The fastest growing website in the history of the internet has been causing more and more news every week, it seems. As Google continues to improve on their social networking project, Google+, we’re seeing a faster adoption rate than has ever been seen before. Now, 25 million is still a far cry from 750 million, but Google is clearly doing all the right things to keep their project in the news and keep new people signing up every day.
One of the most interesting things about Google+ is that the project is being highly managed. Spam accounts, fake accounts, and personal accounts that are being used for businesses have been disappearing as soon as they arrive, so long as they have been flagged by users. Google promised to accelerate their timetable with Google+ for businesses, and this morning we are seeing the first evidence of that promise.
Starting yesterday, many who requested to be a part of the Google+ business platform started receiving a generic Google Group-style invitation to the “Google+ Platform Preview”, as well as a link to the Google Group setup for discussion and feedback on the platform.
We have speculated on how Google might deploy the business end of Google + so as not to drown users in timeline goo like Facebook. This appears to be the first step towards seeing just how Google will implement business-specific features and bring them to Google+. One thing is absolutely clear: the purpose of Google + for business is to create an environment where businesses use all of Google’s services as a single platform, and Google+ becomes the binding agent that makes it easy to use, share, and collaborate.
In a recent interview, Google Developer Lead Punit Soni commented that it has been Google’s vision from the start to use Google+ to tie their services together in a way that encourages users to utilize all of Google’s services. Collaborating in Docs, or sharing a calendar, even your news feed become social with Google+, encouraging you to use them more frequently. Some would argue that this isn’t a complete thought given the inadequacy of services like Google Docs when compared to standalone services like Microsoft Word, but perhaps with a more open feedback system, such as the one provided in Google+, user criticism of Google’s other services would lead to rapid improvement there as well.
Any way you look at it, Google+ is a huge push to get you to use Google’s other services, disguised as a social network. Having been a user for day one, I can vouch that Google+ has made it easy for me to replace many individual services I had been using. Skype, for example, was my go to system for group chat, and Hangouts obliterated that. Gtalk and Huddles have nearly replaced all other forms of instant messenger for me, and I know of several businesses who have already taken down their BlackBerry Messenger service for Huddles. When Google+ for businesses is finally deployed, I think we will see a level of integration with Google’s other services that will have a significant impact on how many companies function today.
In a recent interview, Google Developer Lead Punit Soni commented that it has been Google’s vision from the start to use Google+ to tie their services together in a way that encourages users to utilize all of Google’s services. Collaborating in Docs, or sharing a calendar, even your news feed become social with Google+, encouraging you to use them more frequently. Some would argue that this isn’t a complete thought given the inadequacy of services like Google Docs when compared to standalone services like Microsoft Word, but perhaps with a more open feedback system, such as the one provided in Google+, user criticism of Google’s other services would lead to rapid improvement there as well.
Any way you look at it, Google+ is a huge push to get you to use Google’s other services, disguised as a social network. Having been a user for day one, I can vouch that Google+ has made it easy for me to replace many individual services I had been using. Skype, for example, was my go to system for group chat, and Hangouts obliterated that. Gtalk and Huddles have nearly replaced all other forms of instant messenger for me, and I know of several businesses who have already taken down their BlackBerry Messenger service for Huddles. When Google+ for businesses is finally deployed, I think we will see a level of integration with Google’s other services that will have a significant impact on how many companies function today.