Phase II of Google and Facebook's OpenID arms race

Yesterday, both Facebook and Google took their respective OpenID systems out of beta, continuing their neck-and-neck move away from "walled garden" status.

Back in May, Facebook, Google, and MySpace all debuted their open identification platforms which allow the sites to work with other services based upon a single login and user identity. However, there was immediate tension between Google and Facebook, which resulted in Facebook blocking Google's Friend Connect.

Yesterday morning, Google announced that beta testing of Friend Connect is complete, and that webmasters that wish to add social features can now link to Google, Yahoo, AOL, and OpenID services through Friend Connect.

Mussie Shore, Friend Connect Product Manager said, "We have been working closely with a handful of Web site owners, social networks, and application developers to improve its speed and scalability, ease of use, and customization capabilities. We've also expanded the features available to users with richer, more integrated profiles and new ways to discuss and share content, like including YouTube videos in your comments."

Then, a matter of hours later, Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg announced that Facebook Connect is ready for action, and that "Connect with Facebook" tags like those found on Citysearch, CNN's The Forum, and CBS' The Insider. Clicking these tags will link posts from those sites back to the user's Facebook feed.

"Obviously our launch partners don't cover all the Web sites you use on a daily basis," Zuckerberg said, "So if you want to see this list grow, get in touch with your favorite Web sites, developers, and services, and tell them you want to connect. With your help, we can all share more information across the web."

The big idea behind these open identification standards is to create an easy-to-follow voluntary profiling system for users that allows the most effective advertising and marketing to be served their way. While Facebook's approach revolves around users sticking to the social network and its linked properties, Google's is more of a platform upon which to build new services that users ultimately collect.