Google to Announce OpenSocial on Thursday

The New York Times (About.com's parent company) says that Google will announce a new open standard for social networks on Thursday, called OpenSocial. Wired and a few other sources say that this announcement may be next week.

The "Maka-Maka" platform was first leaked in September, and the original date mentioned was November 5th. There's some speculation that if OpenSocial is delayed, it is a reaction to Facebook's plan to announce an advertising platform on November 6th.

• Review of Google's Social Networking Platform, Orkut