Google Friend Connect allows website managers to get social features on their websites without the hard work of code writing or searching for third-party applications designed by the OpenSocial developer community. The visitors of sites that are using Google Friend Connect can easily see, invite and interact with new people or, with secure authorization APIs, they can connect with friends from other websites, such as Facebook, Google Talk or hi5.

The attempt of Google Friend Connect to keep up with the changes that Facebook Connect has been making ended up with the release of its first set of APIs (Application Programming Interface), which will enable developers to integrate Google Friend at a greater level into their sites and applications. They offer access to the core features of Friend Connect and let you exploit them on your site in interesting ways. Google Friend provides a single sing-on service and some portability features.
The new set of APIs will make it possible for users to employ both JavaScript and REST APIs to help them insert Google Friend Connect into the markup language of each site in a direct manner and thus making it easier to merge it with the existing login systems. The search giant also considered those developers who want to create plugins for content management systems like WordPress or phpBB and designed APIs for them as well. Better authentication options have also been made available for gadget developers.

Softpedia