Google Plus Review: Will it Beat Facebook?

Google had to do something. After all it couldn't simply watch as Facebook became the default social home of the connected individual. So it first tried to ride a new (Google) Wave but others just didn't find it surf-worthy. Then it tried to create a new Buzz but managed just a jarring note with exposed contact list of Gmail users.

Suddenly, Google didn't seem the invincible force it once was. Earlier the tech pundits raised a toast to anything and everything Google did or launched; Wave, Buzz and what not. And how silly their predictions turned out!

So when Google unveiled the top-secret Google Plus project, most of us were skeptical, while others were cautious but all were curious. After all there had to be some logic to all those +1 buttons popping all over the web-o-sphere. I mean I just couldn't figure out why would someone plus 1 a page or site or blog when they could just Like it?

Google Plus solves this puzzle.

As the name suggests, Plus is the extension of the searching individual. Come to think of it, Google stands for search and Plus for Social. Google dominates search but is almost completely missing in our social world where Facebook dominates. It is to find out about our likes, dislikes, contacts, interests that Google Plus was born

But why does Google need our social data?

To complement and supplement its advertising business. Right now it has amazing loads of info on people's search habits and preferences and provides its publishers on the Adsense platform accurate search based information to get the most bang for their buck.

But the arrival and dominance of Facebook has altered online advertising forever. Facebook offers features and insights to its ad publishers that Google simply cannot offer, like:

• Data on users likes, dislikes and interests
• Pitch ads to users friends which is simply not possible using search advertising
• Ability to sell products using applications like games (virtual money on Farmville)
• Ability to stay in constant touch with current and potential buyers through page feeds which is again not possible using search advertising

For these reasons Google needs social data more than ever. The advertising pie is now distributed between more players and advertisers are no longer willing to put all their eggs in the Adsense basket but want to diversify. Facebook ads has also opened another avenue for low cost advertising instead of shelling out $20+ for highly competitive search terms.

No wonder Google craves social info so much that in spite of failed past attempts with Buzz and Orkut it rolled the Plus die. But did have another choice?

Some hat tricks are meant to be repeated. And who knows this better than Big G. It stuck with the tried and tested formula of Gmail when it was launched using a invite-only feature. This trick worked! It played on people's anxiety to join an exclusive invite only party. It made them feel special, part of something big.

Today Gmail is the biggest email service provider beating the likes of Yahoo Mail and Hotmail. Google followed the exact approach with Google Plus.

Are the invites limited? Nah!

if you try to directly sign up for Google Plus you won't be able to and the message displayed is "Google+ is in limited Field Trial At the moment, we're testing with a small number of people, but it won't be long before the Google+ project is ready for everyone. Leave us your email address and we'll make sure that you're the first to know when we're ready to invite more people."

This is such a joke! Just get a Google Plus invite from someone (maybe from me in the comments section) and on signing up there's a prominent Invite button at the right of your screen.

Not only that you're encouraged to invite more and more people as you add contacts to your Circles or list. This shows that there's no cap on the invites or the number of people who can join Plus right now. But as Google knows Curiosity killed the Cat, in this case nailed the Cat. Meow. Don't make it publicly accessible and more people try to sneak in to catch a glimpse of the forbidden pleasure.

Google did it's homework this time around. Instead of trying to re-invent the wheel it just copied the best features of Facebook-the public stream and chat. But I have to admit the pictures look more clear and larger as compared to Facebook. Instead of like you can +1 any post in your stream.

But the Google Plus public stream isn't as much fun as the Facebook news feed. Not even close. There's something about the blue background and small fonts on Facebook that's missing in G Plus.

Less might seem more for Google but somehow the large white empty spaces on your profile page just don't convey the happening feeling of Facebook with pages, apps, requests and some more.

Obviously Google Plus will also introduce these features in the days to come and even this disparity between Plus and Facebook will cease.

In Facebook you make friends, here you create circles. As many as you want and add people to them. Neat. Does Facebook have an equivalent? Yes, the List. But it's nearly not as much fun as circles particularly the way you can just cycle among your contacts in circles, drag and drop contacts from one circle to another, and delete circles.

There's no way to do all this stuff in Facebook lists. In fact I haven't even created a list in 3 years but have more than 5 circles in 15 days! However, facebook will catch up with Circles. There's no big deal in circles as far as the technology to implement is concerned.

Sparks are interests that you can follow on your stream. They are not like Facebook pages rather more like Google news with links to the original news source. This is a feature that's missing in Facebook.

But what's the purpose of Sparks

Frankly speaking, the Sparks feature seems out of place on a social website. If I need to search news I would rather visit a news site. But this is a clever way to integrate search with social. Eureka!

After all the Plus 1's, hangouts, and shares I might want search for something and there's sparks to assist me to find it and for Google in offering the most bang for the buck to its advertisers. You might have noticed Sparks has the search assist drop down function of Google search. The only difference is that here you get news results instead of everything.

Facebook pages take an eternity to load and the videos can bring even the quickest internet connection to its knees. Mercifully Google+ is quick. Clicking on a tab loads it without almost any delay. This is in keeping with Google's tradition and obsession with page load times. It's heartening to know Google applies the same high standards to judge its own products.

Even video chatting is a smooth affair but wait..let's discuss this in the Hangout.

This is by far the only unique and killer feature in Google+. You can video chat with up to 10 friends simultaneously using the Hangouts feature. There's no set leader and the control flows back and forth among different members flawlessly. It's really how video chatting should be, spontaneous and fun.

To its contrast the Skype video chat introduced by Facebook seems so yesterday besides you cannot group video chat using the feature. Facebook will need to catch up with Google Plus on this count.

Facebook was always bungled from one privacy disaster to another. After all, Suckerbug..oops Zuckerberg thinks your default online identity will be social and as such there's no personal self nor do you have any right to claim a personal space on the net.

That's why they buried simple privacy settings so deep that most users don't know how to access them.

Fortunately Google holds alternate views as far as user privacy is concerned. Most privacy settings are quite easy to access, change and control. For instance you can easily turn off photo sharing, by the way all your Picasa uploads are available on your profile, control which circles have what level of visibility to your profile and content and so on.

It even has a Data Liberation option in Settings where you can download a backup of your photos, profile information, contacts, circles, stream posts and Buzz posts to your computer. Quite thoughtful.

Quite difficult. Not because of the lack of features, it will have all the major Facebook features in the near future, but simply because there's no real reason for people to make a switch.

Yes, we know Facebook can be a sucker when it comes to privacy and has a habit of acting arrogant at times but most users either don't mind it or forget the privacy issues easily. As far as the good features of Google+ like Hangouts, Facebook should have a similar offering in the days to come. Besides, Farmville is just too much fun for so many people :)

Will ease of use make people switch? No way. Not everyone knows how to create a Page on Facebook but everyone can enjoy a video, like a comment or make one. That's what Facebook is all about for overwhelming majority of its users and Google Plus has nothing new or different to offer on this score.

But maybe Google is not looking to beat Facebook. Maybe it just wants a pie in the social info of its users and even if it can get 200-300 million active users on Google+ in a few year's time, it would have a wealth of data to enrich its commercial offerings.

But then isn't this what Plus is all about?

If you're looking to get hooked to Google+ just leave your email in the comments with some feedback on this Hub and I'll be happy to invite you. After all there's no limit to the invites ;)