Google+

Posted by Jonathan on Dec 16, 2011 in Blog

Google+ is Google’s latest attempt to create a social network that rivals Facebook and Twitter.

Google has been using their considerable resources to promote (hype) Google+ and the response has been positive. So far approximately 40 million users have signed up and there is excited chatter about Google+ and the possibilities of this new network.

Until now Google+ was only available to personal users, but on Monday Google+ launched Google+ pages, enabling businesses and brands to create their own presence on this new social platform.

The social network offers the normal features like a newsfeed and photos and it also offers some technical advantages that are currently not available through other social networks. For example:

• Google+ allows brand pages to place their followers into groups called circles. From a marketing perspective it means you can target your messages to particular audiences. For example grouping followers based on location.
• Google+ hangouts allow people who are connected on the network to hold online video conferences.
• You can search directly for Google+ pages from Google search by adding a + in front of your search terms.

This is just the initial launch of Google+ pages and Google promise more to come in the weeks and months ahead. Google wants Google+ to be an extension of Google itself, and an improvement to all of Google. We look forward to see how they integrate their other services into Google+ especially the implications or benefits for search and analytics.

It is early days for Google+. Currently here is a lot of hype and only time will tell if it will become Facebook’s rival or Google’s latest social network flop.

Our advice is to get in and grab your spot, claim your name before someone else does. Ensure your brand gets in on the action before your preferred name is scooped up by someone else. Then when you are ready you can make your mark on the Google+ stage.