Last night I got my first look at Google+, I spent just over three hours diving in and playing with all the features they have to offer. For those of you who already have access, please share your thoughts in the comments and those without access, enjoy this preview and share your thoughts on what this new social network could mean for SEO.
First Look
Below is the "Home" screen, which seems vaguely familiar to a different social network I use but seems to be somewhat more streamlined. You can simply sort your friend groups, called Circles, by clicking on the "Streams" in the left sidebar. This give you a chance to only see things shared from your family or other Circles, for example I can select "Family" and see only their content. This looks like it makes it really easy to combine all your work and personal contacts into one network.
Circles
The first thing I got right into was creating Circles, which are much like Facebook groups where you can categorize people. This is helpful for people like myself who don't like to share my SEO related stories/posts with my friends/family members. The process of adding people to these Circles was relativity easy, granted I only had 8 people in my list, but this process seems very streamlined.
Hangouts
An interesting feature that Rand, Space, Mike and I got to try last night was Google Hangouts. It's a feature that allows you to chat and video chat with up to 10 friends. We found the feature to work, though it wasn't as great as I thought it was going to be. The cool thing is that when you start a Hangout, it alerts other people in your Circles that you have started a Hangout so they can join. You can limit who sees that you have started a Hangout this prevents you from starting a business Hangout and having your Mom show up.
Sparks
Next up was something that Google calls Sparks and describes Sparks as “an online sharing engine.” To me, Sparks seems to be a way to add a "live" SERP into your social network. I added SEO and Cycling as my first two Sparks to see what happens. Basically I got a list of webpages, press releases, and videos that relate to the term I entered and they seemed to update over the few hours I watched them. The content listed in each Spark has a Share link, which allows you to easily share that content with your Circles.
Photos
As with any social network, having the ability to share photos with your friends is key! Google+ has a few different ways of displaying and sharing photos with your friends. Below is the first way to see the photos that your friends have shared. It is quite a user-friendly way of seeing what images are included in each album your friend shared.
If you click on one of the options above, it opens a slideshow of all the images your Circles have uploaded. It allows you to quickly flip through your friend’s images and add comments quickly, along with seeing all other comments. Like other networks you can tag your friends in photos that you upload.
Next is what it looks like when you share a picture within an album that you created. When you roll over the image it increases in size and displays the whole images, which is helpful for some images. I found the ability to upload photos very easy and the uploads happened very quickly.
Overall I found that the ability to share photos was not as streamlined as I would have liked it to be but I'll leave the final judgment up to others.
Security
Below are some of the security options that you can set when sharing things with your circles. It allows you to stop people from commenting on the thing you shared and you can stop them from resharing it with their circles. Also when you first share something it allows you to pick what Circles you want to see the thing you shared. So if you don't want your Mom to see the picture of Carlos from Agillian below, then you should make sure you share it only with your SEO friends.
My Takeaways
In closing, I have to say I was impressed with some things but overall I think they have some work to do before this really catches on with the main stream public. Google+ seems to have a large learning curve which could deter many new users. I spent just over 3 hours on it and don't feel like I really touched the surface of what it can do, nor do I fully understand what the purpose of some of their new features. Rand may have said it best with what he shared on Google+ last night:
How Does This Affect SEO
How do you think Google is going to integrate Google+ with your search results? We did some quick tests last night to see how sharing things on Google+ will effect the SERPs of the friends in your social Circles. So far we couldn't see any noticeable difference when your friends share something or +1 it within Google+. Now this doesn't mean anything as Google often rolls out products early and works them into the SERPs later.
We will be doing more testing to see how this new release from Google will effect the way we do our jobs, so stay tuned. Also if you have seen anything that I may have missed, please do share it in the comments below.
Seriously, you didn't answer the most important question of all: what do I have to do to get an invite? :-)
I believe they've disabled invites for now... https://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2387896,00.asp
Yep.. they were totally over the limit in invites.. it'll be open again soon when they fix teh glitch on thier system handlers!
Yeah I have tried a few things seems you can not invite any more people =( Lucky I was able to get a fair few out...
