Google Has A Problem
Back in 1995 Bill Gates wrote an now infamous Email noting that for Microsoft to stay relevant they would have to integrate the Internet into everything, and i mean everything, that they were doing. The rest is history....
I mention it because Google realised that for them to stay relevant they absolutely had to go social!
Google themselves are famous for their customer service ( cough cough), or should i say lack of it. For all their huge search success they failed in this area magnificently.
In May last year they realised their mistake and set about the Google +1 project, and it's being rolled out now, albeit with a smaller group at first and turning on the ability to invite your friends is a pretty cool stroke of genius.
Personally i think they are listening, they know exactly how serious they need this to survive and remain relevant. It's clear from the get go that what they have implemented here is going to be ( if taken up by the masses) hugely successful.
Facebook pulled off the masterstroke when they released the 'Like' button in Apr 2010. The like button was quickly integrated across the web and has become a familiar addition to some 51% of sites across the Internet. But more importantly the like button is part of the social graph.
The Social Graph
Facebook takes all the information from users, their likes, their interests, their demographics and makes that data available to it's advertisers. It's why if you set your relationship status to 'Single' you will find ad's for honeymoons and wedding photographers appearing alongside your news feed or wall.
Google, unlike Facebook, has no direct access to all this extremely valuable data, and, im pretty sure Facebook will not be sharing it anytime soon. Without access to Social Indicators Google will die.....and here is why.
The Death Rattle
Google is broken..WOW did I just say that? Dont take my work for it... do a search for a hotel in your town and look at the plethora of results that obliterate the actual hotels web site. Dont be shocked, to be fair Google have done a sterling job for the last twelve years, but now it's time to change up or be redundant.
The sheer amount of data is gob smacking. Its an impossible job. Google needs to get a social graph of it's own and they are hanging their ass out over the line with Google +1.
Will it save them? Time will tell, early adoption of Google +1 will not be by John and Jane Smith. The early adopters will be the Technorati, marketers looking for some SEO advantage. And here is where i would like to share my WARNING!
Do Not Make This Mistake - The Underbelly
Already I have been added to some 'Google Circles' by the underbelly!
A pretty profile picture of an attractive woman has added me to her circles, now i dont know which circle ( a masterstroke by Google ), but I do know their are another 4409 people besides me in that circle.......wtf!. This is the UNDERBELLY, the beast, and I want it to DIE!
Here is your chance to not make the same mistake you have with FB. You know exactly what I mean.....
All those 'friends' on your personal profile, the ones you accepted and they told you they cannot wait to share thoughts and ideas....pmsl! They are nothing worse than spammers. And there is no one to blame but yourself. 4999 so called friends who persistently jam your news feed up with 'quotes' and links to the next big thing. I wont go on but you know ( well the ones who follow me) how i feel about FB.
If your going to tell me thats ok because you have 'two' profiles, one for business and one for personal, then great, for now you have got away with it, but check Facebook's TOS and dont cry when your account is terminated with extreme prejudice.
Starting Afresh - lets stay positive.
Now is the time to embrace this opportunity....
- Tidy up your Google Profile
- Only Add People You Know to Your Circle that says 'Friends'
- Create other Circles for people you dont know yet and 'Promote' them when they show true colours.
- In business already....Place people into the right Circle so you can share with Only Them
- Your friends will not stay your friends if your pushing the latest Attraction Marketing Techniques every five minutes.
- Be Social.... yes take the time to actually have some fun.
- Share business with business
Hanging Out With Your Friends....
This is a killer feature, I haven't even looked at it properly but I know this is going to be so cool it's not even funny.....
Creating a Google Hangout not only sounds like a cool thing to do, I think this, if taken up by the silent majority, will be a serious tool AND a fantastic social tool too, truly a game changer ( lol i had to say it somewhere thats $5 bucks I owe my good buddy).
Of course now it's down to us, the early adoptees..... I only hope it isn't abused and ruined, for everyone else. I think Google has some built in mechanism's here that will prevent it from becoming the homogenous mess that FB has become ( anybody see the Myspace Yahoo Facebook Connection ? ) No, just me then.
Cant wait to hang out with my Friends and Family...:) truly... im excited like the day my friends shared their new puppy pictures on Facebook, in the days before Mr Marketer started to pummel my wall and drove everyone away ( yes that was me, lol ) I have learned my lesson and hope the same for anyone reading this article.
I also cant wait to hang out with my business buddies, sharing in this environment is going to be so much better. Im passionate and excited about the future and technology, sharing my passion with other's, who are equally passionate is natural and im excited at the prospect.
I want Google +1 to be a success, Google is a great company, some of the smartest guys and gals on the planet... and if they listen to their user's Google could pull off one of the biggest turnaround's in history.... maybe Facebook will be looking at Google now and thinking, we should of done that, who would of imagined that happening 6 months ago. The jury is out.
Mark
