Hangingout, Inc. v. Google, Inc.

Filing 30

RESPONSE in Opposition re 12 MOTION for Preliminary Injunction filed by Google, Inc.. (Attachments: # 1 Notice of Lodgment of Non-Electronic Exhibits, # 2 Declaration of Andrew Abrams, # 3 Table of Exhibits, # 4 Exhibit 1, # 5 Declaration of Serge Lachapelle, # 6 Declaration of Margret Caruso, # 7 Table of Exhibits, # 8 Exhibit 1, # 9 Exhibit 2, # 10 Exhibit 3, # 11 Exhibit 4, # 12 Exhibit 5, # 13 Exhibit 6, # 14 Exhibit 7, # 15 Exhibit 8, # 16 Exhibit 9, # 17 Declaration of Matthew Leske, # 18 Table of Exhibits, # 19 Exhibit 1, # 20 Exhibit 2, # 21 Exhibit 3, # 22 Exhibit 4, # 23 Declaration of Ellery Long, # 24 Table of Exhibits, # 25 Exhibit 1, # 26 Exhibit 2, # 27 Exhibit 3, # 28 Exhibit 4, # 29 Exhibit 5, # 30 Proof of Service)(Caruso, Margaret) (cxl).

EXHIBIT 1

Google Introduces Facebook Competitor, Emphasizing Privacy - NYTimes.com

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June 28, 2011

Another Try by Google to Take On
Facebook
By CLAIRE CAIN MILLER

Remember Google Buzz? What about Orkut, or Google Wave?
Google has tried several times, without much success, to take on Facebook and master social
networking. Now it is making its biggest effort yet.
On Tuesday, Google introduced a social networking service called the Google+ project —
which happens to look a lot like Facebook. The service, which is initially available to a select
group of Google users who will soon be able to invite others, will let people share and discuss
status updates, photos and links, much as they do on Facebook.
But the Google+ project will be different in one significant way, which Google hopes will be
enough to convince people to use yet another social network.
It is meant for sharing with groups — like colleagues, roommates or hiking friends — not
with all of one’s friends or the entire Web. It also offers group text messaging and video chat.
“In real life, we have walls and windows and I can speak to you knowing who’s in the room,
but in the online world, you get to a ‘Share’ box and you share with the whole world,” said
Bradley Horowitz, a vice president for product management at Google, who is leading the
company’s social efforts with Vic Gundotra, a senior vice president for engineering. “We
have a different model.”
When it comes to social networking, Google finds itself in an unusual position, one that its
competitors in Web search know all too well: playing catch-up with a service that dominates
the market.
The debut of Google+ will test whether Google can overcome its past stumbles in this area
and deal with one of the most pressing challenges facing the company. At stake is Google’s
status as the most popular entry point to the Web. When people post on Facebook, which is

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Google Introduces Facebook Competitor, Emphasizing Privacy - NYTimes.com

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mostly off-limits to search engines, Google loses valuable information that could benefit its
Web search, advertising and other products.
But Google+ may already be too late. In May, 180 million people visited Google sites,
including YouTube, compared with 157.2 million on Facebook, according to comScore. But
Facebook users looked at 103 billion pages and spent an average of 375 minutes on the site,
while Google users viewed 46.3 billion pages and spent 231 minutes.
Advertisers pay close attention to those numbers — and to the fact that people increasingly
turn to Facebook and other social sites like Twitter to ask questions they used to ask Google,
like a recommendation for a restaurant or doctor.
Analysts say that Facebook users are unlikely to duplicate their network of friends on
Google+ and post to both sites, but that they could use them for different types of
communication. Google+ could also attract Facebook holdouts who have been
uncomfortable sharing too publicly.
“Can someone eclipse Facebook in terms of its hold? It is a fantastic broadcast mechanism,”
said Charlene Li, a social media analyst and founder of Altimeter Group, a technology
research firm. “But if Google becomes the owner of your private groups, it’s going to be a
splintering of our social lives.”
Mr. Gundotra and Mr. Horowitz said that knowing more about individual Google users
would improve all Google products, including ads, search, YouTube and maps, because
Google will learn what people like and eventually personalize those products.
“To think we could achieve Google’s stated mission of organizing the world’s information
absent people would be ludicrous,” Mr. Horowitz said.
But Google has been criticized for failing to understand the importance of social information
on the Web until competitors like Facebook and Twitter had already leapt ahead.
Larry Page, Google’s co-founder, regrets Google’s failure to lead in this market and has spent
time working with the team since he became chief executive in April, people at the company
say. He promoted Mr. Gundotra to senior vice president this year, placing him on an equal
level with the heads of Google’s core products like search and ads.
Part of the blame, analysts say, falls on Google’s engineering-heavy culture, which values
quantitative data and algorithms over more abstract pursuits like socializing.

