Google+ Takes Dead Aim at Facebook

Google announced this morning it will be rolling out Google+ as an alternative to Facebook. Similar to other products it produces, selected Google users received notice via email they were eligible to be part in the first roll-out.

The Announcement

According to the blog posting via its Blogger software, "we want to make Google better by including you, your relationships, and your interests. And so begins the Google+ project."

The program is split into 5 critical social media categories:

+Circles: share what matters, with the people who matter most; +Hangouts: stop by and say hello, face-to-face-to-face;+Instant Uploads: share photos and videos; +Sparks: You select what your interest are, and sparks will provide content;+Huddle: The ability to chat as a group.

180 Million Page Views

According to company data, Google gets about 180 million page views per month. This is a huge amount of traffic and the company recognized years ago that it needed a platform to allow those visitors to stay with Google.

Last year it rolled out Buzz. Unfortunately, it did not yield the results initially projected. The company did some fine tuning and now feel confident that Google+ is a solid alternative to Facebook. More importantly, due to its large number of users, they hope to leverage the companies credibility and grow Google+ organically.

Available from the Android Market

The test users access Google+ from the Android market. Once testing is complete the product will be available from the App Store. Over the years Google grew by creating a trusted search engine. It is now the search engine of choice for internet users.

There are many third-party companies who develop applications for users such as Google. Tapping into such products, Google has been careful to create and brand their own, with the strategy of keeping more users within their product line.

photo courtesy of Coolcaesar Wikimedia Commons

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