Since Google unveiled the Google+ social media platform to the world, Twitter streams and industry blogs have been dominated by conversations about whether Google can topple Facebook, the exciting features that Google+ offers like ‘Circles’ and ‘Huddles’, which most people who have an interest in tech will know about already (if you don’t where have you been for the last week?).
I got onto Google Plus as soon as an invite came my way, and I must say my expectation were pretty much blown out of the water, as Google+ has shown a lot of early promise. I can be forgiven for having low expectations, what with Google’s previous failed attempts at social media. But in Google+ there are a number of features that have got a lot of people very excited and Google have promised this is only the start.
On July 1 2011, news broke that plans for Business profile pages were well underway. In fact Jeff Huber, Google VP of Local and Commerce has this to say:
“Yes, we will have business profile pages on Google+. I can’t announce a launch date yet, but we want to make them great, and we’re coding as fast as we can.”
So we won’t have long to wait until there will be an option to create a business page on Google+, however this has not stopped Ford getting in early and setting up not just one but two brand pages on Google+ as shown in the images below.
Upon inspection of the these pages it is clear that Ford are already coming up with innovative ways in which to engage users on Google+ by running caption competitions created to get people talking. In fact, they have gone as far as to offer the new Dirt game on Xbox 360 as a prize for the most popular comment. It is important to mention that this type of promotion is totally against Facebook’s promotional guidelines, and it will be interesting to see if Google take the same line with promotions.
As Ford have been brave enough to take that step, it is likely now that more brands will make the move onto Google+. This has forced Google to discourage businesses from doing so. According to a report on Mashable, Google+ Product Manager Christian Oestlien says the team is working on a unique experience for businesses that will include rich analytics amongst other exciting features.
Oestlien says in his post:
“The business experience we are creating should far exceed the consumer profile in terms of its usefulness to businesses, we just ask for your patience while we build it. In the meantime, we are discouraging businesses from using regular profiles to connect with Google+ users. Our policy team will actively work with profile owners to shut down non-user profiles.”
In short Google do not want us to set up pages for our businesses until the proper features are available to do it. He mentions that the Business experience will far exceed the consumer profile in its usefulness, so it will be interesting to see how Google+ differentiates itself from Facebook.
Once the Business pages are available don’t be surprised if Facebook release a new exciting feature just to rain on Google’s parade. In fact just yesterday Facebook released its new Skype-powered video chat feature, of which initial opinions are mixed.
However impeccable the timing of Facebook’s new feature, the invisible war going on between Google and Facebook has just intensified as Facebook could now have some healthy competition in the social sphere, which can only be good for us consumers and business owners. I don’t think Mr Zuckerberg will be quaking in his boots just yet, but he may just begin to look over his shoulder.