截止目前，Google今年总共收购11家公司，仅在8月就有5家公司并入旗下。Google掀起的并购狂潮不禁让人疑惑：Google的社交网络战略究竟走向何方？从它收购了SocialDeck公司等一批游戏行业顶级分子的举动来看，Google似乎有意将游戏作为该战略的突破口。此话不假，但将Google旗下一系列社交媒体工具整合起来，形成一个强大的社交网络，恐怕才是Google实现这一战略的当务之急。本文针对这一问题，着重讨论Google并购潮后所需突破的瓶颈：

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各自为阵的社交媒体工具

Google极其擅长掌握其他数码媒体产业链，并向非己所长的领域进军，比如说手机平台、应用软件、网络电视等服务产品，但这些都还不能清楚地解释Google社交媒体战略的定义。社交网络对Google非常重要，它是社交媒体战略中的关键一环，其强大功能在于创造广告营收，因为像Facebook、Twitter这类强悍的软件及服务平台，已向世人证明社交网站的确是一款快速吸金工具。但Google的欲求远不止于此，手机游戏营收同样是Googole追逐的利益所在。

尽管已经将多个社交媒体工具收入囊中，但Google仍然无力破解这些社交媒体各自为阵的局面，它缺乏一个可以整合所有社交媒体资源的基础框架或者前端。Google目前最具实力的社交工具当属Orkut，该网站在全球拥有1亿的活跃用户，类似的社交工具还有Google Friend Connect,该产品是一个开放社交应用工具，主要用于连接社交网站、非社交网站。其他的Google社交工具还包括Google Groups、Google Blog Search、Google Profiles以及社交搜索器Aardvark。另外，Google还拥有Google Latitude、Maps、Street View、Buzz这类定位服务功能，将它们整合到社交网站中也许是个不错的主意。别忘了，Google的杀手锏还有YouTube视频网站，虽然严格意义上来说并不能称之为社交网站，但该网站的确已经拥有庞大的全球用户群，并且具明显的社交特征。

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手机社交游戏

Google并购案的出击核心在社交游戏，尤其是手机社交游戏，收购SocialDeck公司、Jamboo公司等一系列动作即是明证，因为SocialDeck公司一直是领跑手机游戏的行业专家，而Jamboo公司则是为应用开发商创造虚拟货币系

统，促进游戏营收的聚财能手。广告投放、虚拟商品等途径一直是社交游戏供应商的重要营收来源，Google很显然看中了这一点，情况也确实如此，大量的用户将大把的时间撒在社交游戏上，恰好给广告投放创造了绝佳的平

台。因此，Google向手机游戏出手这一招实在是又快又准又狠，要知道如今的社交媒体都在急速地占领手机平台，手机游戏在应用商店里的行情也十分走俏。Google的定位服务功能很可能为手机社交游戏加分加码，但Google也不会将所有的鸡蛋都放在同一个篮子里，它的社交游戏跨平台发展战略仍然不会缩水。

基础框架和前端

强大的社交网站往往易于形成规模，这主要表现在聚集游戏开发商、玩家和广告投放的营收转化功能。这些都是Google紧盯的利益，也是它不惜一切代价要去开拓的原因所在。将游戏编入Google旗下的社交混合工具中，提高广告营收,很可能就是Google的下一步行动。但是，这并非Google实现战略突破的长远之计，因为它仍然有不少问题尚无解决对策。正如上文所言，Google只有让搜索引擎发挥最大功效，通过一个广受用户欢迎的前端或社交中转站，将旗下的社交媒体工具合为一体，方能所向披靡，成就霸业。

Google’s buying spree raises questions

Google’s acquisition of SocialDeck at the end of August made it the 11th social media related company Google has snapped up so far this year — five of them in August alone.

The buying spree raises questions as to where Google is heading with its much-anticipated play in social networking, particularly as many of the recent ones, including SocialDeck, are gaming specialists, suggesting that Google sees gaming as a cornerstone of its social media strategy.

There is value in this but what Google needs, and what is not yet evident, is a coherent strategy for social networking that pulls together the disjointed pieces of its growing social media portfolio.

A large but scattered base of social media assets

The absence of a well-defined social media strategy is particularly conspicuous because Google has proven so adept at harnessing other parts of the digital media value chain, and in areas that are not its traditional core capabilities …ldquo; notably mobile device platforms, applications, and more recently Internet TV.

Social networks are important for Google because they have potential capabilities that are at the heart of its overarching strategy: to harness advertising revenues.

Stronger ones are also showing promise as software and services platforms, as demonstrated by Facebook and Twitter, while the increasing emphasis on mobile is also aligned with Google’s interests.

Google already has numerous social media assets to draw on, but the problem is that they are largely fragmented, with no underpinning framework or a front end to pull them together beyond search.

The most obvious social asset is Orkut, which has more than 100 million active users worldwide. Alongside this there is Google Friend Connect, an OpenSocial application for connecting social and non-social websites.

Other related assets include Google Groups, Google Blog Search, Google Profiles, and Aardvark for social search. Google can also add location-related services to the social mix: Google Latitude, Maps, Street View, and Buzz.

Then there is YouTube, which while not strictly a social network does major on user-generated content and has community features.

Gaming can help Google’s assault on social networking but it is not a magic bulletGoogle has been adding to this arsenal through acquisitions, a process that accelerated during August and where the emphasis was squarely on social gaming, particularly mobile.

The latest acquisition, SocialDeck, has built an expertise in developing social games for the mobile platform, while Jambool specializes in allowing app developers to create virtual currency systems for games to enable monetization.

The ability to monetize social games through ad revenues and an emerging inbuilt virtual goods economy is driving the supply-side trend of social gaming.

Google clearly sees gaming as an important plank in its social media strategy, and it can certainly add tactical value. Users are flocking to social games and are spending a considerable proportion of their time engaging with others in this environment, which is good for advertising.

Google’s emphasis on mobile gaming is canny as social media is increasingly going mobile while mobile games already dominate app stores. Google’s location capabilities can enhance social mobile gaming further, while it will no doubt look at developing cross-platform social gaming in the future. Adding all this to the social mix could prove compelling.

Games can add value but a strong framework and front end are required

Strong social networks have scale, thriving developer communities, big audiences, and a monetization strategy based on advertising. This is core to Google’s own interests, and it needs to position itself in this space for defensive and offensive reasons.

Google is clearly preparing to make its move, and weaving gaming into the social mix is attractive and could help advertising revenues.

However, by itself this will not be enough to provide long-term differentiation, and there are fundamental issues that Google needs to address as a matter of priority. It needs to pull its social media assets into a coherent framework with a user-friendly front end or social hub, where search can make a great contribution.（source:BusinessWorld）

声明：本文中文为游戏邦翻译，英文原文采用BusinessWorld，转载请保留版权信息，谢谢！