Google announced Friend Connect on Monday with very limited beta preview access. This is a new service that will allow website developers to add social elements to their Web pages without having to make their own social network or even do any programming at all.

Visitors to Friend Connect enabled sites can log in with their AOL, Google, OpenID, and Yahoo! accounts, and the sites also attempt to pull in connected visitors from their Facebook, orkut and Google Talk networks. The idea is that you leverage social networks to increase the traffic on your site.

I want to like the idea, but I get a huge amount of silly and useless Facebook spam from my connected friends as it is. Do you want to take my pickle quiz? Five of your friends have just taken this quiz. I've ended up closing other social networking tools over the constant spam recruiting. Friend Connect may end up backfiring for Google.

• Review of Orkut
• What's the Difference Between Google Accounts and Google Apps?

Ok, now everyone is just getting silly. The media referred to a Microsoft-Yahoo! merger as "Microhoo," and now InformationWeek is talking about "Goohoo."

What is Goohoo? One of the reasons Microsoft recently dropped their bid to acquire Yahoo! is because Yahoo! ran some limited tests to see if using Google ads would boost their profit margin. It does, but it also sticks the two companies between a rock and a hard place.

Google needs Yahoo! to remain strong and independent as a foil to Microsoft. Using Google ads will boost Yahoo!'s profit margin, but it will also attract a lot of regulatory scrutiny. However, if Google walks away at this point, Yahoo! would be forced back to the negotiating table with Microsoft.

• AdSense Explained - Google's Program for Internet Ads
• How to Add AdSense to Blogger to Make Money From Your Blog

Some very large technology and communication players announced that they were investing in mobile broadband technology known as WiMAX.

Sprint is spinning off their broadband services and combining them with Clearwire to form a new company, also known as Clearwire. Google, Comcast, Intel Capital, Time Warner Cable, Bright House Networks and Trilogy Equity Partners will invest a combined $3.2 billion in the new company.

I really hope the other communication networks do come up with an alternative, because this is an area where I'd like to see a lot of competition. Meanwhile, I look forward to seeing what the new Clearwire has to offer.

When Yahoo! rejected Microsoft's acquisition offer, Microsoft had three choices. They could increase the offer, proceed to a hostile takeover, or just walk away. It appears that Microsoft tried two out of the three. They increased their offer and when that failed, they decided to walk away.

In a letter to Yahoo!, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer was especially irked with Yahoo!'s recent negotiations with Google, saying "such an arrangement with the dominant search provider would make an acquisition of Yahoo! undesirable to us for a number of reasons."

This is really the only strategy Microsoft could take. Stockholders didn't seem pleased with Microsoft's initial offer. A proxy war would be even more expensive and could face regulatory challenges. Meanwhile, if Microsoft just waits it out they'll probably have the chance to offer a lower bid next year.

The Microsoft and Yahoo! battle has been nothing if not confusing. Microsoft has attempted to buy Yahoo! several times. The most recent attempt was earlier this year.

Yahoo! let that deadline pass, and ran a small scale experiment with Google ads. There were some rumors leading up to this weekend that they might even make it a more permanent relationship and use Google for more of their ads.

Meanwhile, Microsoft was supposed to announce their strategy on Friday. Do they make a new offer, attempt a hostile takeover, or walk away?

Well, Friday came and went with no word from Microsoft. The rumor now is that Microsoft and Yahoo! are in talks that could result in a weekend deal. However, at least one source says that Monday is a more likely day to hear news from Microsoft, so this may just be media silence to make for more news on Monday.

If you're still confused, Dan Farber has a hilarious flow chart of the major players.

Google launched a metric ton of new iGoogle themes today. Some of them carry big designer labels, such as Oscar de la Renta, Anne Geddes, Marc Ecko, Coldplay, Jeff Koons and Diane von Furstenberg. Jeff Koons also designed the Google Doodle for today.

I was excited to see all the new themes, especially Jeff Koons, but most of them are just not graphically exciting for me. They're not as dynamic - just a rotating selection of the artist's works. Dolce&Gabbana is fun in a kitschy sort of way, so I almost went with that. However, there's a Jackie Chan theme, and I couldn't resist. I mean, it's Jackie Chan.

• How to Make an iGoogle Page on Internet Explorer
• Find All Your Google Services With One iGoogle Gadget
• How to Make Tabs on iGoogle for More Gadgets

Microsoft made an offer earlier this year to buy Yahoo! for $44.6 billion US dollars. Yahoo! declined shortly afterward, saying the offer was too low. Microsoft insisted that their offer was solid and said they might resort to a hostile takeover if Yahoo! declined and gave them until last Saturday to accept their offer.

Saturday passed with no word of a deal between Yahoo! and Microsoft. The question at this point is what Microsoft will do about it. Do they back off and wait to see of Yahoo! stock falls? Probably. Microsoft could start hostile action now, but that would be a long and expensive process. They could also return with a higher bid offer, but that seems unlikely.

Microsoft's stock took a plunge shortly after their first offer, and it is down again as of this writing.

Google might want to consider some new names for their services. Google Apps and Google App Engine have names that are just a little too similar. Yesterday at the Kansas City event for Google Apps, someone told me they ran into a couple of very disappointed developers. They wanted to write applications for Google App Engine and hadn't realized that this event wasn't intended for them.

I've written an article that hopefully will help clear this up a little. In the meantime, maybe Google could think of a better name for Google Apps. It's not the first time the name has confused people.

• What's the Difference Between Google Apps and Google App Engine?
• What's the Difference Between Google Apps and Google Accounts?

Different representatives from the Google Apps team hit the road on an information tour to promote use of the tool for small to medium sized businesses. Today the tour hit Kansas City, MO. Tomorrow will be the fourth and final stop in Phoenix, AZ.

The event today was very informal and felt a lot like a booth at a trade show. Google decorated with branded Lava Lamps and bean bags. It was located in a large covered area outside, and Google employees stood by laptop stations demonstrating Google Apps and answering questions. Google also handed out branded canvas bags, Google pins, and coupons for AdWords.

Google invited representatives from Truckmovers.com to share their experiences with using Google Apps. I spoke with Chief Technology Officer, Darryl Shippy, who told me that the company had moved to Google Apps in January of 2007 for their email, and they'd integrated some other Google Apps services after that. They were particularly impressed with Gmail's spam filtering.

It was difficult to gauge attendance, since participants were free to stay as long or as little as they chose, but there were no huge lines or big waits for the free barbecue they served. Part of this may have been because the event was offered in the middle of a work week, and part of it may have been because it wasn't heavily publicized in local media.

At any rate, Google couldn't have picked better weather for the event, and no large crowds meant everyone had the chance to ask questions or see demonstrations. It will be interesting to see if events like these have any impact at all on the Microsoft-centric business place.

• Review of Google Apps
• What's the Difference Between Google Apps and Google Accounts?

Google Transit expanded today in celebration of Earth Day. The new cities include San Francisco, CA; Denver, CO; Milwaukee, WI; Ann Arbor and Holland, MI; Kansas City, MO; Framingham and Cape Cod, MA and Rhode Island.

Kansas City is in my neck of the woods, so I checked it out. I really like that it gives you walking directions to your bus stop. There have been many times when I've been stuck in a new city and couldn't figure out how to get to the correct bus stop.

Google Transit is only as good as the data that goes into it. The Kansas City version would work well for anyone who wants to ride and stay within downtown using The Metro, but if you need information about rides with The Jo, taxis, trains, or shuttles... it's just not there. I'm sure it's a similar story in other cities.

• Google Maps Mashups
• How to Plan an Alternate Route With Google Maps