The Real Advantage behind Google’s +1

Why do we have so many social networking sites? Don’t they all basically do the same thing? And if they don’t, can’t Facebook just keep taking the best attributes of each site and mandate new upgrades like they seem to do every 3 months? Changes and upgrades that spark fear and outrage into the hearts of users who eventually learn to utilize the new platform, and then love it. I think it’s safe to say that the late Steve Jobs was onto something when he stated, “it’s not the consumers job to know what they want;” and we’ve seen Facebook implement this strategy repeatedly with success. But what about Google+? (Don’t have it yet? Want it? Click Here)

Go back about six months. You finally have over 300 Facebook friends (the national average); you’re feeling pretty good about yourself and then BOOM! Google got nervous and decided they needed to come out with a social networking site of their own. One that not only rivals Facebook, but seemed to have done the impossible and improved on it. Which then of course led to another Facebook update.

So, one of the major questions marketer’s and consumers alike have been struggling with ever since the (not-so) exclusive release of Google+ has been: Which network is better? And why? Hold on now, I’m not here to start a fistfight, and every person uses social networking sites for their own specific reasons. Heck, some people are still on MySpace, and that works for them! It has a great music-sharing platform that allows musicians exposure to potential fans and followers. So just like most of the deepest, most controversial questions in life, the answer to that question, is open to interpretation.

But wait!!! Not all social networking sites are created equal! There does seem to be one large advantage to using Google+ for both marketer’s and consumers. Let’s take a look at what the advantages of the +1 button are when using Google+ as a social network.

Google saw the purpose behind the “Like” button on Facebook. It’s a verb. It’s cool. You like what your friend said. We get it, they got it, and Google+ uses Google’s insane algorithms to take the whole process a step further.

How? Well, the thing that marketer’s need to remember in this situation is that Google is THE MOST VISITED website on the Internet. It has more traffic than any other site and basically dominates when it comes to users choice of search engine. They added the freaking word to the Dictionary!

This means they have a solid monopoly over what guides the average person to and from different websites, specifically yours. When users log onto Google to search, they are presented with options that include that little +1 boxes next to the link to the site URL (example below):


And this is where Google+ really shines in the battle of Google v. Facebook. Where Facebook has no doubt been successful creating a useful on-site tool; your friends can see what you like, and you can see what they like, it for the time being, has limited visibility.

“Liking” or “+1-ing” a cool new video you’ve seen will get the job done within your social network. It will help to create conversation, share interesting engaging content with the world, and probably help make you look cooler in front of your online friends (real, online, what’s the difference these days). I for one truly believe that word of mouth marketing is the strongest form of advertising known to man. It’s why Yelp.com is successful. We trust unaffiliated third party advice more than we trust experts these days. Which is why Google’s +1 button holds so much power right now. Anytime a person searches for something on Google, they will be able to see which one of their friends on Google+ has +1’ed it, and said something good about that product or service, which will undoubtedly have an impact on the site that they choose to visit. Something Facebook just can’t do off site right now. So in this case, I repeat this case…I believe the score is Google +1.