Facebook Teams with Skype, Microsoft to Slay Google

It appears the nerds are marching to war. In a move that is surely a shot across the bow of Google GOOG, Facebook announced Wednesday they are integrating Skype into their platform, allowing Facebook users the opportunity to video chat with their friends. This comes a little more than a week after Google unveiled its own version of Facebook, dubbed "Google+", making a direct attempt to go after Facebook's core user base. You could almost see the warpaint on Mark Zuckerberg's face as he painstakingly detailed how even the least tech-savvy users (aka your grandmother) would be able to chat with friends, relatives, and co-workers, either one-on-one or in groups. "The video calling is so great and it's so easy," said Zuckerberg. "Your least-technical friend is going to be able to get online with video chat and get connected. You'll connect with your friends on the social network that already has all your friends." Reading between the lines, that last bit from Zuckerberg is a dig at Google and its Google+ program, which has struggled in beta to live up to the expectations that come with being tied to the Google name. Zuckerberg has to take some delight in punching back against Google, even if he did have to bring in some other big names to do so. With Microsoft MSFT already agreeing to purchase Skype for some $8.5 billion, it appears that battle lines have been drawn: Facebook, Skype, and Microsoft are teaming up to take on the mighty Google. Oh, baby. Maybe it's just my inner geek speaking, but I haven't been this excited about a coming war since Haldir led a contingent of elves to help reinforce Rohan's stand at Helm's Deep in LOTR: The Two Towers. Google+ isn't the first attempt the company has made at capturing the Facebook audience. Google's Plus One button is an attempt to mimic Facebook's "like" button, while Google Voice was an early, awkward attempt to move in to Skype's territory. Throw in Microsoft, whose Bing search engine was designed to compete with Google's, and you have the making of a full-on tech-nerd war. As it turns out, this isn't even close to the first time that Microsoft and Facebook have teamed up for a project, although integrating new-purchase Skype into Facebook is certainly their largest project to date. The two teamed up in May to also teamed up to tie-in Facebook "likes" with Microsoft's search engine, driving users to personalized, relevant content, and to create a competitor to Google Docs, utilizing Docs.com. Who will win the Great Tech War of 2011? Early results point toward the Alliance of Facebook, Microsoft, and Skype. Google+ has a long way to go before it can even hope to replace a portion of Facebook's user base. I gave Google+ about ten minutes to be interesting, and it just...isn't. With the Skype partnership with Facebook, and the fact that all my friends (not to mention mafia wars, farms, and other random Zynga games) are already on Facebook, there are no more compelling reasons for someone like me to switch over to Google+...and this is coming from someone who has tested out the new site. Then again, as they say, life is a marathon, not a sprint. So, I suppose, pop some popcorn, crack open a soda, and watch the show. Whether you do so on Facebook-Skype or not is entirely up to you. John Thorpe can be reached at john@benzinga.com or on Twitter