A review of Google's recent introduction of Pages to Google+.

1. 11/11/11
GOOGLE / A REVIEW OF GOOGLE+ PAGES
INTRODUCING GOOGLE+ PAGES
Following a false start with Google Buzz, Google re-entered the social media scene five
months ago introducing Google+ and receiving acclaim from early adopters within the
social media and marketing industries. The platform was robust, enabled fluid social
interactions and gave a long-form presence to individuals (not just „friends‟ but also
celebrities, industry peers, politicians et cetera) that Facebook did not offer at the time. However
Google did not provide a service for businesses and was not willing to accommodate their presence
on Google+ till the platform was ready.
Last Tuesday, Google introduced Pages for Google+. Like Facebook Pages, Google+ Pages are
designed to provide a habitat for brands, businesses and smaller companies.
Google has a clear a strong vision for Google+:
“to transform the overall Google experience—
weaving identity and sharing into all of our products”1
Bradley Horowitz, VP of Product at Google, states that “Google+ is Google itself. We’re extending it
across all that we do – search, ads, Chrome, Android, Maps, YouTube – so that each of those
services contributes to our understanding of who you are.” This vision, alongside more than 40 million
reported users, makes Google+ a fine prospect for a secondary or tertiary domain for brands. What
can Google+ offer brands? And is the platform mature enough to handle brands?
Burberry‟s Google+ Page
WHY GOOGLE+ PAGES CAN BE GREAT FOR BRANDS
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Google Adwords Official Blog
AnalogFolk LLP • 2nd Floor • 10-18 Vestry St • London N1 7RE • tel: +44 (0) 20 7684 8444 • www.analogfolk.com
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2. 11/11/11
GOOGLE / A REVIEW OF GOOGLE+ PAGES
Search: Not surprisingly for Google, Search provides the biggest
advantage to brands. As a platform Google+ goes far beyond the
traditional realms of a social network. Users signed into Google+
experience an augmented Google experience – Google Plus – that
“weaves identity into” the search engine. A user‟s results will be informed by their
social graph with social recommendations (+1‟s) from friends appearing in results.
Despite being live for only a few
days searching for Toyota returns
the Google+ page in the top ten
hits. The Facebook page appears
at the base of Page two.
By adding a „+‟ character before a search term, Google‟s instant search results will immediately show
the Google+ brand page meaning users can click directly through to the page and bypass search
results altogether.
Power of Recommendations: Before Facebook seeded Like buttons beyond its domain,
consumers paid little to no attention to the popularity of a site they were visiting. Branded
websites rarely featured hit counts. As far as consumers were concerned the Toyota site
was where you found information about the brand. But the web has evolved to become
social. Toyota‟s site may offer information, but does what if not as many people have recommended it
as Ford‟s site? The social web is ruled by recommendation - „Likes‟ and „+1s‟. Understanding the
power of social recommendations, Google will be following Facebook by adding a quantitative
measure to each Page by accumulating +1‟s created on a brand‟s site, search results, ads or Page.
“Consumers will be able to see all the recommendations your
business has received, whether they are looking at an ad, a
search result or your page, meaning your +1’s will reach not only
the 40 million users of Google+, but all the people who come to
Google every day.“
Google Adwords Official Blog
AnalogFolk LLP • 2nd Floor • 10-18 Vestry St • London N1 7RE • tel: +44 (0) 20 7684 8444 • www.analogfolk.com
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3. 11/11/11
GOOGLE / A REVIEW OF GOOGLE+ PAGES
Hangouts: Google+ Hangouts allows 10
users to have a group video chat and this
functionality has been ported into Pages too.
This means a community manager can hold
court for 9 customers. Whilst this is not going to be a
practical sharing platform for a brand with thousands or
millions of followers it provides an excellent tool for
customer interaction. For example a brand could host a
hangout to share a new advert or unveil a product to a
handful of key influencers, or hold a Q&A session with a
Design Director or CEO. The 9 slots available to public are
first come first served, but if someone leaves, someone
else can join.
Kermit and Ms. Piggy recently hosted a live
hangout on the Muppets‟ Google+ page
Advertising: Alongside search, another great strength of Google‟s is advertising. Google
has stated that Google+ will recognise topics within conversations on Google+. This
means a conversation about winter coats may lead to an advert for 10% off the Burberry
winter collection. Whether that advert drives clicks through to Burberry.com or Burberry‟s
Google+ Page is flexible.
AnalogFolk LLP • 2nd Floor • 10-18 Vestry St • London N1 7RE • tel: +44 (0) 20 7684 8444 • www.analogfolk.com
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4. 11/11/11
GOOGLE / A REVIEW OF GOOGLE+ PAGES
WHY GOOGLE+ PAGES ARE NOT READY FOR BRANDS
Excitement is palpable around the launch of Google+ Pages, and social media heavy
hitting brands such as Cadbury, Burberry and Toyota have already launched Google+
pages. Google was very clear on asking brands to wait for Pages rather than creating
personal profiles for brands, but now that Pages are live is it right to create one? Can the
Google+ platform support the practicalities and the everyday running of the account that brand
managers and community managers need? Pages have a number of shortfalls that suggest they may
not be ready yet:
1. Single party ownership. A Page can only be managed by one Google+ user. Unlike Facebook
Pages which can support innumerable „admins‟, Google+ Pages can only be posted on,
moderated and wholly managed by one Google+ user. Many social media products pricing
plans force brands and agencies to share a login, but Google+ is free, and do marketers and
community managers really want to share their Google password with others? And if a team
or agency does decide to set up a new Google account purely to create and manage the
page, you won‟t know who has written a post, only that it was written by said Google login.
