Google Social-Networking Software Challenges MySpace, Facebook

Google Inc., capitalizing on the popularity of Internet social networking, introduced software that lets developers put their programs on a range of Web sites, including those owned by LinkedIn Corp. and Friendster Inc.

The software, called OpenSocial, allows creators of music and video programs to distribute applications in different places on the Web without having to customize them for each site, said Joe Kraus, director of product management at Mountain View, California-based Google.

``It's a much more efficient way for developers to get access'' to a bigger number of sites, Kraus said in an interview in San Francisco. Consumers ``get more choice, more applications, more things to do in more places.''

The new approach challenges the two biggest social- networking companies, News Corp.'s MySpace and Facebook Inc., which let developers create customized software for their sites. By making a single program for multiple sites, developers can save time and money, and there may be less reason to rely on one particular service.

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