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Google Introduces Facebook Competitor, Emphasizing Privacy - NYTimes.com

Page 3 of 4

Exhibit A is Buzz, a sharing tool for Gmail users. It automatically included users’ e-mail
contacts in their Buzz network, setting off widespread criticism that Google had invaded the
privacy of users and failed to understand that people’s e-mail contacts are not necessarily
their friends.
Google quickly changed the service so it did not automatically connect people. In March,
Google settled with the Federal Trade Commission over charges of deceptive privacy
practices related to Buzz and agreed to 20 years of audits.
Mr. Gundotra and Mr. Horowitz, both of whom worked on Buzz, say they were chastened by
the experience. Google+ grew out of those mistakes, they said, because they realized how
much people care about controlling the information they share.
And unlike its approach with Buzz, which was tested only by Google employees before its
broad introduction to the public, Google is calling Google+ a project, as a way to emphasize
that it is not a final product. The company says it will undergo many changes to fix problems
and introduce features. Still, its new Web site, plus.google.com, is Google’s most fully formed
social networking tool yet.
Mr. Gundotra and Mr. Horowitz said they took pains to mimic people’s relationships in real
life and eliminate the social awkwardness that things like friend requests and oversharing
can generate on other sites.
Google+ users will start by selecting people they know from their Gmail contacts (and from
other services, once Google strikes deals with them). They can drag and drop friends’ names
into different groups, or circles, and give the circles titles, like “sisters” or “book club.” Then
they can share with these groups or with all of their friends.
Unlike on Facebook, people do not have to agree to be friends with one another. They can
receive someone’s updates without sharing their own.
Facebook has also recognized people’s desire to share with smaller groups, and last year
introduced Groups to make that possible. It has been one of Facebook’s fastest-growing
products, with users creating 50 million groups in the first six months, according to
Facebook.
“We’re in the early days of making the Web more social, and there are opportunities for
innovation everywhere,” a Facebook spokeswoman said in response to Google+.
When users visit their Google+ home page, they see three columns and a stream of status
updates in the middle that looks remarkably like Facebook. But Google said that besides an

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Google Introduces Facebook Competitor, Emphasizing Privacy - NYTimes.com

Page 4 of 4

easier way to share with select groups, Google+ has several other features that distinguish it
from competitors.
It offers group video chats, called Hangouts, that other members of a group can join as it is
happening. Users can search a section called Sparks to see articles and videos from across
the Web on certain topics, like recipes or ailments, and share them with relevant groups of
friends.
And on the Google+ mobile app for Android phones and iPhones, people can chat with
groups using a feature called Huddle. Photos and videos shot with cellphones are
automatically uploaded to a private album, so Google+ users can quickly view and post them
from their phones or later on a computer.
With these services, Google will compete with a host of start-ups, like Path for sharing with
small groups, SocialEyes for video chat, Flipboard for articles on certain topics and GroupMe
for group texting.
“The notion that online sharing is broken is not an insight that is unique to us,” Mr.
Horowitz said.
“We have a way to bring in millions of users in a way that is challenging for a start-up.”

