Google+ is Google’s version of a social network and their attempt to capture a slice of the pie that Facebook, Twitter and co. are enjoying.
Google themselves though are marketing Google+ as not a social network but more of a ‘social layer’ that stretches across the companies services – search, Gmail, YouTube, android mobile platform, Chrome, Blogger, Maps to name a few…
YouTube?
Yep, Google bought YouTube several years ago – which incidentally is why its great for search results for companies to have videos on YouTube.
With the rollout of Google+ progressing it now seems that YouTube integration is being increased with the video ‘like’ feature being converted to a Google+ sharing mechanism.
I’m not seeing the full integration yet on the company YouTube channel as you can see below:
Those that are seeing it the changes have captured it as so:
“PLEASE don’t do this! …My personal Gmail is not the same as my work Gmail (run through Google Apps anyway), nor is my personal Gmail tied to the personal YouTube account I use most often (yeah, namely the one I set up in 2006, before any of these shenanigans began).”
The above picture and quote are taken from this article which covers the changes in depth. Like that author, I’m also building up a collection of Google accounts for different services and increasingly be forced to login in and out between them.
Offsite Video Sharing and Subscription
Another very handy feature just rolled out for YouTube videos is the addition of sharing and subscribing features to embedded YouTube videos on webpages. An overlay now appears on videos that you play on your website which provides for the viewer to share the video or subscribe to your channel without leaving your webpage.
Previously people would have to go to the YouTube page to do this – in the process leaving your site but also making it one more obstacle for people to share your ‘stuff’.
Now it can all be done on the spot. You can see the overlay in action on the video below. Look for the ‘share’ and ‘more info’ text at the top right of the video.
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Are you getting into Google+ yet? Or are you finding it just one more distraction to getting your work done online?
Unfortunately for marketers Google is forcing our hands as social signals increasingly become ranking factors. Which reminds me – try out the sharing functions on the left of this page. (Its the Digg Digg wordpress plugin)