I was only able to get a few invites out before they shut it down again. I'd keep my eye on twitter for people you follow who are able to invite and then jump on it.
I got an invite and still can't cash it in (they shut that down too)
Come on Rand... Give Google a call and get us all invites. We know you have all their cell numbers.
hehe.
If you share some news or any message with your email address, you automatically get a email to view it, which is the invite to Google+, I cna send you one if you are sill looking for,
Kinda anti-social, No?
There's an invite workaround - just get someone to tag you in a photo on + and you get an email joining you instantly.
Otherwise, it would be interesting to see how brands are incorporated to the + eco-system, not only individuals.
Can someone invite me with the workaround?
Then i can do some invitations myself :-)
Thanks
Doesn't seem to work for me... tagged a friend of mine, he got the notification, but when he clicked on it, it still says he needs an invite.
Closing off a social service in the early stages of gaining momentum makes no flipping sense to me. Let it crash. "Huzzah!" says the people: "We were a part of the first wave of early adopters that crashed Google!"
It's a happy problem. Now the early adopters are saying: "Meh, I'll forget you tomorrow. You had my attention and lost it".
We're fickle that way.
I just tried it now with 2 accounts - a Google Apps account (doesn't work) and my other gmail account - works perfectly. Make sure that you have a Google Profile setup, and invite users in the @gmail/@googlemail domains.
When you get the "tagged" email, click "view album" and then "join Google+" to accept this tag.
Not sure if it matters, but the accounts I "tagvited" were in "my contacts" list already.
Not only is it potentially unnecessarily complicated, but there are some necessary features that are lacking if they truly feel the Google+ service is worthy of migrating from our current social services we have already invested into. For example - inviting friends - why not have a Facebook import? Merely listing out my Gmail contacts is terribly cumbersome - especially when it doesn't group together the 3-4 email addresses I have for some people - which one to use? Which one is more appropriate for inclusion for a social service? Strewn out over 400 entries makes it feel like I'm trying to find a needle in a haystack. What about the ability to cross-post to Facebook/Twitter/whatever? Integrating seems like a necessary step on the road to conversion. Otherwise it's a bit like a corn field in Iowa..
Thats what I said - why not have a facebook import? People have spent years investing in their facebook accounts!
I won't switch to any social network unless majority of my friends/family members are there. This is something which Google doesn't understand or just don't want to understand and keep rebranding its social products in a hope that people will some day use them. What i have seen in Google plus so far is just not good enough to say goodbye to facebook. It is Google old marketing strategy to launch new products with limited invites to create a buzz. I will be surprised if it doesn't end up like Google wave. Also i dont think it will have any considerable effect on SEO as majority of friends/family members whose opinion people consider are on facebook and they don't/wont use Google Plus button (aka the new Google Buzz) just because +1 metrics is available in Google Analytics/webmaster tools & it may have some impact on CTR/SEO of a site. Google will neve learn social.
So were you one of the last of your friends/family members to join Facebook or Twitter? I agree it get's lonely on a new social platform when it launches because it seems no one is there. I do agree it won't be reason to say goodbye to Facebook, if anything Facebook might take a look at the features in Google+ and decide to improve their own services. I really like the option to share something with everyone or just a certian "circle", also with the hangouts I liked how when someone was talking the main screen automatically focused on them and switched when someone else began. Only time will tell how well it will do.
But then you can agrue that people would never join Linked in or the same argument that people would never join Facebook when Myspace was king.
It is evident that Google is going to push this product hard, they have the network and capacity to do so, we also have great new products such as Google Hangouts and Google Circles Facebook does not really have similar products.
I can agree if you have a limited friend base on the service then you will not use it but once you actually get a network going on Google+ you can see the benefit of it.
I wouldnt compare Google Wave to Google+, Google never pushed that product, they have already lined this up for strong promotion look at the full serp Redesign, Google+ is a main element of this design.
Have you worked with Google teams before, they pick the smartest people, dont argue that Google will never be sucessful at social they are investing heavy into it, My old boss who was Head of Social, Google hired him to join their team.