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SOCIAL MEDIA
Google to
launch
Facebook
wannabe

Google to launch Facebook wannabe

GOOGLE
Google Doodle
marks first day
of spring

June 28, 2011 at 5:29 PM ET

Nidhi Subbaraman, TODAY

SOCIAL MEDIA
March
Madness:
White House
uses twerking,
cat GIFs to
promote
health care

SOCIAL MEDIA
Apple devotes
entire App
Store section
to selfies

Google is rolling out a new social networking site called Google Plus.
VIRAL
Run! Photo of
thrill seeker's
selfie video
while chased
by bulls goes
viral 

YOUR
GADGETS

Google Plus (or Google+) debuted last night to a limited, invite-only
audience. It's available today for the Android crowd, and should be
coming to Apple's App Store soon, Vic Gundotra, a Google senior VP
wrote on the Google Blog today.
Here's the run down on what you can expect when the service finally
opens up:

Toddlers love
selfies:
Parenting in an
iPhone age

http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/google-launch-facebook-wannabe-122546

3/20/2014

Page 2 of 5

PINTEREST

How we GIF
now: Pinterest
invaded by
hundreds of
moving
Cumberbatches

ON THE SHOW
Bethany Mota
is the YouTube
star you've
never heard of
(but your teen
has)

TECH
30 years ago
on TODAY:
Apple shows
off original
Macintosh
computer

ON THE SHOW
Quirky cover
imagines
Hillary Clinton
as a planet;
Internet reacts
as you'd expect

Google /

• Circles - The feature lets you group friends into "Circles," so you
can control what you tell each cluster. This is Google's way to let
Google+ users share info selectively, so that every post is not "a public
performance." 
• Hangouts - Facebook Chat got you IMing your pals in real time, but
Google+ takes this one step further, with live multi-user video
conferencing in what looks like a pretty elegant layout. A
Google+er sets their status to "Live," and chatty friends can click "Join
This Hangout" to get face to face.

CHECK-OUT
Paper or
email? Pros,
cons of digital
receipts

INTERNET
Internet
community
helps crack
grandma's
code

CREDIT-CARDFRAUD
Retailers want
banks to issue
‘smart’ credit
cards to fight
fraud

• Huddle - Group instant messaging! When your picnic's rained out, or
it's time to take the pub crawl to the next venue, this is your tool.
• Sparks - Starts out looking like a Google home page with a search bar,
but this feature actually connects you to people with common
interests. (Fellow food bloggers, say, or cat photographers.)

With Google+ on your mobile device, photos or videos (of your
cat) taken with the app should get saved directly to an album on your
Google+ account, ready to be shared (with your kitty-lover
friend Circle). Also, you should be able to add locations to your every
post, should you want to.

http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/google-launch-facebook-wannabe-122546

3/20/2014

Page 3 of 5

MUSIC
The ultimate
Spotify
workout
playlist, as
determined by
science

DIET & FITNESS
Fitbit Force
users report
skin rashes
from the
device

CELL-PHONE
Push is on to
get ‘kill switch’
into
smartphones 

CES 2014
Michael Bay
flames out on
stage during
Samsung
presentation at
CES

SOCIAL MEDIA
Ready, set,
selfie! How to
win the 'Selfie
Olympics'

TECHNOLOGY
Seventhgraders
sexting? It
might be more
common than
you think

There's no word yet about when Google will let everyone on
board the Google+ boat, but their website says it won't be long
now.
More on Google from msnbc.com:
• Google makes its move into social games
• Google adds 'Snitch' to help with Chrome security
• Google sets record with 1 billion unique visitors in May

Nidhi Subbaraman writes about technology and science at msnbc.com.
Find her on Twitter and join our conversation on Facebook.
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Page 4 of 5

