Google is rumoured to be launching a social network service to compete against Facebook called Google Me, if rumours are to be believed.

Kevin Rose, the founder of Digg and well connected CEO, tweeted over the weekend that he had it on good authority that:

"Ok, umm, huge rumor: Google to launch facebook competitor very soon "Google Me", very credible source".

The tweet suggests that Google could be about to go head to head with Facebook in the social networking game, playing on the idea that people like to "Google" other people to see what they are about before or after meeting them.

Google's social strategy is a bit hit and miss at the moment with services like Google Voice and Google Talk doing well, but others like Google Buzz, Google Wave and previously Google Video failing to crack the social elements of the web with any real momentum.

Many experts believe that a move to take on Facebook is logical for the search giant, perhaps worried that it will lose its dominance on the web to the social network that has over 500 million users worldwide.

Would you sign up to Google Me, or do you think there are enough social networking sites already? Let us know in the comments below.

UPDATE: Adam D'Angelo, involved in Facebook early on has commented on the rumours suggesting they are real. In a session on his own questions and answers wesbite Quora D'Angelo says:

- This is not a rumor. This is a real project. There are a large number of people working on it. I am completely confident about this.

- They realized that Buzz wasn't enough and that they need to build out a full, first-class social network. They are modeling it off of Facebook.

- Unlike previous attempts (before Buzz at least), this is a high-priority project within Google.

- They had assumed that Facebook's growth would slow as it grew, and that Facebook wouldn't be able to have too much leverage over them, but then it just didn't stop, and now they are really scared.

Via Techcrunch