Facebook vs Google

It's tough to know what goes on inside of companies. In general, they are much more random, chaotic, and yes, even stupid than thoughts. When you have a lot of people with partial knowledge in a political culture, stuff happens, often for no good reason. So, while I don't agree with what ReadWriteWeb has to say about Facebook vs Google, my own guess is likely wrong as well. Here's RWW:

All that profile information you've filled out over the years on Facebook? That's not just there for your friends and colleagues to see, or for self-expression. Facebook is also able to use much of it to target the advertising you see on Facebook. (And, eventually, potentially all over the Web, the way Google does.) 

Would you rather know who someone is, or what they are interested in right now? If I were starting a business from scratch, I'd much rather have intent than profile information because profile information is what you use to sell something when you don't have intent. It's second best, designed to help in reach, and not the actual moment of closing when the wallet comes out and money moves from A to B.

Brand advertising, disassociated from intent from the inception, has a natural home on Facebook, but I still think Google's ad business is a better one to be in, fundamentally.

I think Google is scared of Facebook because Facebook is successfully competing with the Web, and Google makes money by selling ads on websites, for websites.