Google+ Brand Pages Begin Showing Up in Primary Search Results. In a move that could raise some charges of anti-competitive behavior, Google has begun integrating Google+ brand page information in primary search results. The inclusion, noted by researcher BrightEdge, appears only for some brands at the moment. BrightEdge, which has tracked Google+ brand pages since they went live on Nov. 7, just noticed the Google+ integration on Dec. 20.
(Though Search Engine Land discovered it last month.) In particular, the company identified the following Google+ brand page results in a search for AT&T: As Brad Mattick, VP-marketing for BrightEdge notes, the addition of G+ brand pages in this case allows the marketer to wedge in a promotional message. In this particular case, a call for a sweepstakes gets a much bigger audience via Google natural search results than it would have otherwise. Though AT&T appeared to be one of the first brands to get such treatment, a search for Toyota showed two Google+ entries (from late November). What do you think? Google Chrome: Lady Gaga. Ignore Google+ at Your Peril. Gnip Adds Google+ To Social Media Monitoring Data Stream.
Exclusive: Gnip, a provider of social media data to enterprise applications, is announcing today that it will be incorporating data from Google+ into its streams. Gnip will offer a keyword search stream for Google+ that is built on the social platform’s new API. For background, Gnip serves as an API hub for social streams, collecting data from services like Twitter, Facebook and other social sources, and pushing it out to other data-consuming applications and Websites. Applications using Gnip’s platform can get public data streams for over 100 feeds and sites, including Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, WordPress, Flickr, and others without ever visiting those sites or accessing their individual APIs. And Gnip also has premium access to the Twitter firehose of data. Adding Google+ data to the stream was 100 percent based on demand from clients, says Chris Moody, COO and President of Gnip. The key takeaway, explains Moody, is that businesses actually want to monitor the Google+ stream.
Now Google+ Has Instagram-Esque Filters. Please enable JavaScript to watch this video. Following the rumour that Facebook plans to offer retro photo filters, Google+ is actually offering them right now, which of course is going to totally ruin photo filters for everyone. In addition to a bunch of less nostalgic photo effects, there will be filters that will make your photos look like they were cross processed or taken with a Helga camera. And that would be cool, except I’ve been starting at people making their mundane photos look “artistic” for far too long, and I really don’t want to have to endure a new wave of people (read: parents) doing the same. Ugh. [Google via Engadget via PetaPixel] Comments are taking a Good Friday break due to a scheduled server upgrade. 12 Most Enchanting Features of Google+ | Three Reasons Your Brand Needs You On YouTube. As technology continues to evolve, video is becoming more and more prevalent across the internet. Even five years ago, filming and publishing professional-grade video content was much more difficult than it is today.
From a personal branding standpoint, video is a fantastic tool as it allows your audience to see your face and hear your voice… instead of simply reading text. Below are three great reasons why, if you are serious about personal branding, you need to be on YouTube: 1) Video allows you to connect with your audience in a way no other medium can. Blogging is great. 2) Video allows you to express your personality. 3) Video is fun and easy for your audience. Today’s technology makes establishing a video identity achievable for every single business owner. [Image: Flickr user chumpchampion] Google+ Adds 'Suggested Users List' (PICTURES) Google+ has rolled out a new feature that lists well-known Google+ users that you can add to your profile's personal circles. O'Reilly Media's Alexander Howard pointed to the new suggestion feature in a Friday night post on Google+. This "Suggested Users List" takes cues from Twitter's "Who To Follow" feature.
Users can browse celebrities, journalists, and more personalities featured on Google's general "Picks" list. Users can also sort through categories like Entertainment, Fun and Interesting, Photography and Art, Technology and others. Within these lists, you'll find celebrities like Paris Hilton and Ashton Kutcher, as well as entrepreneurs like Richard Branson and journalists such as MG Siegler. The Huffington Post's Craig Kanalley has posted a list (with links) of all the Google+ profiles from the Suggested Users List. In order to retain a position on the list, a user will need to continue creating compelling content. And, wrote Horowitz, personalized lists will be coming soon, too: The Fight Between Google And Apple Is About To Get Ugly. Google buys Zagat to vie with OpenTable, Yelp. Google+ May Be the Best Social Network for Your Job Search. If you’re lucky enough to land an invitation to join Google+, you’ll have a whole new arsenal of job search opportunities at your disposal.