@Himanshu
Don't be negative every time. This is business man. Google have huge talent to develop social platform. Google wave was not work out well. So, Google have no worry about it. They have excellent topics and innovations to break down entire market.
Facebook have very huge network & users. But, have you ever think about new users who not aware about Facebook or going to sign up with Facebook.
Email is prior requirement of users of internet. If they suppose to go with Gmail so, indicate them self with Google+. This is the realy concept of Google.
Whatever.. Google have done excellent work on it... I will enjoy it & try to develop strong circle on it. So, I can save my time by handling one account rather than focus on multiple accounts like Facebook, Twitter & etc.
I may get too many thumps down with this argue. But, I don't care about it. If anything new on internet so just jump in to. Don't drill down more on it.
Hi Casey,
I've played quite a bit with Google+ (but I prefer to call it G+) and, substantially, I agree with you.
About the learning curve... yes, it is not really a "don't let me thing" Social Network, but - maybe I was more "stupid" in 2006 - I don't remember Facebook so so easy to understand for a total social network newbie. But, yes, FB is surely more intuitive in its basic features (I'm sure that the 80% of its users just use the 25% of things Facebook offers).
But, at least right now, I cannot think to my family in Italy and my not tech wise friends really desiring to move from Facebook to G+.
Personally right now I see it as a potential hiper-Twitter: my contacts are substantially the same I have in Twitter, and Google+ can give me more option in order to conversate with them (hangouts) or to build a deeper conversation, not existing the 140 characters limit.
Finally, a consideration about the other side of Google+ coin. Google is losing the time per visit battle with Google, and that is something logical because a Search Engine by its nature pushes out users as fast as they find what they look for. But that can be a problem when you want to have them more time so to click on an ad. And it's loosing the Display Ad battle too... because of the extreme segmentation Facebook can offer to advertisers. So, social means profiles (only public from the end of July) and a space where potential clients spend a long time into...
I try to judge anything new that comes out with my parents in mind. If they won't understand it or use it, then the product has a tough road ahead of it. I have a had time believe that many Facebook users will be switching to Google+ anytime soon. I also don't like the idea of trying to maintian two social networks with my information, let alone playing on Twitter too.
Thanks for the comment!
I try to exclude my Mom from this kind of tests... if not we were still in pre-VHS era, seriously.
Everything has a learning curve, i don't see that as a down side... If it didn't have a learning curve it would be a copy of something else, and where would that place Google? I had fun with Google+ for a few hours, still getting the hand of it, but so far I like it, it feels clean, no distractions like FB... to me Fb feels too overcrowded, I mean in SEO we teach our clients that their pages should be to the point, Google+ reminds me more of that.
Let's just hope they keep at it like this, we will get the hang of it sooner or later, I really wish them all the luck, as this is one of the rare Google products that I like from the start...
I liked this post because it involves another way of developing relations easily unlike facbook. I don't have a SEO friends on my FB because .... well can you imagine if a decent looking SEO chick became my friend on Facebook? My superhot girlfriend would get jealous. Google+ seems like a better way to go, but we'll see if it turns into another fallen project like buzz.
Nice Central Michigan shirt. Go Chips!
Thanks, Casey. I'm really glad you touched upon the fact that this might be too much *new* too soon. While the UI is intuitive and -cough- recognizable, I think Google would have benefitted from easing itself into the water ankles first, knees second. I read something recently that said Google+ has techies excited for all its features, but that Facebook is what it is because the early adopters were the cool kids you wanted to hang out with. Has Google+ feature'd itself out of the huge growth some are forecasting? We'll see.
Hi James, I'm afraid I have to disagree. I really don't get the argument that G+ is too complicated. Personally I thought setting it up was very intuitive, and whilst it could be argued that I have a professional familiarity with web-based tools, I'm quite sure the target audience for this product is not my parents' generation but more likely my niece's - and her generation are using tech as intuitively as I use a calculator :) Anyone already familiar with social media services will be perfectly capable of picking this up, and you really don't want to launch a new product by dipping a toe in the water - you need to make an impression. Whether G+ will really take off is an unknown, of course, but it is worth taking the time to understand what it can offer and how it might develop.
