I got an invite from my friend and co-worker Matt yesterday to join Google+. Once I logged in I was mildly surprised to see my information from Google Buzz and my Google Profile already imported/integrated. This is where I think Google+ has a definite advantage over Facebook: Google+ readily integrates into heavily used applications. By applications I mean Google products. Facebook may have a large user base with a large time lead but there are so many people using Gmail and have a Google Profile (whether you know it or not) that Google+ integration will become a major benefit.
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Welcome page for Google+ with black bar at top.
If you use Gmail, how often are you logged in while searching using Google? I’m willing to bet upwards of 90% of the time. The new Google bar has Google+ neatly set to the left of Google Search options (Web, Images, Videos, Maps, News) while a Share action item can be found on the top-right section of the page (again in the Google bar). I can confirmed that this appears on any Google product that makes use of the Google Bar (e.g., Gmail, Tasks, Calendar, Search, Maps, Docs, Voice). This is the Ace up the sleeve Google has over Facebook. Facebook integration has been coming along but there has definitely been resistance, and Facebook doesn’t even have the same influence as Google does with its Search, Enterprise apps, and free consumer facing products.
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Same Google Bar from Google Plus found on other Google apps like Google Search and Gmail.
Whenever I search and star something I can also +1 it, meaning I want to share it with other people. It’s really simple and immediately shows up in your feed. A decent amount of my activity online is already captured by Buzz (e.g., posts from my Blog, updates to social media sites) and that’s without me having to do anything difficult. I remember, a long time ago, I told Google the URL of my blog. That’s all I did… and Google Buzz has been picking up my activity ever since.
Still, Google+ will probably have a slow start. Even with Social Media day right around the corner (I’ve gotten so many MeetUp emails about it!) people are resistant to joining yet another social network; and those that do join can get frustrated with having to re-configure everything (imported images, “friends” – although Google uses the idea of “circles” instead of direct friend relationships). But one day people just might find that Google+ already has most of their information ready for them as soon as they join. In fact, Google+ may eventually be enabled by default for all Google users. You just might not notice it right away.
Tags: +1, circles, facebook, friends, google, Google Calendar, Google Docs, Google Maps, Google Search, Google Tasks, Google Voice, integration, social media, star
[...] I wrote what I thought would be a summary for today, but it became a full-out Journal entry about Google+. [...]