Today, we're excited to announce several new features for Google Friend
Connect that make it possible for website owners to get to know their users,
encourage users to get to know each other, and match their site content (including Google ads)
to visitors' interests. Check out the Google
Social Web Blog for an overview of these new features.
We
also want to point out that there are APIs for developers who want to play with the interests
data programmatically. With the new interest data described on the Social Web Blog, developers
can write custom polls and access the interests data directly. Friend Connect provides API level access to both individual
interests information as well as aggregate information for all users of a site. Interests
information can be added programmatically for the signed-in user or via the poll gadget, and
it can be accessed via both the JavaScript API and the OpenSocial REST API. The Guitar Universe example site should give you an idea of some of the things
that are possible with this new launch.
As always, feel free to ask
technical questions related to the Friend Connect APIs in the developer
forum.
By Mussie Shore, Product Manager, Google Friend Connect