I love seo as much as the next guy but I think this is going a little too far with personilization on the internet. I already deleted my Facebook page because I thought it was too personal. This is just a way for Google to collect more data on its users, possibly for ad targeting. Just becuase it's free doesn't mean you should do it people.
It's not "free" privacy is the cost. Just ask Facebook.
Why are so many industry professionals afraid of personalized ads? I, for one, am happy to see ads that cater to my professional and personal needs/likes.
It's not that I'm against personalized ads, I just don't like my whole life story in some company's database.
I really like the layout of Google+. I dunno about you guys but I'm really a sucker for neat and simple interfaces.
I guess I figured out how to give away an Invite. Let me know if someone needs an invite.
I got my name in, but didn't get an invite before the crash. If yuo pass one along, I owe you one next time around :)
Check you private message, I asked for your gmail address.
Thanks. I sent one back for the company address. :) I owe you one if it works! Next google round of experimental tech.. I'll get you in ! LOL
You sure are :) Good Luck
Can you send me an invitation? It's much appreciated! Thanks mate.
How can I get reg with Google +. If it needs invitation, pls invite me. My email is: [email protected]. BIG HUG :)
I'm going to piggy back on Bucks shameless request for an invitation. :)
If you want a perm. Google+ friend for life please send out an invite to me as well, the GMAIL address is
[email protected]
TIA
I think this is more a social playground than helpful for my work .... We all have already similar tools we already use but perhaps I am more convinced if I can use it.
I think people are going to start using it, but I don't think it has the steam power to take over facebook. Additionally, I think maybe Google is going to develop a separate PR for social ques that's separate than its current PR formula. Its hard to imagine social network content being integrated into search results like universal search because its not meant to be authoritative content.
There are a number of features to Google+ that I really like but I'm pretty sure Facebook will soon be implementing a few changes now that Google+ has gone (somewhat) public. Unless Google is able to successfully lure in a majority of an individual's social network, I don't see Google+ as being much of a competitor to the all-mighty Facebook. As a marketing and SEO professional, I will obviously create an account as soon as I am actually able to do so.
I think the future success (or failure) of this product will depend on Google's marketing strategy. Initially, they need to target a specific niche or demograph before they try to compete against Facebook on a global scale. MySpace initially targetted musicians and bands; Facebook initially targetted college students who owned an email address ending with a .edu; and LinkedIn targets business professionals. This exclusivisity, I believe, is what created the initial hype that propelled each of these social networks to their respective statuses today.
And yes, I'm well aware that Google used the "invite" system to launch Gmail, which worked rather well I must say. But convincing people to switch email hosts is in no way the same as trying to convince people to switch their preferred social network.
For Google+ to gain any sort of momentum, they need to define an initial target market. This is a basic concept from Marketing 101 that many people in the internet marketing community have seemed to forgotten. Despite the fact that Google "owns" the search market, they are pretty low on the totem pole in terms of social networks. I think there is a lot of potential for Google+ and I hope that this doesn't end up getting tossed in the archive of failed Google products. Only time will tell....
If nothing else, though, this is good for users. Forcing innovation all around. It's something only Google was big enough to do to facebook... and is still enough of a threat to get them moving.
Poor move in my opinion. Google, as you said, needs something simple and easy to integrate. When did this company stop innovating and start following?
I think it will get more and more simple as they listen to users.
How is Google+ not simple? I finally got in last night, and found it to be fairly straight forward. I think Facebook has a far steeper learnining curve with their labyrinthian nature for preferences and customization.
I've just barely started looking at it but I agree with you. Google should have done something simpler and easier to use. Sure I might use it but I highly doubt the majority of my friends and family will want to use something as complicated when they already know and use Facebook.
This has a lot of potential... especially if links continue to be no followed. But I'd bet that google has another way of filtering them out.
If someone wouldn't mind, please send me an invite on Google+
[email protected]
I'd really appreciate it.
Does anyone believe that this social network will take an important share of the social network market?
I think that it will take time to work properly..
