Google+ Succeeds Where Google Buzz Failed

Google announces the sunset of Google Buzz, which should come as no surprise to anyone familiar with the product.  It has been dying a slow death since it's launch, when Google made the fatal choice to allow automatic opt-in enrollment for its Gmail subscribers.  Google has reemerged on the social scene with Google+, a much more powerful social media platform than Buzz, and aiming to give Facebook a bit of competition.  Since launching in June, Google+ has grown to over 40 million subscribers, setting the record as the fastest growing social network in history.   And there are two other recent changes that will likely continue to fuel its growth.  The first change is Google's move to open Google+ to commercial accounts.  Companies can now set up a Google+ business page, a feature that was initially only available to personal accounts.  The second change  involves the recent release of Android 4.0, codename Ice Cream Sandwich.  Users who enter their Google account credentials into phones with the new operating system will be prompted to sign up for Google+. 

It’s expected that more Google+ users will sign up, since many people have no experience with Google+ thus far. By encouraging Ice Cream Sandwich users to sign up, the social network will be getting exposure to millions of people who don't know what it is or how it works.  The Samsung’s Galaxy Nexus is the first to have the new OS on board. It launched Friday in the U.K., and the reviews are overwhelmingly positive, some describing it as the "Best Android phone yet!"

Google is making rapid gains in the mobile market. It just announced it has activated 200 million Android devices to date, and from May through June, the company activated roughly 500,000 devices a day.

Another factor that looks like it will play into a steady uptick in Google+ use is a new feature called Pages, which lets businesses build profiles to promote their brands. Since rolling it out on Nov. 7, the social network had its third best week of traffic in the U.S. since launching this summer. In fact, 61 percent of top brands created Google+ Pages during the first week. 

By: James Dillon for Ranger Technical Resources®