There’s No Escaping Google+

Desperate times require desperate measures? Don’t like Google+? Social networked out? Google doesn’t care.Google will force you to use Google+ whether you want to or not.

According to a Wall Street Journal article, Google’s Chief Executive employing aggressive measures to get people to use Google+ and prevent Facebook from controlling the social networking realm. Therefore, Google+ has been integrated with other Google services. Anyone who creates a Gmail, YouTube, Zagat or other Google account is automatically set up with a Google+ page.

Google+ profiles generally include full names, and users may add other details such as their location, profession, etc. They are made public by default, but the settings can be changed.

The article makes a valid point – Facebook has what Google wants. Facebook knows people’s real names, their interests and who they are friends with. It can tie their online activities to extremely personal information. By forcing users onto Google+, Google will finally be able to capture similar information and improve ad targeting.

For example, Google now requires users to sign into Google+ accounts to post reviews of restaurants and other businesses. The sign in requirements enable Google to combine a user’s personal information with their search habits, which may be a potential goldmine for AdWords.

Is it working? Google thinks so. Google reported that 235 million people used Google+ features in December 2012, up from 150 million in June. Google’s attempt to encourage Google+ account users to share updates and photos has found little success. However, Google+ still obtains helpful information about a person’s search history and interests for more improved ad targeting. They win. We get Google+.

Google does not reveal a user’s name to advertisers.
You can read the full article here.