Google OpenSocial
Google’s new project, OpenSocial, is a set of common APIs that application developers can use to create applications that work on any social networks (called “hosts”) that choose to participate. The strategy is aimed at one-upping Facebook, which last spring opened its service to outside developers. Since then, more than 5,000 small programs have been built to run on the Facebook site, and some have been adopted by millions of the site’s users.