When you're an internet darling, people will always talk. And if you're Google, which tends to operate in a cloud of mystery, rumors tend to fester. But the rumor that Google has a plan to take down Facebook is true. According to a Reuters report, Google plans to make the web a more social place.

What TechCrunch had reported as a project code-named "Maka-Maka" actually has a more obvious name: OpenSocial.

The idea behind the new program is to allow independent developers to create applications across websites that enhance social networking on the web.

"This is about making the web more social, how do you have your friends go along with you to any site on the web?" Joe Kraus, Google director of product management, told Reuters.

So far, Google has about a dozen partners, which include its own Orkut social network, LinkedIn and Friendster, which once dominated social networking salad days of the medium.

While a more open web isn't a direct threat to Facebook, Google's decision to rely on independent developers has them squaring off against the social network to attract top talent.

Google and Facebook had been linked as a possible ally, but last week the battle lines became a little clearer when Microsoft beat Google to the punch, inking a $240 million investment deal with Facebook.