Social networking site Facebook has ppushed its plans to launch its initial public offering (IPO) towards the end of next year.
The company is under pressure to upgrade its services and provide beter privacy controls to users after Google unveiled its social networking service Google+ in June this year.
The search engine company launched Google+ in late June, a move considered as the comapny’s most ambitious one in social networking since co-founder Larry Page took over as chief executive in April.
The new patform, which claimed that it offered better privacy features to users, was well received after the launch. Gogle said that it had to bar users from registering to curb the "insane" demand immediately after the launch. It is believed that Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg was one of the earliest users of the site.
Within two weeks of the launch, the Google+ had over 10 million users according to Paul Allen, the founder of Ancestry.com. It is bellieved that Google+ now has over 25 million users, compared with microblogging site Twitter’s over 300 million users, and chief rival Facebook’s over 750 million users.
Initially, Facebook rubbished Google+ saying that the entrant copied its features. However, the company has also borrowed several features from Google+ to address growing privacy concerns.
Recently, Facebook tweaked its service to make its privacy settings more visible and user freindly. The company also introduced "smart lists" – a feature that automatically groups people on an account into "customisable" lists, something the Google+ offered as "Circles".
Facebook has also introduced a new feature that allows members to follow messages posted by strangers.
The Finacial Times reported that Facebook is preparing to launch its IPO in the US.
The IPO has been expected by April 2012, but the report said that Zuckerberg "wants to wait until next September or later in order to keep employees focused on product developments rather than a pay-out."
