September 28, 2011

"Google+ Is Google Itself"

If you thought that Google+ is just a separate service you can easily ignore if you don't want to use it, you were wrong. In an interview with Steven Levy, Bradley Horowitz - Google's VP of products - says that Google+ is actually Google itself.
Until now, every single Google property acted like a separate company. Due to the way we grew, through various acquisitions and the fierce independence of each division within Google, each product sort of veered off in its own direction. That was dizzying. But Google+ is Google itself. We're extending it across all that we do — search, ads, Chrome, Android, Maps, YouTube — so that each of those services contributes to our understanding of who you are.

Redesigning all Google services to match the Google+ interface is not just about consistency, it's also a way to show that they're part of the same super-service, an encompassing layer that makes them work together.

Google+ made Android's camera app integrate with Picasa Web Albums, Google Talk integrate with YouTube and Google Docs. It's likely that Google+ will make Google services more useful by combining their strengths. That's probably the reason why you'll use Google+ even when you're not going it to Google+ and you'll end up joining Google+ even if you don't like social networks.
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23 comments:

  1. AnonymousSeptember 28, 2011 at 1:17 PM

    !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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  2. PaddySeptember 28, 2011 at 1:36 PM

    Except google apps, because you still can't link your google apps account to google plus.

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  3. AnonymousSeptember 28, 2011 at 1:38 PM

    Still waiting for support on Google Apps though. So for me, Google + is NOT Google as I can't even sign into Google + services.

    Still waiting on those profiles Google, at this rate I'd be pretty happy if the functionality arrived THIS YEAR.

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  4. AnonymousSeptember 28, 2011 at 1:38 PM

    Except under 18s, because they can't access it. And the new UI is not consistent, everything is slightly different sizes and positions.

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  5. AnonymousSeptember 28, 2011 at 1:38 PM

    Paddy got there first!

    I'm not usually one to complain like this but hey, they told us it was coming back in March - through their blog. Don't like being messed around, especially when the Google Apps users are the ones PAYING to use Gmail etc.

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  6. GabrielSeptember 28, 2011 at 1:41 PM

    +1 to Paddy!! That is a source of constant frustration for me.

    I think the line that is going to get peoples backs up is "so that each of those services contributes to our understanding of who you are." but I for one appreciate Googles openness about this topic.

    They offer everything for free and mine our info to send us ads that are relevant to what we might want. Cool beans. People are so paranoid about everything, sometimes a cigar, is just a cigar. And sometimes an ad, is just an ad.

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  7. Eric BlanchetteSeptember 28, 2011 at 1:53 PM

    +1 (NOT Google+) to Paddy, same boat here... :-(

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  8. AnonymousSeptember 28, 2011 at 2:19 PM

    It is under development, READ, they didn't say everything was already integrated, it's a work in progress...

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  9. AnonymousSeptember 28, 2011 at 2:46 PM

    Which would be why all the new interfaces are colorless and dead (and this 2x harder to do anything useful with)? Makes sense....

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  10. MikeSeptember 28, 2011 at 3:33 PM

    +1 to Paddy. Still waiting for Google Apps integration.

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  11. jogos frivSeptember 28, 2011 at 11:35 PM

    he, this so great

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  12. GDSeptember 29, 2011 at 12:49 AM

    Well, if they want G+ to be adopted by Italian people the have to use a better translation system... they translated "circle" as "cerchia" but actually the word "cerchia" in Italian is quite ugly and it is used in a fixed way that doesn't correspond exactly to the use of "circle" in English in general and in G+ in particular, for example no one in Italy use the term "cerchie" which is the plural of "cerchia" and is used to translate English "circles", so when you open G+ and read "cerchie" you feel very strange (you can say that you interact with your cerchia/circle of friends, singular, but you would never say thatyou interact with your cerchie/circles of friends, plural)... better to use the word "circolo" (plural is "circoli") which doesn't appear as an official translation on wordreference it-en dictionary but actually better correspond to the meaning in this context.

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  13. Kristian SerranoSeptember 29, 2011 at 4:38 AM

    Wait, Google Talk integrates with YouTube and Google Docs?

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  14. AnonymousSeptember 29, 2011 at 5:46 AM

    In other words, you will have to use your real name with every Google service? I see where all that is going.

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  15. Roger H CharlesSeptember 29, 2011 at 6:06 AM

    I'm not quite sure I follow your thinking on Google+, or Google's for that matter. Every time I go to Google+, my eyebrows furl with the question, What is all this? It seems to me that iGoogle would be the better point of integration for all of Google's offerings to come together--with a separate tab for social networking.

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  16. AnonymousSeptember 29, 2011 at 12:30 PM

    > "That's probably the reason why you'll use Google+ even when you're not going it to Google+ and you'll end up joining Google+ even if you don't like social networks."

    More like, "That's probably the reason why you'll stop using Google anything even if you don't want to, unless you'll end up giving up your personal details to the whole world."

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  17. TomSeptember 29, 2011 at 2:05 PM

    Google has already announced that it will be featuring support for Apps and Plus to be connected. As it was just released three months ago, just went public, and they're still introducing features as quickly as they can manage, I'm sure the Google Apps users will be extended Plus support soon enough. They're smart enough to know it would increase popularity as well as satisfaction.

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  18. Micah and KatieOctober 4, 2011 at 7:44 AM

    If this is the future of Google, it would be nice if my wife and I could continue to share our micahandkatie account, but wait, apparently you aren't allowed to married in Googleland, our account is suspended...

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  19. Sean FosterOctober 20, 2011 at 5:04 PM

    Omigod..... I'm not a paranoid freak, but this is so BB. I would like my Androids to be separate from my Picasa to be separate from my G+ to be separate from my Search. Thanks.

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  20. AnonymousOctober 21, 2011 at 1:02 AM

    I don't understand peoples paranoia.... If you are not a criminal and have nothing to hide, what's the problem? OK, so it may be possible for someone you don't know to see that you like guitars and at that particular moment, you are shopping in town....SO WHAT!?
    As for other personal details, lets be right about it....If you are so anal about it, then spend some time learning about the privacy policies and lock your account down. Oh and don't leave the house today, something scary might happen as a result of you sharing your location by accident on latitude.....

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  21. AnonymousOctober 23, 2011 at 12:57 PM

    "I don't understand peoples paranoia.... If you are not a criminal and have nothing to hide, what's the problem? OK, so it may be possible for someone you don't know to see that you like guitars and at that particular moment, you are shopping in town....SO WHAT!?"

    This is irrelevant indeed, but people tend to share their ENTIRE LIFE on the internet -- where they live, what, where and with whom they are doing something, all PUBLICLY AVAILABLE. There are endless uses for such information, most of it illegal and far, far away from a computer, where they could at least be tracked.

    Recently, there were some fuss about a profile of a criminal on Facebook. Social networks like that are completely safe for them.

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  22. macewanOctober 24, 2011 at 6:43 AM

    Google music is in serious need of Google+ UI matching.

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  23. kurdproxiNovember 9, 2011 at 5:43 AM

    Omigod..... I'm not a paranoid freak, but this is so BB. I would like my Androids to be separate from my Picasa to be www.kurdsoft.org separate from my G+ to be separate from my Search. Thanks.

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