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What are your predictions for Google+ in 2012?
Google+ hasn't quite taken off the way many people had predicted. What are your predictions for Google+ usage amongst both B2B and B2C companies in 2012?
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6 Answers
Lots of buzz lately about Google+ growth, adding 625,000 users per day and predicting 300+M users by the end of 2012. If these numbers hold true then Google+ could be a fertile ground for both B2B and B2C brands. On top of that, Google is pushing to integrate all the Google properties under a single banner-bar, with mail, docs, calendar, photos, etc. all nicely linked. I think this is a critical step for them if they are really going to provide a meaningful and usable social networking experience.
That brings me to my second point. While Google+ seems to be attracting users, it doesn't seem to be attracting activity. That is, a lot of people are signing up, but they aren't doing much once they get there. I've personally seen this in my circles (which aren't very extensive by any means - so not necessarily a good litmus test). I think part of the problem, as I suggested in the early days of Google+ is that the migration costs (effort) for most people are too high, and once they get there their friends and associates are still on Facebook. But, as more people do make the migration this may have a gravitational pull effect.
Google+ is still "noisy". Some say that Facebook is too, but in my experience Google+ is much worse. I attribute this to the open nature of circles. Once I add someone to one of my circles I see all the noise that goes along with their stream. Google needs to do some work in this area.
On the B2B and B2C front, still a little too early to tell. I think for companies to really exploit the Google+ ecosystem they need something extra that they can't get from the Facebook platform. Google has a great opportunity to offer differentiation in this area with its dominance in search and ad placement. Facebook still owns the "social graph", but has yet to figure out how to fully exploit it with targeted marketing opportunities outside of the Facebook experience. So if Google can start building its own social graph around relationships built in Google+ and then augment it with search patterns, it could be big for brands looking to target specific communities using both of those dimensions. Could be powerful.
In terms of B2B and B2C usage for 2012, I think we will see some growth, but nothing explosive. Google has to figure a way to get lots of people to "use" the platform, not just sign up.
I equally believe Google+ will become a Social Media leader. In the business sector Google+ was an opportunity to share leadership space with Linkedin. In spite of their size and reach Facebook and Twitter do not have a business aura. I hope that as Google+ matures it gains and retains a simplicity that enables the business world to easily interact with Prospects and Clients!
I read somewhere that Google is hoping to put G+ into the enterprise social network game. If this is true, and it's set to compete with companies like Jive and Yammer, I think Google may have found a niche for this network.
So many companies use Google Apps already that this seems like an easy next step. Assuming Google can integrate G+ well into that offering, position their product well, and address any security concerns, I think they could do well.
Google+ has always promised great potential but it's been difficult for them to get the users to their platforms. Despite so many registered accounts on G+, how many are actually using it actively?
Another factor that I feel has hindered the growth of G+ is the 'Request to Join' monotony of Social Networks. It's been happening from the early 2000s that each time a new network sprung up, we joined it and invited our friends to it. Starting off with MySpace, Hi5 to Facebook, Twitter and now Google+ and many others. Receiving and responding to so many 'Request to join' messages in your mailbox is quite annoying.
Google+ will win, because it will give two things people have been missing:
1) an 'umbrella' to oversee all online activities. Facebook doesn't have it, Twitter surely doesn't, neither does MySpace. Microsoft is still nowhere with its So.cl network. Google's HUGE advantage here is that they have all types of online service already, like Gmail, YouTube, Apps, Maps, Search, Calendar and more. They are now gathering those service under one big label that is Google+: your own corner of Google where everything comes together.
Right now in digital hardware land it's about platforms too. Four will survive: Apple, Amazon, Facebook and yes, Google. Google will tie its mobile platform Android into anything to make sure you're always connected and always using their services, no matter where you are or what you are using.
2) Google+ influences Google search results directly and very effectively (two-tier even: first circle and second circle). So much so that some people say it is breaking the internet (see here: http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/google_is_going_to_mess_up_the_internet.php) but this is the first time Google themselves have decided to sidestep their beloved Pagerank algorithm and let Google+ Circles and +1s influence search results.
People have been saying that the SERPs are missing out on certain results, and have resulted into using Bing or other search engines to get a broader spectrum of search results. With Google+ influencing search results, every single G+ user will get different results, including results that might otherwise not be shown to you as non-G+ user.
One ring to rule them all. I wouldn't be surprised if by the end of 2012, G+ will have half Facebook's users, about 500 million. Think about how much Adwords money that will bring in.
I think Google+ will be a big winner in 2012 and beyond. They have the smarts, creative energy, money and most importantly deepest penetration of any social network out there - not necessarily measured in "followers" but measured in eyeballs at any given time on the web. Let alone the fact that they have already come up with great, useful innovations like Google+ hangouts (which we use regularly on my team to bring together a geographically dispersed team via multi-party video conferencing). I have all the faith in the world that the team at Google learned valuable lessons with the "Buzz" trial balloon...and they will certainly give FB and others a run for their money over time.
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