We know how much an impact Facebook has had on Google lately, especially with the news of a new Facebook search engine. Now we hear that Google might be developing its own social network.

TechCrunch reports that Google is conducting focus groups to gather information about consumers’ online social habits. The study will take place in Google’s Dublin offices and the questions will focus around social networking as it relates both to real life (offline) and online.

Leena Rao from TechCrunch was able to get her hands on some of the questions in the study, including:

In the past 3 days, which of the following methods have you used outside of work to communicate with your friends and family (if any)? *
Please select all that apply.
1. Phone call
2. Email
3. Instant Messaging
4. Text Message (SMS)
5. Social Networking Site e.g. Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, LinkedIn
6. None of the above

In the last 2 weeks, how often have you accessed your “primary” social networking site (if any)? *
1. Less than once a week
2. About once a week
3. A few times a week
4. About once a day
5. Multiple times a day
6. I don’t use any social networking sites

In the last week, which of the following websites have you posted content to (if any)?
Please select all that apply.
1. Photo sharing sites (e.g. Flickr, Picasa, Facebook Photos)
2. Video sharing sites (e.g. Youtube, Vimeo, DailyMotion)
3. Social Networking sites (e.g. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn)
4. Blogging sites (e.g. Blogger, WordPress)
5. Restaurant review sites (e.g. Yelp, CitySearch)
6. Product Review sites (e.g. Epinions, Consumer Reports)

In the past 3 days, which of the following search engines have you used (if any)? *
Please select all that apply.
1. Google
2. Yahoo
3. Bing
4. None of the above

In the past 2 months, which of the following types of things have you searched for online (if any)? *
Please check all that apply.
1. Another person
2. Yourself
3. A restaurant in the area
4. A product to purchase
5. Travel ideas
6. Health Information
7. News

Digg CEO Kevin Rose recently tweeted that he’d heard a “huge rumor” that Google was planning to launch a Facebook competitor called “Google Me.” While the survey doesn’t confirm the existence of “Google Me,” it certainly does help strengthen the rumour.

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