TECH
Snapchat CEO:
'We thought
we had done
enough' to
prevent hack

Google Doodle marks first day of
spring
Keith Wagstaff, NBC News
17

hours ago

Google

Spring, technically, is here. While it’s still snowing in parts of the
Midwest, in Mountain View, Calif., home of Google, it’s expected to
reach a balmy 71 degrees on Thursday. 
Maybe that is why the character in the latest Google Doodle looks so
happy. In a short, animated sequence, he waters colorful plants,
marking the spring equinox.
So why does the spring equinox, or vernal equinox, mark the first
day of spring? Because the Earth’s axis points neither towards nor
away from the sun – meaning that Thursday is the closest that
people in the Northern Hemisphere are going to get to having an
equal number of hours in the night and day.

http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/google-launch-facebook-wannabe-122546

3/20/2014

Page 5 of 5

After that, the Earth’s axis will tilt towards the sun. The result:
warmer weather and the end of a winter which brought all-time
record low March temperatures to 18 states. 
If you are still wearing a jacket, have a little hope. Spring as climate
scientists define it — the last frost of the season — might come even
to frigid areas of the United States as early as next week.
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http://www.cnn.com/2011/TECH/social.media/06/28/google.plus/

How Google+ compares to Facebook
By Mark Milian , CNN
June 28, 2011 10:22 p.m. EDT | Filed under: Social Media

CNN.com

(CNN) -- With Tuesday's debut of Google+, a new social network, comparisons to Facebook are
inevitable, and immediate.
CNN.com has yet to demo the service, which lets users gather and organize contacts through such
Google products as Gmail and Picasa.
But based on what Google has posted about it online, here are some initial impressions.
Punch for punch, Google+ reproduces some of Facebook's most popular tools but adds one distinctive
function: video chat.
Google refers to the video service as Hangouts. Several friends can join a room, and the live feeds from
their webcams appear as separate blocks along the bottom of the window. The main video box shows the
person who's speaking the loudest at any given time. Hangouts can also integrate with Google's
YouTube.
By contrast, Facebook hasn't made video conferencing available on its website. But the social networking
giant has a close relationship with Microsoft, which acquired Skype last month. Recent versions of the
Skype desktop software tie into Facebook's services.
With Hangouts, Google+ has at least one technological advantage over Facebook. But Google's apparent
ambition is not to unseat Facebook right away. Google has set up barriers to fast adoption, as it has done
with some of its other products, by only allowing people who have been invited by friends to use Google+.
How tech bloggers are reacting to Google+
When crafting a service to take on Facebook, Google was wise not to ignore what that popular network,
with its more than 600 million users, already does well.
Google+ has photo sharing, which places a large emphasis on smartphone usage. For example, photos
taken from an Android phone can be automatically dumped into a private folder in the Google+ Web
service, a la Apple's iCloud.
The Circles section in Google+ is like Facebook's friend lists. Each user can organize friends into
categories and limit which group sees which parts of his profile. With Circles, users can more quickly send
certain messages to a particular crew, such as siblings or frat buddies, that they wouldn't want to share
with their entire list of contacts.
A Google+ group-messaging feature, similar to Facebook's newer Messages and Groups products, is
called Huddle.
The +1 button, which was previously made available as an optional program for Google account holders,
ties this all together, not unlike Facebook's "Like" button. Clicking +1 on Google search results, embedded
Page 1 of 2

Mar 20, 2014 04:24:25PM MDT

http://www.cnn.com/2011/TECH/social.media/06/28/google.plus/

on other sites or from within Google+ pages, allows you to share links with friends or selectively with
groups of friends.
Unsurprisingly, Google has tapped its prowess in Web search for a section called Sparks. It's like Google
Alerts, for receiving updates on favorite topics. Facebook's search engine is Microsoft's Bing, but users of
that site can't subscribe to updates in this way.
The video conferencing ability may be Google's sharpest edge over Facebook's current product. However,
video chat alone likely won't spark a mass exodus from Facebook.
Google appears to be rejecting the idea that Google+ is meant to take Facebook head on. Google says its
service is for more tight-knit groups, rather than for all types of online interactions.
"The problem is that today's online services turn friendship into fast food -- wrapping everyone in 'friend'
paper," Google executive Vic Gundotra writes in a blog post. "We'd like to bring the nuance and richness
of real-life sharing to software."
Eric Schmidt, Google's executive chairman and former CEO, took a more directed swipe at Facebook last
month. At a technology conference, he described the service as catering to "every friend you've ever had,
including the ones you can't quite remember."
Google suggests that it has plenty more to show. The company repeatedly refers to Google+ as a
"project," indicating it will change over time.
"This is just the beginning," Google said Tuesday. "We're just getting warmed up, and we're already pretty
excited about what's coming next."

