Desperate attempt to convince the doubters or merely a company seeking to improve one of its products? Whichever way you view it Google+’s redesign highlights that the search giant is not willing to stand by and watch its social network die.
To further underline its commitment to convincing the people they need Google+, Google has recently invested in its first series of TV adverts. The UK is high on Google’s agenda, so expect to see and hear more about the network on various screens near you soon.
This ramming-it-down-your-throat tactic sits neatly with the way Google has tried to manipulate marketers into using the platform, tempting them in with free SEO points and improved visibility.
But it does smack of desperation and there it’s slightly concerning to see a tech giant showing its willingness to flex muscles in order to get what it wants.
Every social network that has grown and flourished has done so organically. Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram; they have all earned their statuses because gradually more people decided, of their own volition, that these services offered something of value.
Google is gaining impressive sign up numbers but it is doing so in a way the other social networks have not. It is advertising, pressurising and persuading people to join.
And this is not how, traditionally at least, it works. Just ask Microsoft; their relentless attempts to push its Bing search product (an area they do not specialise in) is actually very similar to Google’s efforts at pushing Google+.
Google have created a fantastic product in Google+. It is better than Facebook and Twitter in some key areas. Yet the people don’t seem to want to use it.
It will be interesting to see how the history books of the future will regard Google+. For me, the jury is still out but I would not like to write it off too soon. Though this is, perhaps, primarily because of the immense power and influence at Google’s disposal.