Not playing games
Google has also invested in social gaming success story, as a reported cornerstone of its new proposition, Google Games, which is rumoured to launch later this year.
The search giant has reportedly quietly backed Zynga to the tune of $100m-$200m, in an intriguing move as Zynga is already in bed with Facebook, having created Farmville, the most popular social gaming app on the social network.
While the investment part of the deal has closed, Google is reportedly still planning a larger strategic partnership with Zynga, which is tipped to be the cornerstone of its Google Games, expected to launch later this year.
By building on Zynga's successful base of social games, experts believe Google will get a boost in the social networking department and begin to compete with Facebook, especially with rumours the search giant plans to develop a reworked and complete social networking proposition. There are rumours Zynga's revenues for H1 of 2010 will be about $350m, with predicted $1bn revenue in 2011.
Google may be planning to muscle in on Facebook's reign via social gaming as a lucrative way to advertise and raise revenue. Some experts believe some optional paid functionality in Zynga games could use Google Checkout instead of the more popular PayPal.
Google's business model indicates it is hungry for advertising opportunities, having riled Apple by acquiring in-app advertising company AdMob for $750m. It will go head to head with Apple's predictably named iAds to compete for mobile advertising revenue and add it to its web advertising arsenal of AdSense and DoubleClick.
