Facebook with a view instead of Street View

This office will hardly cause Google Street View any trouble with data protection. The search engine giant's biggest competitor will open its new offices around 100 meters above the ground. Out of reach of the cameras. But noticed by experts all over the world. After Palo Alto, Seattle, New York, Singapore, São Paulo and London, Facebook plans to open an important office in Zurich in the fall of 2011. Initially, 170 employees will set up a new marketing department on two floors in the Prime Tower, from where they will centrally manage the still underdeveloped Internet markets in the Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa regions. Geri Saltfield, the designated CEO for Facebook Switzerland, finds the address in the Prime Tower "perfect for the prime social media website".

The duel of the giants

The competition between Facebook and Google is in full swing. Almost one billion people worldwide visited the Google homepage in February. Nevertheless, there are signs of nervousness at the search engine giant - not least due to a surprising change at the top of the company, which has been announced for the beginning of April. One possible background: compared to the same month last year, the number of Facebook users worldwide rose by 47 percent in the year to January 2011. For Google, the increase was only 7 percent. If growth remains the same, Facebook will overtake Google in the middle of next year. Critics want to identify a few flops at Google, particularly in the development of social networks. Wave, a fusion of e-mail and chat, was discontinued after just one year. Little is also heard about the new Google service Buzz. In various blog posts, experts are therefore predicting a slump in Google's growth "if the company is not able to gain a foothold with its own Facebook-style service soon".

However, Google's Zurich headquarters are not afraid of Facebook when it comes to staff. This company also wants to hire 300 new people in Zurich soon and has rented another building on the Hürlimann site for this purpose. "However, Google Zurich is mainly looking for engineers, while Facebook in the Prime Tower is looking for marketing specialists," says Matthias Meyer, who is unimpressed by the new competition. On the contrary, the company spokesman for Google Switzerland believes that having both leaders in such a small space makes Zurich a "new center" for Internet experts from all over the world. Of course, the authorities are also happy about Facebook's choice of location. With the major international banks repeatedly and discreetly threatening to pull out of Zurich, Facebook's investment is doubly appreciated. After all, the company is worth over a billion and is flirting with an IPO. But even if it is about social media: "There will be no tax giveaways for Facebook like there are for the non-profit organization Fifa," explains cantonal finance director Ursula Gut-Winterberger.

A piquant detail in passing: "Coincidentally", the Canton of Zurich has also been represented on Facebook since these very days. Information such as media releases and event announcements should reach a wide audience quickly thanks to Facebook and Twitter. The cantonal government has commissioned its communications department with a one-year pilot project. "As a forward-looking and modern canton, it wants to take advantage of the opportunities offered by social media," reads one of the first communications from the cantonal government to be disseminated in this way. However, nothing has yet been tweeted about Saltfield's plans to open an office in Zurich with 170 employees.

Andreas Panzeri

In a nutshell

Facebook is facing a
tremendous growth and
must therefore
organize. In the
last year, the
worldwide use by
47 percent. And
The
Future markets in Africa,
Eastern Europe and
Middle East only on
Start of the Internet
age. This potential
thanks to a strategic
ideally located new
Facebook Office from
Zurich from
become. Here from
next year around
10 percent of the total
over 1700 Facebook
Employees stationed
be. There are further offices
already in Seattle, Palo
Alto and New York and
Singapore, São Paulo and
London.