12 May 2011 | Author: C. Tate

Titans clash as it's revealed Facebook attempted to 'smear Google'

Social network Facebook employed Burson-Marsteller, a PR company, to place stories in the US media to portray Google in a bad light, according to US news site The Daily Beast in a major reveal of the firms' continued rivalry.

This first came to light when Facebook approached internet security blogger Christopher Soghoian to investigate Google's privacy policy, with the offer of helping him get his resulting piece published on sites such as The New York Post and The Huffington Post. Soghoian refused and posted the emails Burson-Marsteller sent to him online instead, to show their machinations.

However, at no point was Burson-Marsteller's client revealed and USA Today reported the PR company ran a 'whisper campaign' to discredit Google on behalf of a mystery client.

Now, there's evidence to support the claim Facebook's been bankrolling them, according to the Daily Beast.

"Confronted with evidence, a Facebook spokesman [Wednesday] confirmed that Facebook hired Burson, citing two reasons: First, because it believes Google is doing some things in social networking that raise privacy concerns; second, and perhaps more important, because Facebook resents Google's attempts to use Facebook data in its own social-networking service," said Dan Lyons, writer for The Daily Beast.

Lyons likened the manoeuvres to those made in the Cold War, but also acknowledged Facebook's moves came though Google has thus-far proven inept at penetrating the social sphere.

Google have refused to comment, but a spokesman for Facebook has confirmed the story.

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