I think it's not going to be social networking as we know it now... especially now that Google profiles are all going to be public. Like a cross between LinkedIn and Facebook, maybe.
I can clearly see the point where people want to sign up for Google+ to play around; done the same with Buzz etc. And even though there some great features like the Circles, it will be tough for Google to get people to move away from Facebook - from a personal and more from a business point of view. With Facebook having tons of established groups, business authorities and pages, I can't see this happening with Google+. Perhaps in the long term, but it won't be easy. Would love to see what Google+ does from an SEO perspective. Not much I guess!
I am not sure how big of an impact Google+ will have from a social media perspective but I will definitely be keeping an eye on it from an SEO perspective. It's all about staying ahead in the game these days. I definitely won't be letting Google+ slip off of my radar.
Thanks, for this article.
I'm eagerly waiting for the invite. According to post it looks simple and clear to me. It has many unique features and so in future we can see some other social sites adding new features. I hope you guys do your testing soon and show some good results.
Hi Guys , kindly requst for an google+ invite. please help. Thanks and regards, Anil
let me know if I need to mention my email address here itself or need to email it to a given address.
Somebody told that google+ is possible to get a huge of users. I want to try this kind of social networking.
Thank you for good information
Can you add a single contact to multiple circles? i.e. could you add your SEO interested brother to both your "family" and "SEO" circle?
No, single contact can not be added to multiple circles
Yes, you can have one contact be in multiple circles without a problem.
Hi,
Thanks for correcting me :)
Informative post, something which is overly complex will be off putting, hopefully does not have too much of an impact on SEO, because not all websites are social!
Has anyone download the google+ app for your smart phone. Interesting that the default is to automatically upload images that you take on your cell phone to you account.
I do like google+ interface much more. I also tried to remove pictures that I uploaded on google+ and its a pain. You have to delete them from picasa directly.
I do think google+ will surpass facebook...just like facebook surpassed myspace. Its just the thing to do.
I know that over time google+ will have a great impact on SEO.It will be very interesting on how the 'business' page on google+ will rank.
This is gorgeous. I loved the layout. But I expected simething very distinct from other social networking sites out there. It got someof the facebook layout.
Anywayz, I'm asking for a favor to all of you. I'm working on a project that asks you a simple question. It's actually a survey. Would you be able to answer the question PLEASE? Read it, And ans me with YES or NO. "Would you use a social networking site if you had the potential ability to earn compensation for joining, using the site and recommending it to others to also join and use?. Yes or no?"
I really have liked the security of Google+ but I'm unsure as to if the "Hangouts" feature will really catch on. I feel like its still needs a few more features to differentiate it from Facebook. Time will tell!
I agree re: hangouts. I like the idea of it but in reality you are still just watching your friends sit at their computers! I find if i want to see my friends then i'll go and see them, i'll only use instant messaging when i can't see them so the hangout idea isn't appealing to me in reference to real time video chat. However, it is great for friends in other countries for a skype-like feature. I think Google+'s main difference from Facebook is that it has better security and Google is a more trusted brand than Facebook. I reckon that Google+ could become much more than what it currently is as Google adds new features, but many people who aren't in the digital industry won't have much interest in it as a social network as Facebook is sufficient enough for them as it is. I recently wrote about Google+ and why people do/don't like it, take a look and let me know your thoughts!
https://blog.adi.do/2011/07/google-adidos-view-on-new-social.html
Annabel
I agree, I think they pushed out rather a lot of features very quickly. Hell, they've pushed out a lot of updates in general recently! Perhaps the reasoning was that everyone would find something they particularly liked about Google+, or perhaps that it would provide a lot of article fodder potential. - Jenni
Thanks for showing detailed description of the nEW Social Networking site; Google+ .There's No doubt, that GOOGLE+ is the Best, whether you compare it with Facebook or twitter. Google+ Vs. twitter.
Google+ is designed for upcoming generation, whereas twitter & facebook have now become a moon in a day light. What i feel is, Google Plus + will plus all twitter's followers n facebookies, and they will just SEE. Google + when compared, technically, has an improvised format, which will click the user's mind instantly.
