In an interview that Larry Page, Google’s co-founder, participated in, he attempted to put to rest any notion that their social network, Google+, will be going away. Many people have been speculating that Google was going to let the network die after they removed some features of the Authorship program, and also adjusted the staffing that was formerly dedicated to Google+.
In the interview, Page was asked specifically about what is going on with Google+.
In his answer, he indicated that Google+ is a major focus for the company, and they are planning on growing it and making it an even stronger network in the future. Specifically, he said, “The service has been growing tremendously.” He continued, “We’re making it better and better every day. We have a very excited, dedicated community.”
While he didn’t give any real specifics on what is being done to grow or improve the social network, it does seem that they won’t be doing anything that will result in Google+ going away, or even changing focus in any significant way.
Pushing ahead and attempting to become a social network of choice for the billions of potential users does make sense for Google. Google+ already has millions of active users, and more are joining daily. In addition, Google+ is becoming more and more intertwined with what people are doing online. At some point, it may slowly cause people to begin using G+ more and more for their everyday social activities. Something most people currently use Facebook for.
Whatever the case, Page has made it clear that Google+ will be here to stay for the foreseeable future, so marketers will need to continue to put in the effort to build a strong social community on this network.
