Google launched Google+ on July 7th, 2011. It has since gained over 10 million users. Google+ is Google's attempt to enter the social networking space and compete with Facebook. Google+ provides profiles, streams, circles to organize contacts, sparks to follow topics of interest, and hangouts for video chatting. Google sees Google+ as the linchpin of its business strategy because it will provide more user data and integrate social features across Google products like YouTube, Maps and AdWords. However, brands should be aware of privacy issues as Google mines user data on Google+ for targeted advertising.
6. ACROSS THE GLOBE,USERS CHOOSE TO SPENDTHEIR DIGITAL TIME IN SOCIALIn December 2010, Europeans spent more time on Facebook.comthan on Google sites– comScore, dec. 2010
7. AND DIGITAL AD SPEND HAS FOLLOWED THEM“In 2010, social media boosts UK online display by 27.5%” – IAB, mar. 2011
9. BECAUSE IT BUILDSMORE ROBUST USER PROFILESFOR THEM TO LEVERAGE.“We will record information about your activity — such as posts you comment on and the other users with whom you interact — in order to provide you and other users with a better experience on Google services”– Google+ Privacy Policy
10. BETTER PROFILES GIVEBETTER ADS. BETTER ADS MEANS MORE REVENUE“By plugging Facebook’s social info into its own recommendation algorithm, Amazon can make even better recommendations; which translates to more purchases and higher revenue.” – Business Insider, Feb. 2011
11. GOOGLE, HISTORICALLY AHEAD IN MANY DIGITAL SERVICES, IS BEHIND IN SOCIAL TECHNOLOGYWhile they have tried in the past with services like Wave and Buzz,they have failed to capture mass attention and usage.
12. BUT GOOGLE+ IS ARGUABLYTHE MOST IMPORTANT SERVICE GOOGLE HAS LAUNCHEDSINCE SEARCH
14. GOOGLE+ IS A SOCIAL NETWORKUsers get a profile, a news stream, the ability to follow topics they are interested in (Sparks), create groups of friends (Circles), interact with them through video chat (Hangouts). Relationships on Google+ are asymmetric (Twitter-like), which means you can follow people who don’t have to follow you back.
15. A user profile with friends list contains information like education, location, occupation and links.
16. A stream, the core part of Google+, is where people share content and interact with one another. It is the core part of the social graph.
17. Circles allow users to organize contacts into groups and spread them tailored content (wedding pictures with Friends and Family, Financial news with Colleagues...) based on what circle they are in. Interestingly, users cannot see what circles their connections have placed them in.
18. Sparks to follow feeds of things users like. Although still in beta, sparks pulls in Google News information and will likely improve over time.
19. And hangouts give users the ability to have a video chat with a maximum of 10 friends at once (Facebook video chat is a call between two people)
20. WHY IS GOOGLE+ THE LINCHPIN OF GOOGLE’S BUSINESS STRATEGY?
21. #1. USERS’ TIME SPENTON GOOGLE+ WILL PROVIDE GOOGLE WITH MORE DATA“For Google, everything that happens on the Internet is a complement to its main business. As people spend more time and do more things online, they see more ads and they disclose more information about themselves - and Google rakes in more money.” – Nicholas Carr, The Shallows, P. 160
22. #2. GOOGLE+ WILL BECOME THE CORE OF GOOGLE’S SERVICES“The assumption is that everything will move over to usingthe Plus infrastructure over time” – Eric Schmidt, Google’s chairman
24. #3. GOOGLE HAS ALREADY MADEA HUGE INVESTMENT INTHE SUCCESS OF GOOGLE+“Google+ is not a typical release. Developed under the code name Emerald Sea, it is the result of a lengthy and urgent effort involving almost all of the company’s products. Hundreds of engineers were involved in the effort. It has been a key focus for new CEO Larry Page.”– Steven Levy, Inside Google+, Wired.com, Jun. 2010
25. 25 PERCENT OF ALL GOOGLE EMPLOYEE BONUSES ARE BASED ON SOCIAL SUCCESS“According to a leaked memo from Google CEO Larry Page, the company is making its social efforts a top priority and will reward all employees if those products are a success — or dock everyone’s bonus if those efforts fail.” – Jolie O’Dell, Mashable.com, Apr. 2011
28. HISTORICALLY, FACEBOOK = SOCIALGOOGLE = UTILITY“Facebook's mission is to give people the power to share and make the world more open and connected” – Facebook.com“Google’s mission is to organize the world‘s information and make it universally accessible and useful” – Google.com
30. Facebook Advertising gives brands the ability to target an audience according to demographics, interest, location and network. http://www.facebook.com/ads
36. WHAT AMI INTERESTED IN?WHO ARE MY FRIENDS, COLLEAGUES...?WHAT I NEED?WHO AM I?NEED + IDENTITY + INTEREST + NETWORK= PERFECT TARGETING
37. “Google+ is making Google better, and FB's long-term aspirationsare much larger than social networking. Google+ can make Google stronger which makes it harder for FB to expand their vision.”– Tom Anderson, MySpace founder, Google+, 7.7.11
39. FOR STARTERS,GOOGLE+ IS FOCUSEDON PEOPLE, NOT BRANDS“The business experience we are creating should far exceed the consumer profile in terms of its usefulness to businesses. We just ask for your patience while we build it” – Christian Oestlien, Google+ Product Manager
40. BUT BRANDS WILL QUICKLY BECOME ACTIVE“We've gotten several thousands of applications to be in the test group since we opened it up last night (06.07.11)” – Christian Oestlien, Google+ Product Manager
44. #1. WHAT IF GOOGLE+ ALLOWS BRANDS TO MANAGE THEIR AUDIENCE BY CIRCLES?