© 2014 Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Page 2 of 2

Mar 20, 2014 04:24:25PM MDT

3/20/2014

Social Wars! Google Unveils Facebook Competitor Google+ | Fox News

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Social Wars! Google Unveils Facebook Competitor Google+
Published June 28, 2011 | FoxNews.com

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Has Google just launched its most ambitious project yet?
After years of rumors and hints, Google Tuesday launched a trial of its Facebook competitor, a social network called The
Google+ Project.
And the company clearly isn't shy about it.
In a blog post announcing the launch of The Google+ Project, Vic Gundotra, senior vice president of Engineering for the
company, argued that the subtlety of real world interactions are lost online due to the rigidity of today's tools. Google, he said,
could succeed where other services have failed.
"Online sharing is awkward. Even broken. And we aim to fix it," Gundotra said. The service launched in a limited beta Tuesday
afternoon. And getting it live was a massive, lengthy struggle, explained Wired's Steven Levy.
"Developed under the codename Emerald Sea, it is a result of a lengthy and urgent effort involving almost all of the company’s
products," Levy wrote. "Hundreds of engineers were involved in the effort. It has been a key focus for new CEO Larry Page."
To set Google+ apart from Facebook, which some recent reports have pegged at 750 million users, Google is claiming to have a
better approach to privacy, taking on the hot-button issue that has burned both companies before.
"For us, privacy isn't buried six panels deep," Google vice president of product management Bradley Horowitz told Reuters.
Google's social network revolves around Circles -- long rumored to be the project's name -- which helps you segment the people
you know into, well, circles: friends, family, coworkers and so on. Create as many as you want, and then drag a picture of a
person into one of them to add them.
"Not all relationships are created equal," Gundotra said, adding a not-so-subtle dig at Facebook: "Today’s online services turn
friendship into fast food -- wrapping everyone in “friend” paper -- and sharing really suffers."
The Google+ service consists of several linked components: a continuous news feed similar to Facebook's called “the Stream”
and a second, related component called “Sparks” that reveals posts related to one’s specified interests.
Other elements of the new service include Hangouts, a video chat; Huddle, for group chats; and Sparks, a personalized
recommendation service. Once logged into the Google network, nearly all Google sites will feature a special toolbar that runs
across the top of the page, reminding you that you're logged into Google+.
But will it be enough to get those hundreds of millions to switch? Gundotra told Reuters that wasn't necessarily the goal.
"People today use multiple tools. I think what we're offering here offers some very distinct advantages around some basic needs,"
he said.
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Google Takes On Facebook With New Social-Networking Service - Businessweek

Page 1 of 3

Bloomberg Businessweek

News From Bloomberg

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-06-28/google-takes-on-facebook-with-new-social-networking-service.html

