Marketing Pilgrim

Last Thursday, I shared my opinion on why Microsoft needed the Facebook deal more than Google did. Here’s the bottom line…

A social network that already has all of the pieces in place: email, instant messaging, blogs, image and video sharing. If Google really wanted to own a social network, it could take the $240M it just saved and put that towards building a kick-ass one. A few rumors, closed beta invites, and denials of competing with MySpace later, and the whole world’s going crazy over Google Connect (or whatever they want to call it).

Today, TechCrunch shares some insider knowledge that suggests Google’s working on bringing its applications together. While I suggested "Google Connect," it appears they’re going with–at least internally–the more descriptive "Maka-Maka." (which makes it sound like something Gonzo would head-up).

Here’s what TC has to share…

The bigger vision is to combine all of Google’s apps and services through Maka-Maka. Google already has so much data on you, depending on how many Google apps you already use. It just needs to bring everything together. Your contacts are in Gmail. Your feeds are in Google Reader. Your IM buddy list is in Gtalk. Your upcoming events are in Google Calendar. Your widgets are in iGoogle. And don’t forget about your search history. Overtime, Google will connect all of these together in different ways, along with data about you from other social services across the Web, and give developers access to the social layer tying all of these apps together underneath. The real killer app for Google is not to turn Orkut into a Facebook clone. It is to turn every Google app into a social application without you even noticing that you’ve joined yet another social network.

So, what does Maka-Maka mean?

It "makamaka" appears to be Hawaiian for "friend"–but I’ll ask the Hawaiian expert and get back to you on that.

It also appears to be a Japanese comic book about "two girl who appear to be ‘friends with benefit’."

I’m guessing they were going for the former, don’t you?

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