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Google's Larry Page Smack Talks Facebook And Apple

Khurram Aziz email: k.aziz@mobilenapps.com

Google CEO Larrry Page believes Facebook is "doing a really bad job" on its products and has mocked Apple's attempts to go "thermonuclear" on Android.

In a rare interview with Wired magazine, Page said that while Facebook is "strong" in social networking space, it is failing with its product strategy.

Later, Page was asked about his thoughts on comments made by Apple's former CEO, Steve Jobs, and his desire to destroy the Android operating system.

"How  well is that working?" quipped Page.

The Google boss didn't spell out exactly what aspect of Facebook's products is "really bad", but he could be hinting at recent problems the social network has had over privacy settings. That's an area Google is familiar with, having been investigated by the Federal Trade Commission for failing to respect users' privacy when it set up its Google Buzz network in 2010.

"We had real issues with how our users shared information, how they expressed their identity, and so on," said Page, when asked about the difficulty the company is having with its own social network, Google+. "[But] I think it's outrageous to say that there's only space for one company in these areas. When we started with search, everyone said, "You guys are gonna fail, there's already five search companies." We said, "We are a search company, but we're doing something different." That's how I see all these areas."

Page also believes that Google is persuing the correct strategy with its open Android OS for smartphones compared to Apple with its "walled garden" iOS ecosystem.

"Look, you may have the greatest maps in the world, but if nobody uses them, it doesn't matter," said Page, commenting on Apple's failure to substitute Google Maps with its own app on the iPhone. "Our philosophy has always been to get our products out to as many people as possible. Unfortunately that's not always easy in this day and age. The web has been great; we were able to get products out to everyone, quickly and with high quality. Now we're going backward with a lot of the platforms that are out there. Companies are trying to wall everything off, and I think that impedes the rate of innovation."

Page may have some reason to be confident. Figures continue to show that Android devices are outselling iOS devices by up to 5:1.

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