Google Takes On Facebook With New
Social-Networking Service
By Brian WomackJune 28, 2011
(Updates with analyst’s comment in third paragraph.)
June 28 (Bloomberg) -- Google Inc., the world’s biggest Internet-search company, is making a fresh
attempt at social networking with a service to compete with Facebook Inc.’s site.
The service, called Google+, looks similar to Facebook, with streaming updates of photos, messages,
comments and other content from selected groups of friends, said Bradley Horowitz, vice president,
product management. The service, which will integrate with Google’s maps and images, seeks to help
people organize social contacts easily within groups of friends.
“Instead of coming directly at Facebook, which would be suicidal, I think they’ve recognized that
they have to grow out from a niche -- and the niche here is people who want to be connected with a
specific circle or a specific group,” Josh Bernoff, an analyst with Cambridge, Massachusetts-based
Forrester Research Inc. “In that context this has a chance to be a small success.”
As Internet users spend more time on social-networking sites, Google is releasing new social features
to lure Web surfers to its own services and expand advertising sales. Facebook, the world’s most
popular social network, captured 13 percent of total hours people spent online in May, while Google
attracted 10 percent, according to ComScore Inc.
‘Changing Quality’
“It’s something that is changing the quality of Google itself,” Horowitz said of the push into social
networks. “It’s the Google you know and love, but now with people.”
Chief Executive Officer Larry Page is starting Google+ after missteps last year with the introduction
of a social component to Gmail called Buzz. In March, Google reached a settlement with the U.S.
Federal Trade Commission to resolve concerns it violated its own privacy policies.
Google also made an earlier foray in social networking with its Orkut site, started in 2004. While the
service made inroads emerging markets such as Brazil, it hasn’t matched the growth of Facebook
globally.

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Google Takes On Facebook With New Social-Networking Service - Businessweek

Page 2 of 3

Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt, CEO for a decade before Page assumed the role, said earlier this
month that he “screwed up” in the area of social networking. “I clearly knew I had to do something
and I failed to do it,” he said.
‘Getting Started’
The new service will initially be available to only a limited set of users. The company has been testing
Google+ internally and is now ready to gradually open up what it calls a “project” to the general
public.
“This is a project that will span many years,” Horowitz said. “This is not something where we’re
done. On the contrary -- we’re just getting started, laying some of the foundation and then many
features will evolve.”
With Google+, users easily share information based on the circle of friends they think would most
like to see a photo or read a message, such as immediate family or people who like a certain hobby or
sports team. Once users sign up, they have a profile page with security settings that let them share or
hide personal information, such as education or job descriptions. Contacts are suggested based on user
e-mail accounts.
“What Google is doing is leveraging the fact that you have a lot of contacts in your e-mail; the biggest
network you have is your address book,” said Charlene Li, founding partner and technology analyst at
the Altimeter Group in San Mateo, California. “Friend management, contact management, has always
been an issue when it comes to Facebook.”
Sparks, Hangouts
Other Google+ features include Sparks, which gathers videos and articles on topics of interests or
hobbies, and Hangouts, which lets friends join video chat with multiple people at once. There is also a
mobile version of Google+ for handsets running the Android software, and the company seeking
approval from Apple Inc. to introduce a service for the iPhone. The mobile version enables textmessage chats with multiple users and, with an opt-in, photos and videos are automatically stored in
an online album for later access.
Shares of Google, based in Mountain View, California, rose $10.85, or 2.3 percent, to $493.65 at 4
p.m. New York time on the Nasdaq Stock Market. The shares have fallen 17 percent this year.
Access to the social service will be on a tool bar that runs across the top of some Google products,
including maps and images.
“We already have users,” Horowitz said. “This isn’t a startup that’s trying to acquire users. The users
are here already. It’s just that the experience we’ve offered them is incoherent and disconnected.”
--With assistance from Douglas MacMillan in San Francisco. Editors: Lisa Rapaport, Nick Turner
To contact the reporter on this story: Brian Womack in San Francisco at [e-mail]
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Tom Giles at [e-mail]

http://www.businessweek.com/printer/articles/111492?type=bloomberg

3/20/2014

3/20/2014

Google goes after Facebook with Google+

Google goes after Facebook with Google+
After months of rumors, Google takes the wraps off its own social network
Sharon Gaudin

