One must admire Google (News - Alert) for its persistence. No matter how many times it fails in social networking, it keeps on coming back. So for its next iteration of social networking initiatives Google has introduced Google+. And just to keep it on the safe side of expectations, it's being touted as a project, not a product. Initial reactions from the beta testers seems to be rather positive.

So, can Google make a dent in Facebook's (News - Alert) hegemony with this new "project"? Of course only time will tell. Judging by its previous social efforts, Wave and Buzz, Google certainly has an uphill battle. Then there's FTC's (News - Alert) anti-trust investigation - an added distraction for the company.

Suppose Google+ is successful in persuading large numbers of users to defect from facebook. Facebook certainly wouldn't be happy about that development and will pressure the government to bring Google under more scrutiny.

So it seems for now, the only way Google+ can succeed is to be superior to Facebook, but at the same time not to appear that it's stifling competition. In other words Google should wish for Google+ to succeed in some areas and fail in others. Brings the old Microsoft (News - Alert) and Apple contentions to mind, before Apple became what Apple is today.