Yesterday, we showed you charts comparing Facebook to the motley group of also-ran social networks Google roped together as a part of the initiative. Not impressive. But then news came that MySpace and Bebo had joined the initiative. Now Facebook was really in trouble, right? Not quite.

Google's getting all the credit for reaching around the Risk board and ganging up on Facebook. But, even though you've never heard of them, check out Bebo's sneaky moves. The social network, which is big in the U.K. and unknown in the U.S., seems to be playing both sides.

Know how when you don't get invited to a party you tell yourself how you have to keep telling yourself you are way too cool for that party, buddy, don't worry about those jerks. Who needs their fancy shoes and pretentious airs? So does chief Facebook flack Brandee Barker.

Earlier this week, we noted that on Facebook, Sean Parker, the social network's former president, claimed to have graduated simultaneously, from Columbia, Sarah Lawrence, Pepperdine, USC, UCLA, UC-Berkeley, New York University, and Stanford, in 2002. As far as we can determine, the only diploma Parker has ever received was from Oakton High School. (A fellow northern Virginian!) Parker's profile has since been updated. He no longer belongs to those colleges' Facebook networks, a status which allowed him to view otherwise private student and alumni profiles. Oddly, though, he still claims to have attended those schools in the "Education" section of his profile. Parker, still a Facebook investor, now works at Peter Thiel's venture capital firm, the Founders Fund. One hopes the fund's investors weren't going on Parker's fictional degrees when they plunked down their cash.

Just as we predicted, MySpace has joined Google's OpenSocial movement. Another name to add to the anti-Facebook list? UK-heavy network Bebo. Now, at last, Google's open-standards initiative looks more substantive. For Google's also-ran early adopters, though, there's still a problem: They won't be able to tap into MySpace and Bebo's users to spread their apps virally.

A tipster has leaked us these screen shots of how Marc Andreessen and company plan to integrate Google's OpenSocial platform into Ning. Make sure you're sitting down. We've got a ninja.

A source tells us Facebook will launch SocialAds next Tuesday, November 6 at a swanky little event hall called "Loft Eleven." The event goes "all afternoon," so until we hear otherwise, we're presuming it will be a five-hour forced march through the land of social-network ads, starting at noon. The loft features a 360-degree view of lovely Midtown Manhattan, exposed brick walls, smokers' terrace and "beautifully arched entrances," according to the proprietors. OMG! Good thing those arched entrances are beautifully arched. 'Cause just plain "arched"? Lame. OK, so here's what the place looks like.

"Web sites and search engines are able to provide valuable services to consumers for free due in large part to advertiser funding. Like commercials on television and ads in newspapers and magazines, online ads have become staples of the Internet medium. Without them, many web sites would either have to charge subscription fees or would simply cease to exist."

A company is only worth what somebody is willing to pay for it. So after Microsoft paid $240 million for 1.6 percent of Facebook, the company's value on paper became $15 billion. Funny thing is, Facebook hasn't yet found another investor to agree to that number. The night Facebook signed its Microsoft deal, we reported a rumor that CFO Gideon Yu was close to bringing in another $500 million from private equity or hedge funds. Not true: the board had only authorized raising another $260 million. But even that hasn't come through yet.

Facebook has registered Facebook.cn. Already, 100,000 Facebook members belong to its China regional network and alumni groups for Peking Univeristy and Fudan University. The company hasn't yet announced expansion plans and the move might be more of an effort to protect its trademark in China, where a local already owns facebook.com.cn. [Reuters]

A loyal reader and apparent Facebook enthusiast notes in his Facebook status, "so valleywag apparently has a bigger boner for FB than i do ... weird, huh?" I can only assume this comment comes in response to our chart yesterday showing Facebook's vast superiority to the gang of also-rans Google has rousted up to support OpenSocial. But here's the thing. No way do we have the biggest boner for Facebook. That prize goes to Alexa. Care to inspect for yourself?

Rumor is that MySpace is considering joining Google's OpenSocial initiative. An announcement could come as soon as today, a tipster tells my colleague Megan McCarthy. Yesterday, we threw a few pretty charts at you to explain why Google has to rope the News Corp.-owned social network into its posse if it hopes to rein in Facebook's popularity with application developers. So it isn't a surprise Google and MySpace are talking — especially considering the two companies already have a huge search deal. One wonders: Was this what Google dealmaker Megan Smith was bending MySpace CEO Chris DeWolfe's ear about at Web 2.0 Summit? Let us know what they were really saying.

Word is quickly spreading that Google's OpenSocial is more of a PR triumph than engineering feat. Even partners, such as Friendster, for example, want to make sure you know that they were developing their own developer platforms well before word leaked about Google's plans. On top of that, yesterday we showed you a series of charts indicating just how insignificant many of these Google gang members are in relation to Facebook. Google apologists did not appreciate the imagery. Show us the aggregates! They demanded. Fine. Here's a new chart. But it's just going to teach you to be careful what you wish for.

Googler Brad Fitzpatrick has dressed up as Facebook for Halloween. Ironic, since he might easily have been a Facebooker dressing up in Google's primary colors right now. Before jumping from Six Apart, he interviewed at both Facebook and Google.

All the attention might be on Facebook's advertising aspirations, the Microsoft investment, and Google's OpenSocial initiative. But don't think Facebook has forgotten about MySpace, which still has a lock on the music market, thanks to bands which discovered the site as a way to connect with fans. One report has Facebook launching a long-rumored platform for musicians at the Ad:Tech conference.

According to a source, blog-software company Six Apart has joined as another partner for Google's OpenSocial platform. For those of you keeping count at home, don't bother. The list is surely to grow as word gets out. Social network Friendster, for example, wasn't asked to join the Google Gang. The pioneering social network begged to be included after a story leaked on TechCrunch. Google's secrecy is making the whole "open" affair less than transparent, as different names leak to different reporters. Here's a list of media outlets and the OpenSocial partners they list.

Our charts may show that aggregated traffic of Google's OpenSocial gang might not quite stack up to Facebook's, but that doesn't mean the open platform isn't huge news for the smaller players Google rounded up. Here are screen shots detailing how one such partner, LinkedIn, plans to incorporate apps developed for the new platform.

O'Reilly Radar notes one aspect of the announcement, the appearance of a "CampFire" (their capitalization) which will bring together thirty developers to celebrate OpenSocial, Google's also-ran answer to Facebook's app platform. The "CampFire" mentioned? Not a euphemism. We hear that Google is hosting, outside on its main campus, an invite-only, s'mores-cooking, go-gather-some-kindling bonfire to let platform developers get their kum-ba-ya-yas on. "Someone from our team is heading there to roast marshmallows, who knows," says one participant. Google has been secretive throughout this process. But in its efforts to hide the project, there's one legal nicety Google hasn't observed.

A group of nine privacy organizations today proposed a Do Not Track list in order to increase consumer protections against targeted ads. They also proposed six more ideas that aren't going to make anybody any money. See what happens when you get all creepy on us, Facebook? You screw it up for the rest of the business. [Center for Democracy and Technology]

Our spy cameras have penetrated the inner sanctum of the Googleplex! Sneaking up on Brad Fitzpatrick from behind, we caught a picture of his "epic" Halloween costume. "He is dressed as one of Google's largest fears!" an informant whispers. What could his dread outfit be? Who makes Larry and Sergey sweat?