Diving back into Facebook territory
Google has been able (profitably so) to connect advertisers with publishers through its various ad offerings, but can it connect one human to another?
Google’s latest attempt – in development for more than a year – was unveiled today as Google+, and offered to a select group of journalists and analysts who will be able to share photos, links and status updates.
The major difference between Facebook and Google+ is that instead of having a massive friend list, users collect each other into groups, such as family, work and friends, called “circles.” This context has been missing from Facebook and has gotten some people in hot water – for example, those who post their wild weekend party photos that may be seen by family and colleagues. And on Google+, there are no friend requests. People do not need to agree to be friends with one another and can view updates without sharing their own.
While executives declined to say what they are doing with Google+ when it comes to advertising – for example, will brands be able to create “circles”? – they did say that +1, an icon launched recently that is now integrated into Google+, is operating with ads. The +1 service allows users to click on the icon, indicating they like that search result. Google+ follows the search company’s failed attempts at the social web – Buzz and Orkut – and could be a huge deal for Google if people are willing to participate in yet another social network.
But the bigger play here is to harness the data about human connections generated by the social web and apply that to search and even display advertising. The rise of Facebook meant that a lot of this emerging activity was taking place inside a walled garden that was largely invisible to Google.
To read the full story in Advertising Age, click here.
