Social networkers could be saying ‘I’ll circle you’, if Google has its way.
Rumours are fast gathering momentum in the tech trade that the search giant is about to hit Facebook where it hurts – by launching a rival social network.
According to The Next Web blog, the network is tipped to be called Google Circle, and could be launched at the forthcoming Google I/O conference in May.
It was previously said to go by the name Google +1, although circle may have more resonance with users, which would summon them to define their social circle.
One industry figure claimed knowledge of the site on Twitter, saying “I’ve seen Google circles, and it looks awesome.”
It had previously been suggested the service would be unveiled to the public at South by Southwest (SXSW) Conferences currently taking place in Austin, Texas.
Google’s latest venture is looking to offer a more refined platform than rival Facebook, offering messaging, video and photo sharing , to a core group of friends rather than the larger audiences than engage with each other on the latter.
Its Chief Eric Schmidt has already said several times that the search company is not looking to develop a Facebook clone.
Google have been keen to jump on the social networking band wagon for a while and has been pinpointed as one of its area it is particularly lacking.
The ubiquitous social network it will come up against, Facebook, currently has over 550 million members.