Google’s new social network, which is still in beta testing and available only by invitation from people who have already joined, shares some characteristics of other networks like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, but has plenty of characteristics that are all its own. “A lot of us in the career development field are still feeling out whether Google+ is going to change the game, become just another social media tool in the job search toolbox, or fizzle out like Google Wave did a few years back,” says Steve Brady, owner of Quality-Resumes.com.
“Right now I am advising my clients to treat it like Twitter. Follow the influences in your industry and the people with hiring power in companies you are interested in. Any contact you make just increases your visibility and therefore hire-ability. Maintain a Professional, Complete, and Up-to-Date Public Profile. Why Have People Stopped Posting on Google+? So young, so promising. It was in its prime, and stood to reap the rewards of all of Facebook’s flaws—and in a weird twist, made Facebook copy Google+ for some of its newest “changes.” But the fact of the matter is, public posts on Google+ have decreased 41 percent since the social networking service launched a few months ago. Even Larry Page, you know – Google’s CEO – last updated one month ago. And I thought something was wrong with me when I forced myself to post something on Google+ so my friends didn’t think I’d virtually disappeared.
(MORE: Is Google+ Momentum Slowing? Report Says Visitors Spent Less Time on Site) So what’s going on, folks? It could just be that the initial velvet-roped entrance was maybe too private, or people got past it and just realized the only people “hanging out” there were actually a bunch of geeky bloggers (like moi). Google opens up Gmail to the developing world. Google’s Gmail team has been busy quietly rolling out the ability to sign up for a Gmail account directly from Internet-connected feature-phones – i.e., phones that can’t run apps but have a built-in browser. That may not sound very exciting. but it’s good news for Google as it allows potentially hundreds of millions of extra people across the to sign up to the service if they choose. As Google announces on its Africa Blog today, the move is designed to serve people who rely on a featurephone to access the Internet as they have no regular access to a computer or smartphone. Google says that this is “Hundreds of millions of people.”
All these users need to do is visit mail.google.com from their phone to sign up. Google has long been active in the developing world, encouraging growth in Internet usage. Will.I.Am’s Google+ profile gets the ultimate promotion: A link on Google’s front page. 30 September '11, 04:44pm Follow How’s this for a way to get into more people’s Google+ circles?
Google is currently promoting a Google+ Hangout from the band Black Eyed Peas on its coveted front page – linking directly to frontman Will I. Am’s profile. While this isn’t the first Black Eyed Peas hangout (the band held one last week), to our knowledge it’s the first time that a specific Google+ profile has been linked to on the front page of Google – often cited as one of the most valuable advertising spaces on the Web. At the time of writing, Will I. As at least one person has observed, given Google’s strict policies on using real names on its social network, we wonder if Will.I.Am (real name William James Adams, Jr) should have his profile suspended rather than given prime advertising space. Google Analytics Premium: Better Support & Goodbye Data Sampling. Today Google launched a paid version of Google Analytics that processes higher volumes of page views and provides additional support.
The general feature set and user experience remain the fundamentally the same as the standard product. This comes as an important addition to the enterprise set of tools that Google offers. The new version audience is mainly enterprises that receive a high amount of traffic and need a certain commitment from Google’s part on data collection, up-time, and support. The new Google Analytics premium is not about features, as shown below there are few capabilities available on the premium version that are not available on the standard version. Below is a detailed description of the tool capabilities, availability, support and pricing. Google Analytics Premium – Product Description Processing Power Guaranteed processing for up to 1 billion hits per month (vs. the 10 million a month for standard accounts). Advanced Analysis Tools Dedicated Support Closing Thoughts. Ads Preferences. Internet in developing countries: Hailing the Google bus.