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Facebook Blocks Google+ App, Google Removes Twitter From Real Time Search

Posted by samzenpus on from the punch-the-person-to-your-left dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Facebook has blocked access to Friend Exporter, a Google Chrome application that helps users import their Facebook contacts into Google's new social network — Google Plus. " Meanwhile, reader dkd903 points out that Google has been busy removing Twitter from real time search, due to a contract expiry with Twitter."

6 of 250 comments (clear)

  1. Curious by benjfowler · · Score: 4, Informative

    Facebook count on the social network being 'sticky' enough to retain their users and make it hard to move. Obviously, with competitors which don't suck, they need to play dirty.

    I was keen to see if their backup feature exported email addresses. Sure enough, it doesn't. So there goes my idea of writing a script to extract my contacts out of Facebook backups suitable for import into Google+.

    About the only way this state of affairs will change, is if the bad publicity gets bad enough for Facebook to be shamed into doing the right thing.

    Smart move by Facebook -- pissing off their hardcore techie users. Very classy.

  2. Re:Removed from "real time" search by Lazy+Jones · · Score: 3, Informative

    Are there any useful alternatives?

    Not at this time I suppose, but I wish projects like YaCy would make some progress / gain more attention.

    --
    "I love my job, but I hate talking to people like you" (Freddie Mercury)
  3. Fortunately redirecting through Yahoo still works. by morgosmaci · · Score: 5, Informative

    Just sign into yahoo using your facebook account and it will even create a throw away yahoo acount for you and import all of your facebook friends as contacts. Then just export those contacts into a vcf and import them into a contact group in gmail. (Or import them directly into G+).

  4. Turnaround is fair play by Alan+Shutko · · Score: 1, Informative

    Last year, Google blocked Facebook from accessing gmail contacts. This is just tit for tat.

    http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704353504575596913266928110.html

    1. Re:Turnaround is fair play by makomk · · Score: 4, Informative

      They blocked Facebook from accessing GMail contacts directly because Facebook wouldn't allow them to import Facebook contacts directly. You can still download your entire GMail contacts list yourself in a multitude of formats and do whatever you like with them, including importing them into Facebook if you really want to, whereas this news article is about Facebook blocking their own users from doing the same kind of mass-export.

  5. Re:How Microsoft of Them by redemtionboy · · Score: 4, Informative

    Because Facebook launched nationwide to everyone at once and didn't do something like slowly expand from school to school and then eventually to the general public....oh wait.