Well, do be really honest, I don't think there is much choice in the matter. With search engines and people focusing so much on personalization google would be

Well, do be really honest, I don't think there is much choice in the matter. With search engines and people focusing so much on personalization google would be left far behind if it doesn't have the friends' data to recommend you some place. It is, I agree, in its nascent stage at the moment and you would never know when it might get big. But whenever it does happen, google doesn't want to find itself lost and hence the focus on "social". Without social, google is just a search engine from early 21st century; with it, one of the leaders in the dot-com world. The facebook's valuation and ad model speaks for the importance of social. Additionally, social is the thing where a customer would keep coming back to you just like e-mail.