A lot of tech writers are currently going bananas about something they thought they heard Google CEO Larry Page say on the company's year-end earnings call: that Google Plus, just six months after its launch, has 54 million daily users. That may or may not be what Page hoped they would hear, but it's not actually what he said, and it's probably nowhere close to true.

Of course this did not go by a lot of tech news writers, and really what Page said was:

So 60% of the 90 million people who have created Google Plus profiles engage with some Google product every day, but that product could be Gmail, Google Documents, Google Calendar or even just Google Search.

Big difference!

Half of Facebook’s 800 million-plus users use Facebook every day. Sixty percent of Google Plus’s 90 million users use some Google product every day.

Source: forbes.com → | ∞ Permalink

Hear that, content marketers? That is the sound of inevitability ... the sound of you creating a Google+ page for your business. Here's why.

Building an audience on Google+ may be the smartest thing you do as a content marketer when it comes to improved search rankings. You still need to understand the language of your audience and reflect it back in your content, but Google will now have direct indications that you’re putting out quality stuff.

And yes, Google Plus is Google, it's that simple. So as a marketer, you have to be on Google Plus because it will affect your livelihood.

Source: copyblogger.com → | ∞ Permalink

Is that a surprise to anyone?

This is true in particular with the so-called Generation Y — the population born from 1980 to 2000 who are now anywhere from their teenage years to their early 30s. They are considered to be the most active internet users and were born and raised at a time when computers and the internet were already an established medium of communication. But these so-called "digital natives" are not exactly easily influenced by social media marketing.

The numbers speak by themselves

only 28.7% of this demographic make purchase decisions based on what friends "like" on the social networks. In contrast, the same demographic is 44.3% more likely to respond to word-of-mouth marketing, 45.9% to in-store promotion and 39.8% to online advertising.

Brands need to engage directly with their audience/customers which results in better sales and brand awarness.

When it comes to "word of mouth marketing", there is a lot to be done and probably one of the biggest opportunities of the future.

Source: cmswire.com → | ∞ Permalink

Google+ is growing like crazy. It is the fastest growing social network ever. Just as with any other social network, marketers have a lot to learn an

Source: blog.hubspot.com → | ∞ Permalink

Very cool service, owned by Yahoo!.

Source: open.dapper.net → | ∞ Permalink

Not a surprise, but it looks it's finally happening.

Google is making plans to turn its +1 button into a crowdsourcing tool that helps it re-order search results and fight web spam. While not surprising, the move would bring Google’s search engine into the social networking era, while simultaneously creating a new avenue for blackhats to manipulate search results and potentially incurring the wrath of trust-busting authorities. Google confirmed its plans in an e-mail to Wired.com. But these plans are a touchy subject for the search giant, especially given the scrutiny that Google is under from regulators in Washington and Europe over complaints that the company’s results favor its own products over those of other companies.

Source: wired.com → | ∞ Permalink

One of the questions that we see a great deal of on our Search Engine Land Facebook Page and LinkedIn Group is How can we get our Google+ feed to post in

Source: searchengineland.com → | ∞ Permalink

Now closing on its second month, the Google+ social networking platform has seen rapid growth — and lots of attention — in its short lifetime. But new research indicates that the lion’s share of Google+ users do not actually pitch in on the site very often, if at all. Here are some interesting tidbits from data compiled by Bime Analytics, which polled a voluntary sample of more than 10 million Google+ users: Here are the survey results in handy infographic form (click to enlarge): Source: Google+ User Statistics Part II – BimeAnalytics.com

Source: gigaom.com → | ∞ Permalink

Websites that use Google's +1 button generated 3.5 times more traffic from Google+ than websites that don't have the button installed.

Source: blog.hubspot.com → | ∞ Permalink

A technology consultant is using Google's new videochat service to offer cooking lessons from his apartment -- and turning them into a business.

As it turns out, the service can also be a good way to host a cooking show.

This is really cool!

Check it out at http://gpluscookingschool.com/

Source: bits.blogs.nytimes.com → | ∞ Permalink

A few weeks into Google+, and most at least know of the new social networking site, even if they haven't joined yet. Still resisting?

Source: marketingprofs.com → | ∞ Permalink

The phrase “The Cathedral and the Bazaar” was coined by American computer programmer Eric S. Raymond to distinguish two different approaches to the development of software. Google has unwittingly highlighted the tensions between these two approaches to social networks with its recent mass suspension of accounts.

Source: theconversation.edu.au → | ∞ Permalink

This is important stuff. It's going to become as important, if not more, to integrate closely with google plus.

Google+ is the rapidly growing seed of a web-wide social backbone, and the catalyst for the ultimate uniting of the social graph.

Source: radar.oreilly.com → | ∞ Permalink

Dave Winer's response to Scoble's post about Google+ making twitter boring.

It isn't until a technology becomes boring that it becomes truly useful. Because it's the things people do with tech that are interesting. Tech for its own sake doesn't go so far. What I want is tech that fades into the background, serves as a stage for the ideas of the performers, the people.

Source: scripting.com → | ∞ Permalink

This is a good read with advice that's not only good for Twitter, but other startups...

What can Twitter do? Revamp lists. But Twitter’s management thinks lists suck, so I don’t see Twitter getting this feature anytime soon and that’s really too bad. It’s what will really put Twitter into a box and soon, you’ll see, how this affects search and all sorts of news. This is Twitter’s weakest point, and it will become more and more apparent that Twitter has blown a real opportunity here to make its system more interesting.

The message I get from this... you are not your user. Build stuff that people want, not just some grand idea that's in your own head.

Source: scobleizer.com → | ∞ Permalink

Thank you, Simon Laustsen.

Source: businessinsider.com → | ∞ Permalink

Pretty cool!!

Source: chrisbrogan.com → | ∞ Permalink

Some have said that Google+ is more than a new platform, it’s the glue that ties together Google communication products. I definitely think this is true, we’ll just have to wait and see how the masses adapt. Will Google+ take over the world as Facebook has? Not sure.

Want more info about Google+? Here’s a cheat sheet from the Business Insider. The Insider promises to be posting a weekly cheat sheet, so check their site for more info.

Source: socialmediaclub.org → | ∞ Permalink

For a long time, I’ve used Twitter to help pull together ideas. Since jumping on Google+ however, I’ve found that so many more people respond, and that there’s a great range of potential answers given to questions. Because comments exist under the post, I don’t lose them in my stream the way I do in Twitter. Here’s my question and some of the answers I got on Google Plus:

Source: chrisbrogan.com → | ∞ Permalink

First off, when you start, you won’t have any people in your Circles (which is how Google Plus organizes people), but some people might have already added you. You can click on the “Circles” Tab and that will show you which Circles are prebuilt for you. I renamed all of mine. You can do the same by double-clicking them, then selecting Rename. I did this so that people wouldn’t be put off by terms like “Acquaintance.” Mine have all kinds of weird names like “Keepers” and “Bacon Filchers” and “Attention Getters.” Name them however you want. Your Circles are yours. It’s how you view people’s info coming into you.

Source: chrisbrogan.com → | ∞ Permalink

Google+ has immense potential, but it's still early in its beta process (Google calls it a "field test"), leaving room for it to falter. Ultimately, its success will depend upon sucking millions of users away from Facebook.

Source: pcworld.com → | ∞ Permalink