Google Launches Brand Pages for Plus with No Sizzle
Those of us who are in the media space; have "social media in their title"; are in PR, marketing or advertising, have been tooling around with Google+ for what would be coined in Internet terms, "a minute."
Since the launch of Plus, some brands tried to sneak their way on to the platform, but were quickly booted as a result. Google was basically saying to them, "Hey, we appreciate the eagerness, but we're just not ready for you to set up shop yet."
Well, the store sort of opened yesterday with a slew of brands launching on the platform.
They include a mix of media types like Good Morning America; bands like Train and Coldplay; brands like Pepsi and Toyota; and, sport teams such as the Dallas Cowboys and the Phoenix Suns. There are a slew of others too, but those are some of the more memorable.
Here's a promo video Google did for pages, specifically for a bike shop called Zen Bikes:
From watching the video, you garner that Google+ allows this business owner to connect with his customer base in a way that brands never were able to do before (well, hangouts maybe). It's simple. It's effective. And, it's fun.
I guess I buy in to all that, for now, but for me, the launch of Google+ for Pages is just a "ho hum" experience. There's really no new functionality that brands can take advantage of. The pages are set up similar to personal pages. The biggest difference I notice is that at the top of the page, near the name of the brand, there's a check symbol and a box that almost looks like a present — both of which indicate that it's a verified brand page.
Whoopie ding dong.
Other than the creative way some brands have added photos — similar to the way Facebook presents photos (pre-Timeline) — a +1 button at the top left and a "share this page" button, there's really nothing new for Pages on Plus.
I'm not sure what I was expecting and something tells me Google has much more up their sleeve, but if they really want to take on Facebook Pages, they really need to start innovating and stop boring us.
So far Google, you're off to a slow start with +Pages, but I'm sure you have more up your sleeve.
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