Google Blocks Automated Importing of Contact Lists to Facebook

Google Inc., owner of the world’s most popular search engine, will make it more difficult for users to shift their contacts from its platform to Facebook Inc.’s site, as the companies compete for data on visitors.

Google will no longer allow Facebook to automatically import Google Contacts -- unless Facebook enables the information to be similarly exported to other sites, Google said in an e-mailed statement today. Brandee Barker, a spokeswoman for closely held Facebook, didn’t respond immediately to an e-mail message.