Google Launches Google+ Pages for Brands

Finally, the day many brands were waiting for has finally arrived. Google has just launched Google+ Pages, its own competitor to Facebook Pages which will allow big and small brands to connect with their fans on this budding social network. Here’s more about it

Upon a first glance, Google Plus Pages look almost identical to a normal profile on Google +, save for the new ‘page’ badge at the top. You can add a page to your circles like you’d normally add a friend and any update they post on the page will show up on your stream. On the left side of the page, there’s a link that allows Plus users to share the page with their circles; a feature which will definitely help brands get more exposure. Also on the left, you’ll see the number of followers a particular brand has; that is, the number of people who have added the page to their circles.

Below the profile picture there’s a small +1 button besides which you’ll see the number of people who have +1′d it. Overall, the page looks quite similar to a standard Google Plus Profile, and we don’t think Google allows brands to do any major customizations like Facebook does. That might or might not change depending on how Google envisions this feature.

It is quite obvious that Google+ Pages is in its infancy and it misses out on many things that its biggest competitor Facebook provides. For example, brands are yet to have a custom or vanity URL like they have on Facebook. Even the URL for Google Plus’s own page looks like this : https://plus.google.com/u/0/101560853443212199687/ . Let’s hope that will change soon. One curious thing I find about Google + Pages is the feature that allows users to block a page. I’m not sure exactly how it’s supposed to work. That said, what I absolutely love about Google Pages is that it matches with the overall look and feel of G+. Google hasn’t tried to do something different here, it’s just sticking to the basics.

There are already 10-15 G+ Pages out there of which the most notable are Android, Pepsi, and Angry Birds. And of course, there’s Google Plus’s own page that you might want to check out. Brands can create their own pages by going to this link; however, the feature is not open to everyone yet, so hold your horses. To know more, do check out Google’s official post announcing the feature.

Update : We’ve just created our Google Plus Page. Do make sure you stalk us there!