Why Google-Plus Has No Competition
Google-Plus has a ways to go until it gets anywhere near Facebook or even LinkedIn. I think, though, that its current size doesn't matter that much, because it’s not in the same category as other social networks: it affects non-members.
If you own a small business, or are looking for a new job, or for new business connections, you must jump on Google-Plus as soon as possible if you haven’t.
Here is why.
There are two major search engines with the largest Internet territory indexed, Google and Bing. (Bing is less popular than Google, of course.) Both have been playing with “social search” for a while. Social search has long definitions that you can check out on an unbiased search engine but it basically means "showing links that your online social connections have favored or shared, higher up in the search results".
With the introduction of Google-Plus and the increasing use of the +1 button all Google search is becoming social.
Google is currently exploring its Direct Connect search, sending users to Google-plus pages when the search string starts with the plus sign. The direct connect algorithm has changed many times in the days since the term was announced; it was never defined in exact terms either. I believe this is just experimenting with “socializing” searches before social search will be the only type of search available.
Bing/Facebook vs. Google-Plus. Bing search is integrated with Facebook and does have the power of being “social”. Log into Facebook on your Bing search page and you’ll see a dramatic change in the search results. Results will show multiple references to your Facebook friends. It may seem to be the same way with searches on Google: if you are logged into your Google-plus account, you’ll see that people from your “social neighborhood”, Circles, and Gmail connections, influence your search results.
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