June 28, 2011 (Computerworld)
After months of speculation, Google has launched a social network to rival Facebook.
Google today unveiled its Google+ project, a social networking service that looks and functions
very much like Facebook. The two Internet giants have been increasingly competitive, and with
today's announcement, Google is taking a giant step directly onto Facebook's market.
"Among the most basic of human needs is the need to connect with others," wrote Vic Gundotra,
Google's senior vice president of engineering, in a blog post. "Today, the connections between
people increasingly happen online. Yet the subtlety and substance of real-world interactions are
lost in the rigidness of our online tools. In this basic, human way, online sharing is awkward. Even
broken. And we aim to fix it."
Google's new service, which now is only available to a small group of users and invitees, is
designed to enable people to post status updates, share links and upload photos.
However, what Google hopes will set its social network apart from Facebook and the smaller
social networking services is that Google+ is set up to allow users to communicate within separate
groups of their online friends. Instead of posting an update that goes out to everyone, Google+
enables users to create "circles" or groups, such as a user's poker buddies, college friends, work
colleagues and family members.
Now a user can communicate separately with each group.
"The "circles" idea makes a lot of sense," said Ezra Gottheil, an analyst at Technology Business
Research. "It's smart, and while you can do something similar in Facebook, it's not Facebook's
main thing. It's not as easy to do."
But it remains to be seen whether this feature will be enough to convince Facebook users -- many
of whom are already tied in with sometimes hundreds of people on Facebook -- to use a second
social network or even toss aside the über-popular Facebook in favor a brand new service that
not many people are using.
Bloggers and pundits have long talked about whether Google would come out with a Facebook
killer, but that is one tall order.
The one certainty is that Google is facing an uphill battle in taking on Facebook. While the social
network has officially said that it has more than 500 million users, other sources recently have
reported that the number now is more than 750 million.
But Google has accepted the challenge.
With Google+, the company is giving users a way to get a rolling scroll of content from across the
Internet on any topic of they're interested in. Really into fashion, gardening or restoring old cars?
Google+ will stream a feed of content into your page so you can stay up to date on your favorite
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Google goes after Facebook with Google+

topics.
And with a feature called "Hangouts," Google+ enables users to meet up with their friends online,
using multiperson video.
Want to share the photos on your smartphone but don't want the hassle of uploading them? With
the user's permission, Google+ will take the photos you've snapped with your phone and store
them in the cloud so you can easily move them onto any of your devices.
"We realize that Google+ is a different kind of project, requiring a different kind of focus -- on
you," Gundotra wrote. "That's why we're giving you more ways to stay private or go public; more
meaningful choices around your friends and your data."
Sharon Gaudin covers the Internet and Web 2.0, emerging technologies, and desktop and
laptop chips for Computerworld. Follow Sharon on Twitter at @sgaudin, or subscribe to
Sharon's RSS feed . Her email address is [e-mail].

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New Social Network Google Goes for Facebook's Throat | Scott Steinberg | Rolling Stone

Page 1 of 1

New Social Network Google+ Goes for
Facebook's Throat
Gear Up
by SCOTT STEINBERG
JUNE 28, 2011

Online search giant Google has announced new social network Google+, which takes clear aim at
Facebook’s growing Internet empire.
Allowing small groups of friends to share streaming status updates, comments, photos and links, as
well as send text messages and video chat, the service hopes to limit online interactions to conversation
with trusted sources. Looking to provide greater security than Facebook, which shares news updates,
snapshots and videos with large groups of acquaintances or the general public, Google+ aims to confine
actions’ visibility to a smaller circle of friends.
Groups can be created based on relationships, hobbies or shared interests, making the service more
conducive for book clubs, baking circles, families and those with shared interests, e.g. obsessive
Morrissey fans. Sign up, and you receive a custom user profile that offers the option to share or hide or
personal information such as birthdates and locations. Support for Google maps and images as well as
importing Gmail contacts will also be integrated, as will options to skim Web articles and videos on
varying topics via a feature called Sparks. A Hangouts group video chat option will additionally allow
friends to simultaneously videoconference with multiple parties. Accessible via a toolbar that appears
on all Google sites, Google+ will also be offered on Android or iPhone smartphones, which can upload
pictures and video to online albums.
Offering a running stream of news updates and multimedia, the service hopes to offset Facebook’s
growing ubiquity and dominance of users’ time. Coming on the heels of high-profile disappointments
such as Buzz and Orkut, and coupled with the recent rollout of a +1 button (designed to counteract
omnipresent Facebook Like features), Google hopes to reverse its social media fortunes. As social
networking continues to explode and its features and influence sprawl across individual websites,
services like Google+ are part of a larger plan by the Internet search leader to regain relevance and
interest. By integrating more social network features into its products, Google+ may help the firm hold
viewers’ attention longer, provide more discoverable goodies of relevance and increasingly keep you
preoccupied by its sphere of influence.
Available to select users for testing, access to Google+ is currently by invitation only.
http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/blogs/gear-up/new-social-network-google-goes-for-facebooks-throat-20110628

