Facebook and Google have almost simultaneously launched rival authentication systems for webmasters and content sources.

Facebook have announced that Facebook Connect is now available for websites outside the Facebook network to authenticate users on their website. Features it offers include trusted authentication, so that the experience will be the same for users no matter where they connect their Facebook account to another website. It also brings what Facebook term “Real Identity” – the ability for users to take their real identity information around the web with them, and share it with websites they trust. Users will also be able to take their friends along with them wherever they go.

Google’s Friend Connect was allegedly rushed out into beta to match the announcement made by Facebook. It allows users to authenticate on websites using their Google, Yahoo, AOL or OpenID credentials, and offers webmasters easy and simple ways to implement social aspects into a website. It aims to enrich users’ experience on these sites quickly and easily, without any programming necessarily required, and aims to increase websites’ reach by allowing friends to easily share sites they discover.

There’s more on both of these technologies available online, and highlights of these stories are available in the Cnet podcast.