A Hugely Disruptive Problem for Facebook and Twitter

By Tim Beyers – Feb 27, 2013 at 9:04PM

NASDAQ: META

Meta Platforms

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Google+ gets app sign-in.

App developers rarely spend time authenticating user sign-ins anymore. Facebook (META -1.12%) made the need to do so all but irrelevant five years ago when it unveiled Facebook Connect for the iPhone.

Today, the social network is awash in data from users signing into any number of on-the-go apps using their Facebook credentials. Twitter benefits from this same dynamic, but on a smaller scale. Now Google (GOOGL 0.69%) wants a piece of the action. The search king introduced a plan to allow users to sign into apps using a Google+ account.

Should Facebook shareholders be concerned with Google's grab for a bigger share of the data produced by mobile users? The Motley Fool's Alison Southwick asks Tim Beyers of Motley Fool Rule Breakers and Motley Fool Supernova for his perspective in the video below. Please watch, and then leave a comment to let us know what you think.

Fool contributor Tim Beyers is a member of the Motley Fool Rule Breakers stock-picking team and the Motley Fool Supernova Odyssey I mission. He owned shares of Google at the time of publication. Check out Tim's web home and portfolio holdings or connect with him on Google+, Tumblr, or Twitter, where he goes by @milehighfool. You can also get his insights delivered directly to your RSS reader.

The Motley Fool owns shares of Facebook and Google. The Fool has bought calls on Facebook. Motley Fool newsletter services have recommended buying shares of Facebook and Google. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors.