In the latest attempt of Google to enter the social space they recently launched Google+ project. I watched the videos and yeah its really social but Im finding most of its features from Google Wave (R.I.P.). I’m sure that any of you familiar with the Wave product will find it similar but there are 3 main features that I find awesome.
A Quick glance at Google+ Project video:
A Quick glance at Google+ Project main features on video:
- Circles - The easiest way to share some things with college buddies, others with your parents, and almost nothing with your boss.
- Hangouts - Let friends know you’re free for a video hangout, any time, anywhere. Then catch up, watch YouTube, or… just hangout.
- Sparks - A feed of just the stuff you’re really into, so when you’re free, there’s always something waiting to be watched, read, or shared.
My Opinion:
Havent really tried this one yet because its on limited field trial but I think this is by far the biggest and closest attempt of Google to rival Facebook the Social Media giant.
I can only imagine what impact this would have on online marketing specially its from Google and its social. So what do we have here? Google the biggest search engine that has Google +1 that has Google Places that has Google Friend Connect and all the other social media components which almost everything is embedded on this Google+ project. This will be their most beneficial invite to the internet community to sign up for a Google profile and get the social search leap one step closer to reality.
Google could be moving away from their core business which is search but they want high quality results on their SERP’s to keep people coming back and search on google.com but many are skeptical that Google is trying to be what its not – A social media network, Again I think this only serves as a reminder that search engine optimization (SEO) will evolve to inbound marketing and social media is part of this.
As I’ve always and many of us said, keep on producing high quality content that will get lots of mentions and natural inbound links and Google will find your website relevant. It’s not about gaming the algorithm, Googles algo will remain secret and gaming it will never be a viable strategy.
What do you guys think? I love to hear from you.