Facebook: What's this Google+ ?? + + ?
twitter: ++ means..?
Now when, Dad answers;
Google + to FB & Twitter: ++ means, plusing all followers of twitter & facebook to Google.
hahahha :D
https://www.redballoon.in
What is the ultimate objective of Google +? a. Take a chunk out of Facebook's market shareb. Add their own social network into SERP
My opinion is that it will NOT catch on like they anticipate it will. Sure they may get a few million users, but if is as complicated as this artcile suggests than it will become a playground for techies.
Any input you may have on Google's objectives would be great!
Thanks in advance,
Thanks for pointing out the 'Sparks' section, despite being on Google+ for a month or so now, I hadn't even noticed this area. Have set up my sparks and will now see what targeted content I can display in my feed, great stuff!
I thought Rand made a good point about the benefit of Google initially presenting this without so many features. Perhaps they're looking to address issues others may have with Facebook, but it might be too soon to incorporate features before it's really caught on. Simplicity has always been their strong suite. I hope Google+ can be as intuitive for its users but we'll see as it becomes open to more people.
I have been testing Google+ for about 24 hours, I was lucky enough to get on very early via a PR contact.
After having abotu 38 friends join up and people start using many features I feel this could be a very cool social product. I do not know how people keep comparing it to Google Wave! Google Wave was rubbish in comparison.
I like how it is easy to split contacts up into circles, Facebook should have done this long ago.
I like the Google Hangouts feature, Very cool a real game changer for Google+, It brings chattroulette, Skype and a bunch of other social features together.
I like how this product connects up all Googles goodies, people who say it will fail, I think Google will not let this one slide, it is obvious they have invested millions of hours into it, and I can see they will push it alot harder.
How will it impact SEO? Easy I feel that all content via profiles will have an impact on Google+1.
Interesting times ahead.
Will Discuss more but first i am looking for invitation, but still not found any resource for that, if you have some then please send it to me, BTW seems good :)
Well, from the experience point of view, its a definite winner. I love Google plus so far.
Hope it can import facebook, twitter and linkedin contacts soon!!!
Why would anyone need ANOTHER social network?? The fact that such a big deal is being made out of it, makes me want to stay away from i!
Kittu, because human has a bad habit of getting bore with things quickly. so "orkut - facebook - Google+"
Pretty much all social networks eventually fall out of favor. First AOL, then MySpace, now we've got Facebook and Twitter next in line. I'm guessing Google calculated this to be the ideal time for them to launch.
I am so excited to use Google+ , Caseyhen for sharing this, after reading your post i could feel how excited you must be, while using it last night.
I Feel people it adopt it very quickly, at least i am sure with Indian youth, here Google is known as "Trust" so will Google + .
Google Rocks !!!
I haven't spent as much time playing around with it (until after tonight after work!) but I really like the Circles a lot. They're much easier to use and navigate than the different social network I also use and updates to said Circle(s) are very easy to manage and control. I really wish I could just import all my friends directly into G+, but I get that it's still super-exclusive-testing so just hoping that becomes open when the flood gates are unlocked. I jumped into Google Wave like this though, straight out of the gate and shouted it's name from the social rooftops I had access to - also got my whole work signed up just for them to never use it. I get it's a different piece of technology but my hesitation is still there. Just hope the same does not hold true for G+
I did see that you can import contacts from Yahoo and Hotmail but it would be cool to import contacts from Facebook.
That is something I hardly see... if not hacking Facebook.
They could call it an "app authorization"
Will this cave just like Google Wave did? I'm not sure if this will survive, if the "simplicity" factor of use is missing per Rand's comments. I agree with everything they said on it.. and if they don't fix it, people just won't get on board with it... in the masses that is :)
Casey thanks for run through, did you go to CMU? I grew up near Mt. Pleasant.
My wife and I were born and raised in Grand Rapids and she went to CMU so I have quite a few shirts from there!
Yeah, I got an invite as well. For now, they shut that down too. :(
I am certainly "Not Safe For Moms" NSFM.
