"This is not an email killer," said Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg during the unveiling of the social networking giant's new Facebook Messages service Monday. But many tech commentators see Facebook's push to get users to consolidate their email, text messages, and instant messaging in Messages as a frontal assault on email — specifically on Gmail and its parent, Google. Is this Facebook's latest attack on its Silicon Valley neighbor? Could Facebook win? (Watch a Facebook Messages introduction)
Google is toast: Make no mistake, Facebook has just launched a "head-to-head battle with Google for dominance of the Internet," says David Kirkpatrick in The Daily Beast. While Messages will poach some current Gmail users, "what should really worry Google" is the unlikelihood that younger generations will ever need a Gmail account. Facebook is where "just about everyone under 18" currently lives on the web, and this will keep them there.
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