Earlier this month we put out a post explaining our rethinking of Google +, Google's social media platform. In our post, we explained that we were initially skeptical of the value of Google +, but that as it had developed, its added features and importance in the Google search algorithm made it a social media tool worth using.
However, an article published in the New York Times on February 14, 2014 sheds additional light on Google +, arguing that the benefits to Google far outweigh the benefits to Google + users, many of whom are inactive members.
According to Nielsen data cited in the article, Google + has 29 million unique monthly users on its website and 41 million on smartphones. Facebook, on the other hand, has 128 million users on its website and 108 million on phones. Furthermore, "Google says Plus has 540 million monthly active users, but almost half do not visit the social network."
According to the article's author, Claire Cain Miller:
"Google Plus may not be much of a competitor to Facebook as a social network, but it is central to Google’s future — a lens that allows the company to peer more broadly into people’s digital life, and to gather an ever-richer trove of the personal information that advertisers covet."
The
reason is that once you sign up for Plus, it becomes your account for
all Google products, from Gmail to YouTube to maps, so Google sees who
you are and what you do across its services, even if you never once
return to the social network itself.
Before
Google released Plus, the company might not have known that you were
the same person when you searched, watched videos and used maps. With a
single Plus account, the company can build a database of your
affinities."
All of this is true, of course. But just because the balance of value may be in Google's favor, it doesn't negate the value of Google + as a social marketing, and therefore a business development and client relations tool. Google's ability to see what videos you're watching, what maps you use, and what you're searching doesn't diminish the value of using those tools.
What the article does underscore, however, is the need to be careful and diligent when using Google +. Make sure you have your privacy and other settings and permissions set to meet your needs. That is true of all social media and other sites you use, both personally and for your practice, but it may be doubly important when using Google +.
You can read the New York Times article at
You can find us at www.omegalegalmarketing.com
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