I like your overview of the functions. Honestly I don't think that G+ is any more complicated than Facebook for a nieve user. As long as Google does a good job of bringing in people that aren't directly comparing the two it should be more sucessful than Googles other attempts at social platforms.
The question now is monetization (Be evil G+) Will Google plug in here current Adwords (GDN) ads or maybe a kind of new Social Ads Facebook like..
We will see.
Have you noticed how Googles recent updates on Google.com seem to make way for the coming of a more social search?
I believe that the recent navigation and header updates will be followed with integrating Goolge + to Google search. Thats why they are highlighting all their other services with the new layout. If they can get people to use all the other cool stuff, they'll have Google accounts once Google + is launched.
Once this goes live, you will have the social features with you when ever you search. This will bring a host of new information for Google to customize your search results an ads. Maby us SEMs can (finally) start customizing our landing pages by age group, sex and so on.
I assumed that Facebook would attempt to bring an effective search to Facebook but now it seems that Google is going to bring an effective Facebook to Google search.
I feel like i'm the only person that never received an invite. Like Charlie in Willy Wonka and the chocolate factory.. Where's my damn golden ticket!
All we need now is for someone to create a Chrome extension that allows you to auto-post to your Facebook profile from your Google+ profile, and stream your Facebook news to your Google+ stream...
Well.. hope for them that it will be better than the "buzz" thing was... cause that did'nt buzz alot..
As far as am concerning, I would of like to see Google staying on what they do best. Deliver search results.. but hey.. look's like it's a Google world and we will all get dominated by G! :)
This post, was sponsered by Google by the way... :)
Perhaps the steep learning curve signals that their target audience is not our mothers & fathers, but us. I like that line of thought. Early adopters are web-savvy users anyway - as long as the product's value is evident, they will help its popularity grow. Google+ will grow and slowly gain momentum until it becomes the clear-cut best alternative to Facebook. At that point, they will (at worst) share the throne with Facebook. Another brilliant move by Google imo.
Not sure if this has been said yet but the G+ profiles are appearing in the serps.
I could potentially see people using them as another way to clog the SERPs.
Links from these pages are also DoFollow.
I feel Google+ is far better than Facebook after experiencing it for the last 2 days...
The only thing that is missing is Business Page ( like fan pages in facebook )
Looks like they are on their way...
https://searchengineland.com/google-pages-coming-for-businesses-83985
Hi,
I will be glad to invite me there [email protected]
Its now open for all
I'm not sure how Google+ is going to effect search, but I did enjoy seeing the CMU shirt in the one image. Go Chippewas!
The circles thing seems to be the best feature. Oe thing I hate about Facebook is how everything is in a single stream (same problem in twitter). So this is a step forward. Hope it works (simply because I dislike facebook and want some competition to them!)
Casey, did you notice about notification?
If someone make a comment on your share or on your photo and when Google send a notification, you can reply the comment directly from there, you don't require to go to the post to reply. Also, while adding someone to your specific circle, Google won't allow to another person to see in which circle you have added him/her. It is only for personal reference purpose to see from which circle that person belongs.
The video calling one is quite interesting.
So, for the time I had to poke around and run a few tests in the office with co-workers I noticed that the SERP that has a prior +1 the main difference is the paid. Again, only had a little bit of time and didn't see major differences in the organic results. Any thoughts??
Happy SEOing
Got my invite and have been playing with Google+ a little. Wrote a much less informative post than yours about Google+ and have been working on my profile.
google +1 is just google answer to their slipping page rank. Page Rank has always been a sliding scale and facebook has destroyed google in this area by using share and like buttons. Every fortune 500 or .edu has a share or like button. Now that is some serious LINKJUICE! These sites will avoid linking to google unless they absolutely have to! Google saw the PR decline long before we ever got a chance to see it. I am surprised there isn't more debate about this. Am I the only one to have seen this angle?
@flaktrak: Umm...I think you're a little lost. This is a blog about Google's new social community....
Yes and the social community is a derivitaive of google +1
Not yet... they're still separate. But I'd bet Google will find a way to integrate them.