Here’s the latest:

Facebook hiring a high-profile PR firm to spread a smear campaign about Google to the mainstream media.

For the past few days, a mystery has been unfolding in Silicon Valley. Somebody, it seems, hired Burson-Marsteller, a top public-relations firm, to pitch anti-Google stories to newspapers, urging them to investigate claims that Google was invading people’s privacy. Burson even offered to help an influential blogger write a Google-bashing op-ed, which it promised it could place in outlets like The Washington Post, Politico, and The Huffington Post.

Not only is the company behind this anti-Google media campaign none other than Facebook–pot calling the kettle black, anyone?–but apparently Facebook has admitted it hired Burson-Marsteller to run the negative campaign.

Again, Facebook has admitted it:

Confronted with evidence, a Facebook spokesman last night confirmed that Facebook hired Burson, citing two reasons: First, because it believes Google is doing some things in social networking that raise privacy concerns; second, and perhaps more important, because Facebook resents Google’s attempts to use Facebook data in its own social-networking service.

USA TODAY

Google has set out to emulate Facebook by using tracking programs and algorithms to connect more members from the top social networks to Gmail users. ”Google wants access to the dollars that Facebook is getting,” Lee says. “They’re trying to create a product that comes closer to mirroring Facebook’s ability to target specific groups of people for advertisers.”

http://www.marketingpilgrim.com/2011/05/facebook-google-privacy-campaign.html

The Desk of Brian recommends:

Bigfoot hunters recruiting on Facebook & CraigslistFour lily white Liberals smear a black man: op-ed by Peter BeckDiaspora* founder, Ilya Zhitomirskiy, dead at 22The coming Facebook phone?Google Offers Staff Engineer $3.5 Million To Turn Down Facebook OfferQueen Elizabeth II now on FacebookKrystal Ball faces backlash from racy photos from her pastRockMelt web browser takes on the big boys