Google's New Target: Facebook

Search Giant to Upgrade Gmail to Add Social Media Tools

Today Google will be unveiling some upgrades to its Gmail program that add social media tools that are similar to what is found on Facebook. In addition, they will incorporate video and photo sharing with Gmail and add a new tool for status updates. Google is holding a press conference later on Tuesday to show off the new features, but it's clear that they are now looking to compete with Facebook.

While Google is still the web's most visited website (173 million in December), Facebook is beginning to close the gap (111.8 million in December). Facebook is the fourth most visited site, and are up 105% over the previous year in terms of visitors.

Google clearly realizes that the future of the web heavily involves social aspects, and is making an effort to become more of a player in this arena. Recently, Google added a new social feature that can in part show "results from people in your social circle." In order to participate in this, users must fill out profile information that lists interests, contacts and friends.

Some analysts and experts have the opinion that these changes are merely adding more bloat to Gmail.