a ways off. "At this point, it's more like Thrifty Car Rental," says Danny Sullivan, the editor of Search Engine Land. To get there, Google needs to drink even more of the social Kool-Aid than it has. Consider this: In October a tech blog reported that several top Google officials, including Eric Schmidt, the executive chairman, had not even set up their own accounts on Google+. A few days later Schmidt's account quietly appeared on the site. Google also needs something else: a value proposition that is different from Facebook's and that compels users to switch in large numbers -- or at least to be active on both sites. At this point, it is not clear how many of the 40 million people with Google+ accounts actually use the site. Google won't say. And when asked why anyone should switch to Google+, executives there say again and again that online sharing is broken (tell that to Facebook's 800 million members) and that with Circles, Google+ users can share as they do in the real world (never mind that Facebook has matched that capability).

????For Facebook, the early successes of Google+ mean Zuckerberg can no longer afford to screw up. In the past, Facebook's frequent product missteps and privacy snafus were by and large forgiven or forgotten. From now on, Google+ will stand at the ready, more than happy to welcome any disgruntled Facebook users -- not to mention their friends. In other words, as he soldiers on, Zuckerberg must now keep an eye on Page and his troops. Yes, Zuckerberg may feel good about Facebook's gaping lead in users and about having poached dozens of Google's prized brainiacs. But Page has had no problem replenishing Google's ranks. In the most recent quarter, Google added nearly 2,600 employees. That's almost as many people as work at Facebook, and they have a clear mandate: to turn Google into a superpower of the social web.