2. Long URL‟s. “Visit us on https://plus.google.com/u/0/b/102436686236382858655/” is not very
media friendly.
3. Users cannot post onto a Page (whether they follow the page or not). This means fans,
advocates, product owners cannot express the satisfaction or dissatisfaction on the page. In
short, consumers cannot start a conversation. Even if a user mentions the Page using the
correct syntax (eg: “The new +Burberry Winter Storms collection is stunning!”) the post won‟t
appear on Burberry‟s Page.
4. There is no bespoke tab functionality allowing brands to create a customised brand
experience on the Page.
5. This is a man‟s world. Two third party sites that gather data on Google+ recently published
reports stating Google+ is 68% male. This may make female skewed brands wonder about the
interaction they will encounter on their Page.
6. Analytics. Google Analytics is a data rich, easy to use tool. However there are currently no
Page analytics. Google makes mention of Social analytics and Page analytics arriving in the
coming weeks but in the meanwhile, any activity on a Page cannot be tracked therefore any
spend is unmeasurable and unaccountable.
AnalogFolk LLP • 2nd Floor • 10-18 Vestry St • London N1 7RE • tel: +44 (0) 20 7684 8444 • www.analogfolk.com
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5. 11/11/11
GOOGLE / A REVIEW OF GOOGLE+ PAGES
THE BIGGER QUESTION: IS GOOGLE+ READY FOR BRANDS?
Google+ was launched in a limited beta in late June 2011. comScore reported that the
network had hit 25 million users in just a month. In September 2011 the platform was
opened to the wider public and now boasts more than 40 million users. But information
about active users is not available and following an initial surge in traffic during the public beta
release, traffic fell by 60% to pre-public release levels. Perhaps curiosities had been piqued, satisfied
and users returned to their native social network. So whilst 40 million users sounds healthy, we‟d
rather know how many active users there are – traffic suggests the platform doesn‟t support anything
near 40 million active users.
The platform also seems to have been modelled on Facebook but with additional features (see More
on Google+ below). However this offers little incentive to Facebookers. And Facebook has even
made changes to match the richer features Google+ introduced, whilst adapting imitated features to
outdate Google+ even in its infancy. (See our report on Facebook‟s F8 conference for more
information on recent Facebook changes.) Either social networks really are a zero sum game or new
platforms must differentiate themselves sufficiently from the market leader to attract users to spend
time on more than one site. By imitating Facebook‟s personal profile many users will see little reason
to join a new network with marginal functional benefit. But more importantly, Facebook has more than
half a billion users. Chances are, Facebook is where your consumers‟ friends are. No number of
features will make up for an absence of friends. Friends and social interaction are what keep users on
a social platform and this is why users will visit brand environments within a platform they spend so
much time on.
Despite the lack of certainty and data around the platform, brands with available resource should
consider engaging with consumers on the platform. Whilst the user base is small in comparison to the
leading social network, active users on the platform are early adopters, and, as such, are often
influencers. Furthermore the lack of brands on the platform does mean that those present can shine.
Finally, the shortfalls of Pages previously mentioned may actually be provide an incentive for brands
to join. The lack of functionality makes Google+ Pages more manageable. Creating a Facebook Page
now requires significant investment in not just community management but designing, building and
managing bespoke tabs that can compete with competitors. The simplicity of Google+ Pages
eliminates that call for investment meaning smaller brands with fewer resources or brands who
choose not to invest heavily can test the potential of the platform in the short-term.
MORE ON GOOGLE+ PAGES
Watch the introductory video by Google / A guide to Google+ Pages
MORE ON GOOGLE+
Google+ is a social network introduced in late June 2011. By creating a personal profile on
Google, users can opt into Google+ to activate their social profile. In many ways, Google+
is similar to its biggest competitor, Facebook. Profile pages features photographs, videos
and information about the user. Users can post updates including links, photos, videos and
check in to Google Places.
Google+ makes it easier to solve “the biggest problem in social media” - segmenting groups of friends
/ acquaintances / colleagues / celebrities / politicians – by allowing users to add their friends to
customisable „Circles‟. Photography is better on Google+, Sparks offers recommendations on content
to read, the mobile application is slick, Hangouts supercedes Skype video calls with group video calls
within the platform. The platform has grown surprisingly fast with now more than 40 million Google+
registered users.
AnalogFolk LLP • 2nd Floor • 10-18 Vestry St • London N1 7RE • tel: +44 (0) 20 7684 8444 • www.analogfolk.com
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