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Tom Anderson: Google+ makes Google a better, more integrated set of services

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Re: Tom Anderson: Google+ makes Google a better, more integrated set of services

#21

Post by icebraining »

jamesbritt wrote: post #12
nextparadigms wrote: post #2

Notice how people are starting to use Google+ as blog posts? It even looks like a blog post. If only the URL's looked a little bit better, it would be perfect. And I agree with him. So far I love Google's unifying strategy, not only through deeper integration but through having similar, more streamlined design as well. And I feel this is just the beginning. I think we'll see a lot more of it this year.

Notice how people are starting to use Google+ as blog posts? It even looks like a blog post. If only the URL's looked a little bit better, it would be perfect. I just did that, then found that "public" didn't really mean public; the post was still only visible to people with Google+ accounts. Oh well. I then copied over to my actual blog. But I would like to have a true public option even if it only meant read-only o…

I don't have a Google+ account and it's visible to me.

Re: Tom Anderson: Google+ makes Google a better, more integrated set of services

#22

Post by nrbafna »

Google+ does make everything fit in so well.

1) Picasa, just received a shot in the arm. Integrating it with Google+, would definitely see a surge in its adoption. Also, since people are going to use it anyways, they might seriously consider backing up all their images to Picasa. Fits right in with the Google's cloud philosophy.

2) Huddle - This is Google Talk for mobile done the right way. Given that iOS app is on the way and hopefully a Blackberry version, this can take on the new iOS messages and I dare say, the blackberry messenger.

3) Google has got the integration of notifications right, always there and yet very subtle. The top bar redesign makes sense now. With Buzz, there was a feeling of the service forced down on, in your gmail account. But, with Google+, the service notification are everywhere. web, images, books, news, g+ and yet the users do not seem to mind. Integrated the right way.

4) It has the potential to be The network. Facebook, might be a serious social network, but no is really going to use the FB email as the primary email address or as the one for formal usage. Google+ covers that. It can be your formal network; the one for friends; your primary photo service and more.

5) It would be killing, if they would Hangout a.k.a. group video chat would make its way onto the mobile apps.

This might seem positively biased, well, I do love Google.

Re: Tom Anderson: Google+ makes Google a better, more integrated set of services

#23

Post by krashidov »

Lewisham wrote: post #20
krashidov wrote: post #19

I must say, Google's decision to make Google+ invite only was puzzling at first but its quite obvious now isn't it? It's much like how Facebook grew by restricting its service only to the top schools. This gained more hype for them as people saw that the 'elite' were using facebook and loving it. Now we have personal invites to those who have a strong voice in the tech industry generating lots of good publicity for t…

No, it's very clear why Google+ is invite only. Google+ is in field test. It needed to be tested publicly in order to start really getting a good understanding of what users are doing and what the scaling problems are. There are already a bunch of things that are essentially getting hotfixes in The only reason that Google+ was announced was that this process couldn't have been done in secret. I'm sure if there was a…

Hmm perhaps, but were google+ invites completely random? If so, then I probably am wrong and it truly was a technical field test with no marketing gimmicks.

Either way, having a closed invitation has genuinely made me more interested in the product.

Re: Tom Anderson: Google+ makes Google a better, more integrated set of services

#24

Post by andrewljohnson »

Most businesses can't "die" suddenly. It's very hard to turn a $850,000,000 business into a $35,000,000 in just a couple of years, unless something truly catastrophic or industry-changing occurs.

The exception to this rule is social internet companies. Social companies are built in a day and can die in a day - we've seen it happen again and again, and Facebook's scale is no protection.

To beat Verizon, you need a network. To beat Google, you need search technology, data, and great engineers. To beat a car company, you need some factories.

But to beat Zuckerburg, all you need it timing and a good strategy, and equivalent engineers. And in this case, Google seems credible on all fronts.

This is the first serious threat to Facebook's existence.

Re: Tom Anderson: Google+ makes Google a better, more integrated set of services

#25

Post by stevenj »

andrewljohnson wrote: post #24

Most businesses can't "die" suddenly. It's very hard to turn a $850,000,000 business into a $35,000,000 in just a couple of years, unless something truly catastrophic or industry-changing occurs. The exception to this rule is social internet companies. Social companies are built in a day and can die in a day - we've seen it happen again and again, and Facebook's scale is no protection. To beat Verizon, you need a net…

I think unseating Facebook is much harder than you think. Not impossible, but very hard.

