Google Me: Is It Really Named Emerald Sea Or Google +1?

The subject of “Google Me” has been discussed and debated and picked apart at length already. It’s already tired and the “product” hasn’t even launched.

A new round of rumor and speculation has emerged from Quora (and TechCrunch). The supposed internal-testing name for Google Me was reported to be “Emerald City” but is now actually, supposedly, “Emerald Sea.” But wait, it could also be called “Google + 1” and be a toolbar or browser extension that will try and duplicate the function of Facebook’s Like.

It’s a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma — or rather that was Russia.

Here’s the original discussion on Quora that sparked the latest round of speculation:

Emerald City is the project name for what people outside of Google refer to as “Google Me”. Lots of projects like youtube, google docs, search, calendar, groups, picassa, etc have had significant social integrations added to their projects. This will launch as a major initiative across multiple services at once and many of the hooks endusers will see are currently being tested internally. It is by no means done and is quite ambitious in nature.

If you recall, the Google Me discussion began in June with a Kevin Rose tweet that Google Me was a direct Facebook competitor. Later Google CEO Eric Schmidt said Google Me wasn’t a product but a “social layer” across many Google properties and products.

There’s also a parallel discussion that Google is developing a gaming site or destination based on a rumored $100 million investment in Zynga. Regardless, I’m ready for Google to do whatever it’s going to do. And there’s a very real chance that it will all be a big anti-climax.

On a related and somewhat strange note, Google’s social networking site Orkut just this week added badges.