Google+ has been available since the beginning of the summer and it already has approximately 40 million users, which would be even more notable if it came anywhere close to comparing to the 700 million members with Facebook.
Though these figures are causing many people to start to think that Google+ is yet another blunder by Google, following Wave and Buzz, it is important to consider the number of people who actually use Google every day. It is the most commonly used search engine, but its services also include Gmail, YouTube video, and many other exceptionally popular online services.
Google+ is being integrated into each of these services and, according to executives from that company, this effort will run quite deeply. Unlike Google Wave – which took a specific effort in order to access it – Google+ will move around with the user and no additional effort will be required.
John Battelle, an expert in the search industry, spoke about what he believes Google’s intentions will be with Google+. He has stated that the current setup isn’t what we will be seeing in the future. Instead, he explained that the majority of people are mistaken in believing that Google is trying to use the social networking platform as their own version of Facebook. Battelle believes that it is designed to be much more than “just another social network”.
Battelle explained that one of the main struggles that Google faces is the fact that it does have a vast range of products and a tremendous number of customers. He said that though there are more than a million users of Google products, “Google doesn’t have the mortar between the bricks, they don’t pull it all together in some way and give people a reason to connect to each other.”
Google+ is a strategy to draw users so that they will use a larger array of Google’s offered products. Therefore, once the product has been fully developed, Battelle says that it will give users more personalized treatment because it will understand more customized needs, and while using the various services, users will also be able to connect with other people.
