Dear Google,
We have a love/hate relationship. As in, you love when we hate you.
Or track record has never been the best. When we call you to fix a business listing or find out why a fake review is still on a client’s account, we get a runaround or have to wait days for you to answer a simple question. It’s infuriating but we accept it like everyone else because, let’s face it, you rule the Internet.
However, we must say…you really screwed up this time.
Let’s all be honest here. Google Plus has never been a great social media network. At first glance, it’s too much like Facebook. And it’s almost an exclusive club – as long as you have a Gmail account, you can have a Google Plus account (whether you want one or not). Really, the only beauty that Google Plus holds for a business owner is for SEO purposes: with a Google Plus page, you get a place on Google Maps, your posts can show up on your followers’ search queries, and it makes it easier for people to review your business.
For years now, people have claimed that the death bell tolls for Google Plus. It’s dying, it’s near death, the experiment is over! And your response…let’s change things up.
And now it sucks.
Google Plus went from a Facebook ripoff to almost a Pinterest/Instagram ripoff overnight. It’s more colorful and full of images. “Collections” and “Communities” have become more important than posts from your followers.
And hey, it may be working – according to the GlobalWebIndex, in a survey sample of 3 million people throughout the world, 23 percent say they contribute to Google Plus on a regular basis. Although Google Plus is less than popular here in the US, you do have a strong following in Latin American and the Middle East.
But, as a manager of a Google Plus page, it took us ten minutes to find where our business page was, let alone try to post to it. And if your business isn’t involved in My Business, forget trying to find it. So in your rush to make a good looking platform, you basically alienated the businesses who use Google Plus as a way to connect with followers. Sure we can use “Communities,” but we have LinkedIn Groups to meet with like-minded professionals. And yeah, we can probably do a “Collection,” but most of the clients are lawyers – they aren’t really big on photos.
So Google, in conclusion, let’s just call Google Plus a failure and get on with our lives.
Sincerely,
ENX2 Marketing