I'll make a friendly $100 wager with you that Google will not have more active users on Google+ than Facebook has -- as reported by each company, a reputable publication, or measured by a public analytics firm -- 5 years from now.

Re: Tom Anderson: Google+ makes Google a better, more integrated set of services

#26

Post by kubrickslair »

stevenj wrote: post #6

Thus far, I've only heard industry insiders and participants praise Google+. In technical fields, like medicine, or even computer science research, I'd pay close attention to such commenters. But a product like Google+ was made for the masses. Just like Google.com was. Just like Facebook was. So until my non-tech friends start praising Google+ as if it's a must-see movie, or a song I have to hear, or a restaurant I h…

I think Google is the only big company where every major new product is met with great enthusiasm in the tech people (bar a few anti-Google fanboys and journalists). Probably my memory fails me, but that is how I recall every major launch by Google.

Also a minor quibble- did any one else notice that if you make more than a few circles, you get multiple scrollbars and thing becomes less pretty and usable.

Re: Tom Anderson: Google+ makes Google a better, more integrated set of services

#27

Post by beck5 »

stevenj wrote: post #6

Thus far, I've only heard industry insiders and participants praise Google+. In technical fields, like medicine, or even computer science research, I'd pay close attention to such commenters. But a product like Google+ was made for the masses. Just like Google.com was. Just like Facebook was. So until my non-tech friends start praising Google+ as if it's a must-see movie, or a song I have to hear, or a restaurant I h…

I agree totally. Of interest I put on my facebook status I am in Google+ and can invite people in, out of 300 people 7 asked. Make of that what you will.

Re: Tom Anderson: Google+ makes Google a better, more integrated set of services

#28

Post by skarayan »

andrewljohnson wrote: post #24

Most businesses can't "die" suddenly. It's very hard to turn a $850,000,000 business into a $35,000,000 in just a couple of years, unless something truly catastrophic or industry-changing occurs. The exception to this rule is social internet companies. Social companies are built in a day and can die in a day - we've seen it happen again and again, and Facebook's scale is no protection. To beat Verizon, you need a net…

I think that Google+ may have a chance.

That said, building a business is not just about a simple CRUD application. There is a LOT more that goes into Facebook and its adaption.

There is even more that went into its timing and filling a void that existed in the market. Zuch didn't have many engineers at first, he just found a void and filled it.

I think that there is an opportunity with Circles for G+ to fill a new void, but will it be enough? All the research in the world can't tell you. Only time will tell.

Re: Tom Anderson: Google+ makes Google a better, more integrated set of services

#29

Post by Lewisham »

krashidov wrote: post #23
Lewisham wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, it's very clear why Google+ is invite only. Google+ is in field test. It needed to be tested publicly in order to start really getting a good understanding of what users are doing and what the scaling problems are. There are already a bunch of things that are essentially getting hotfixes in The only reason that Google+ was announced was that this process couldn't have been done in secret. I'm sure if there was a…

Hmm perhaps, but were google+ invites completely random? If so, then I probably am wrong and it truly was a technical field test with no marketing gimmicks. Either way, having a closed invitation has genuinely made me more interested in the product.

Invites were not random. Google chose those to invite.

Re: Tom Anderson: Google+ makes Google a better, more integrated set of services

#30

Post by knowtheory »

stevenj wrote: post #25
andrewljohnson wrote: post #24

Most businesses can't "die" suddenly. It's very hard to turn a $850,000,000 business into a $35,000,000 in just a couple of years, unless something truly catastrophic or industry-changing occurs. The exception to this rule is social internet companies. Social companies are built in a day and can die in a day - we've seen it happen again and again, and Facebook's scale is no protection. To beat Verizon, you need a net…

I think unseating Facebook is much harder than you think. Not impossible, but very hard. I'll make a friendly $100 wager with you that Google will not have more active users on Google+ than Facebook has -- as reported by each company, a reputable publication, or measured by a public analytics firm -- 5 years from now.

I'd put you on the losing end of those odds.

Google's key to driving adoption is going to be integration of all of their services into Google+, which means that they have very natural and robust funnels for acquiring a userbase, so long as their tools are integrated properly.

Given the money that Google is pouring into this, and the incentive structure for engineers and teams at Google, i have no doubt that they will come up with clever ways to make their tools more social.

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