45. At the moment, brands have to manage their communities as one, giant group and must broadly treat all users in the same way. With Google+Circles: Brands could spread tailored content to specific groups (advocates, haters, employees...) to provide tailored experiences.
46. #2. WHAT IF THE +1 BECOMESA CORE PART OF THE GOOGLE SEARCH RANKING ALGORITHM?
47. SEO Google+1: The +1 button has already spread across many sites, allowing site owners to amplify their content. If Google uses +1 as a core ranking factor in search, most developers would instantly add to ensure their ranking is maintained.
48. #3. WHAT IF GOOGLE COMBINED KEYWORD NEED VOLUMES WITH TARGET INSIGHT DATA?
49. At the moment, Google Adwords allows advertisers to target users through keywords without ideas about who they areGoogle+AdWords: Advertisers could find keywords used by their target audience and not only target volume, but also demographics as well
50. #4. WHAT IF YOUTUBE ISCOMPLETELY PERSONALISEDTO EACH USER ON ARRIVAL?
51. Google+Youtube: Brands could use users’ information (age, gender, activity, searches, friends...) to display a tailored content right when the user arrives to their page.
52. #5. WHAT IF GOOGLE MAPSSHOWS YOUR FRIENDS’OPINIONS ON PLACES?
53. Google+Maps: Brands could encourage users to check in using Google+ to help them curate their results for their friends in the future
54. #6. WHAT IF GMAILCONNECTS USERS’ NEEDSWITH CONTACTS INTERESTS?
55. Google+Gmail: While users are reading their emails, contacts’ interests could be displayed and influence conversations (i.e. ‘We see you are interested in a new smart phone, your friend shares the same interest and recently visited this site.)
59. BUT REMEMBER THAT BETTER DATA FOR BRANDS MAY NOT MATCH USER PRIVACY EXPECTATIONS
60. “If Google mines what you do inside its social network to create a behavioural profile for ads outside of the social network, or use the profile they’ve created about you outside Google’s walls inside its social network, Facebook would have good reason to say that it’s ahead in the social networking privacy battle. In other respects, however, they are neck-and-neck in unexpected uses of your data.” – Google+ vs. Facebook on Privacy, Wired.com, June 28, 2011
61. THANKS FOR READING– Tyler Turnbull,Joint Head of Planning tyler.turnbull@publicismodem.com@tyturnbullhttp://gplus.to/tyturnbull– Damien Le Castrec,Planner damien.lecastrec@publicismodem.com@damienlchttp://gplus.to/damienlc
62. THANKS FOR THEIR INSPIRATIONhttp://www.wired.com/epicenter/2011/06/inside-google-plus-social/http://www.chrisbrogan.com/ad-free-google-plus-50/http://mashable.com/2011/07/02/myspace-tom-google/http://techcrunch.com/2011/07/03/social-studies/?goback=%2Enmp_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1http://www.slideshare.net/padday/the-real-life-social-network-v2http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2011/06/google-facebook-privacy/http://www.slideshare.net/pmereles/comscore-2010-europe-digital-year-in-review-7188105http://www.comscore.com/Press_Events/Presentations_Whitepapers/2011/2010_Europe_Digital_Year_in_Reviewhttp://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2011-06/29/google-facebook-privacyNicholas Carr, The Shallows, 2010Pictures:http://www.flickr.com/photos/kexino/5946475914/sizes/l/in/photostream/http://www.trendhunter.com/trends/facebook-icons#!/photos/110364/4http://likevsplus.com/
63. ABOUT PUBLICIS MODEM Publicis Modem is a full service digital agency within the Publicis Worldwide network offering strategy, creative, analytics, user experience, multi-platform (web, mobile, social, gaming) development, paid media, search, social media and eCRM services. With more than 1,500 people deployed across 30 countries around the world, Publicis Modem is one of the largest and most global digital agencies in the world, enabling us to serve Fortune 500 brands on a global basis including LG Electronics, RBS, Visa, Sanofi and General Mills. We believe in ‘Contagious ideas that change the conversation”, ideas that connect us as human beings, inspire us to share with others and change our behaviours in favour of our brands. We then bring these ideas to life through multi-platform brand experiences, social media programs and customer-relationship management initiatives that drive brand and revenue growth.