June 28, 2011

The Google+ Project

Google revealed some details about the project that will make Google more social. It's called Google+ and it's an extension of the existing Google Profiles and Buzz, with many new features that make sharing more useful. Google's plan to compete with Facebook is to bring "the subtlety and substance of real-world interactions" to the Web.


Google+ means "Google + You", so it's all about your friends, your photos and videos, your interests and your conversations. The service introduces circles, a way to group your friends and share content with the right people. "Today's online services turn friendship into fast food—wrapping everyone in 'friend' paper — and sharing really suffers. From close family to foodies, we found that people already use real-life circles to express themselves, and to share with precisely the right folks. So we did the only thing that made sense: we brought Circles to software. Just make a circle, add your people, and share what's new."



To help you share content with your "circles" of friends, Google added an app called Sparks that shows interesting new Web pages related to your interests. It's like a feed reader that has a list of tags instead of subscriptions, so it's much easier to set up. "The web, of course, is filled with great content — from timely articles to vibrant photos to funny videos. And great content can lead to great conversations. We noticed, however, that it's still too hard to find and share the things we care about— not without lots of work, and lots of noise. So, we built an online sharing engine called Sparks. Thanks to Google's web expertise, Sparks delivers a feed of highly contagious content from across the Internet. On any topic you want, in over 40 languages. Simply add your interests, and you'll always have something to watch, read and share."


Google+ also comes with an online video conferencing tool called Hangouts. It's just like Google Talk, except that you can add multiple people and they can join the "chat room" without being invited. "With Google+ we wanted to make on-screen gatherings fun, fluid and serendipitous, so we created Hangouts. By combining the casual meetup with live multi-person video, Hangouts lets you stop by when you're free, and spend time with your Circles," explains Google.

Google's social networks is also available on your mobile phone using a dedicated Android app and an upcoming iPhone app. The mobile experience is all about location, photos and conversations. You can add your location to all your posts, share the photos from your phone's camera album immediately after they're created and chat with your friends using Huddle.



Google+ requires an invitation, but you can't get one right now. "We're testing with a small number of people, but it won't be long before the Google+ project is ready for everyone," explains Google.

The black navigation bar that's tested right now in Google's search results pages is all about Google+. Here's how the navigation bar will look:


After years of missing the value of social networking, Google tries to catch up with Facebook and show that it can still create amazing products. Google+ will be the first tab from Google's homepage and it will get a lot of exposure, but not many people associate Google with social products. Google will probably have to redesign many of its services and make Google+ a central part of the Google experience, which means that Google will change a lot in the coming months.



{ Thanks, Gorilla. }

28 comments:

  1. I'm not sure. Hangouts look pretty cool. The circles are innovative but Google and Social Media ...

    And I don't like if Google would build the whole thing to wrap around all their other products. Some (like Picase) might be nice to add but I'm not sure about the others.

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  2. This is our big day. I love these features and definitely this is (must be) facebook killer. Could you send me invitation to gizmax@seznam.cz, please?

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  3. Need to have a profile which rules out Google Apps users. Like Wave, Google is missing a key group of users if it proceeds for a year without including the Google Apps users.

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  4. I hope that by the time it launches you can have a Google Profile if you are on Google Apps.

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  5. +1 for apps support

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  6. +1 (text instead of Google Button) to the Google Profiles for Google Apps. It is to sad and not social that it is still not available to new products like Google+ and Google Latitude checkin.

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  7. I think another point, why google failed with some services like buzz or similar is just the interface.
    Don't get me wrong, applications interfaces like Gmail, webmastertools, picasa online album (that's the ones I use) are pretty useful and well thought, but it always looks like the google searchengine; clean, clinic, plain white, usable, but not really comfy. Nothing to hang out, just like being on work doing important stuff.
    I don't want to see these rainbow colors everywhere...

    PS: I am avoid facebook too!

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  8. COOL..how many days/months I have to wait for ?

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  9. I think Google+ will success. It's not ugly and useless, like Buzz and Wave.

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  10. +1 for apps support. and still waiting for gdrive

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  11. Apps support ASAP! I use Google Apps for personal as well as business, not Gmail. I need Apps support to make this viable for me.

    Another aspect that would be nice: the ability to link multiple Google accounts to a single Google+ profile. That would be killer-- I have multiple Google accounts (Apps, & regular Google accounts) for various business/personal ventures.

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  12. Totally agree with dustinnay!!!

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  13. This looks promising for schools (once we get Google Profiles in Apps). For thoughts from a public school perspective see "What does Google+ mean for Schools" at http://www.appsusergroup.org/articles/what-does-googleplus-mean-for-schools

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  14. i need an invitation binty.ghosh@gmail.com. thank youi need an invitation binty.ghosh@gmail.com. thank you

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  15. @Anonymous who said...
    +1 for apps support. and still waiting for gdrive

    June 28, 2011 3:50 PM

    Google axed the gdrive a few years ago. Do a Google search for "gdrive sundar pichai."

    @Alex. I've got the black bar, yet I'm failing to see the "+You" button. Am I part of the invite/experiment, yet?

    Also I (finally) got the people widget this morning. I'd say it has its ups and downs. Up: Having all the info right there. Down: More than a couple contacts and things can get heavy.

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  16. Please, i need an invitation exeny1974@gmail.com. thank you so much.

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  17. I too would like an invitation, you have one to give me? lupezgm@gmail.com

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  18. Will +1 results show up somewhere in Google+?

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  19. Someone please invite me!
    Nicksfreakinwebsite1@gmail.com

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  20. This looks quite good! I hope it catches up to mainstream social networking. I, too, would like to try it out. Please, if someone can send me an invitation, my email is rainielestrella@gmail.com. Thank you and hopefully this obtain success!

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  21. I'm really enjoying my new Google+ prfofile and also giving free invitation giveaway at my blog.

    People enjoy using new Google+ circle and hangout its really amazing.

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  22. Someone please invite me!
    outwork69@gmail.com

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  23. I need an invitation. Thank u.

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  24. Heads up, there is already an email scam going around for invites. Be careful out there.
    http://www.perivision.net/wordpress/2011/07/email-scam-for-google/

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  25. OK lets build a scenario : Im a guy and get into circles with some girls I know. Then I search for extreme porn. Google shares automatically my search history with them . My life is ruined.

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  26. Google doesn't share your search history with anyone.

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