Google's executive chairman Eric Schmidt has admitted that the search giant should have put more effort into a Facebook-alike social network earlier.

In an interview with CNN, former CEO Schmidt expressed his frustration that his company had not worked on a more personal approach to the internet earlier.

"Fundamentally, what Facebook has done is built a way to figure out who people are. That system is missing in the internet as a whole. Google should have worked on this earlier," said Schmidt.

Resources

"I think that's the area where I would have put more resources, developing these identity services and ranking systems that go along with that. That would have made a big difference for the internet as a whole," he added.

Facebook has emerged as a true rival to Google web dominance, despite concerns over privacy.

With Google+ showing promising early signs, the question remains: could Facebook's social networking market share have been impacted if Google had got its act together earlier.

New reports suggest that Microsoft is no longer in the running to acquire video on demand service Hulu.

Although it had been in talks with Hulu, Bloomberg is reporting that the Ballmer-led company is no longer continuing into a second round of talks based on a source with knowledge of the matter.

It may not be the end of the MicroHulu dream, however, with the same source refusing to rule out the possibility that Microsoft will re-enter talks at a later date.

Hulu hoop

Hulu is also being courted by Yahoo and Google, with the rumour mill generally agreeing that Google is ahead in the race.

Bloomberg also reports that up to eight other companies have been speaking with Hulu's bankers, but the company's representatives declined to comment.

The VOD service, which began life as a joint venture between NBC, Universal, Fox and Disney, has never quite managed to make the leap across the Atlantic to UK shores, but a multinational acquisition could change all that.

The company's senior vice president for international business, Johannes Larcher, confirmed that Hulu is still looking to expand into other countries: "We are currently a US only business but we are interested in expanding into multiple markets like Europe and Asia," he said.