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http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2387755,00.asp

Google Targets Facebook With Google+
By Chloe Albanesius
ARTICLE DATE : June 28, 2011

pcmag.com

Google on Tuesday took another leap into the social space with Google+, which aims to connect people
via specific friendship circles, interests, location, and more.
Google+, which is currently operating via a "field trial," has four main components: Circles, Sparks,
Hangouts, and Mobile.
"We'd like to bring the nuance and richness of real-life sharing to software. We want to make Google
better by including you, your relationships, and your interests. And so begins the Google+ project,"
Google said in a blog post.
Google+ begins with Circles, which helps compartmentalize all the people in your life. Google took a
swipe at Facebook, arguing that putting everyone under the "friends" label hurts the ability to share. It
becomes sloppy, scary, and insensitive, the search giant said.
Check out our Google+ Review
Related
Story

"From close family to foodies, we found that people already use real-life circles to express
themselves, and to share with precisely the right folks. So we did the only thing that made sense: we
brought Circles to software," Google said. "Just make a circle, add your people, and share what's
new—just like any other day."
Now that you have your friends sorted into Circles, what are you going to talk about? With Sparks, the
idea is to connect with people on topics that interest you both. "It's still too hard to find and share the
things we care about—not without lots of work, and lots of noise," Google said.
The company promised a "feed of highly contagious content from across the Internet" so you'll always
have something to watch, read, or share "with just the right circle of friends."
What if you're not sure what you want to chat about? Hangouts, a video-chat option, basically lets people
know that you're available and ready to talk. Google argued that traditional instant message or chat
services are annoying and awkward: you're inevitably interrupting someone and if they don't respond, are
they not there or just ignoring you?
"By combining the casual meetup with live multi-person video, Hangouts lets you stop by when you're
free, and spend time with your Circles. Face-to-face-to-face," Google said.
Given the popularity of Android, meanwhile, it's not surprising Google+ includes a mobile component.
Despite the recent uproar over location-based services, Google+ will allow you to add your location to
every post (or not) to create more relevant conversations.
Taking a queue from iCloud, meanwhile, Instant Upload will add camera phone snaps "to a private album
in the cloud" as you take pictures, provided you give the OK. "Pictures are meant to be shared, not

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http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2387755,00.asp

stranded," Google said.
Meanwhile, Google+ also includes a group messaging option known as Huddle.
Google is currently testing the project with a small number of people, but you can sign up to be notified
when it opens to a larger group. The company said Google+ is also available today on the Android
Market and mobile Web, and is coming to the Apple App Store soon.
The announcement comes the same week that Google opened up its +1 sharing button globally. The
feature lets you recommend certain Web sites with the click of a button, much like you might "like"
something on Facebook.
Google, of course, has not had the best of luck with its social efforts. In March, the Federal Trade
Commission announced a settlement with Google regarding its Buzz social-networking service that
requires the search giant to develop a comprehensive privacy program and submit to regular audits of its
privacy policies. Specifically, Google will be subject to independent privacy audits every two years for the
next 20 years. The company is also banned from misrepresenting the privacy of its customers' data, and
must obtain consent before sharing user information with third parties.
Google Wave, meanwhile, which allowed users to share images and other media in real time, was killed
off in August 2010, about a year after its debut.
In recent months, Google has insisted that it will not launch a separate social network to compete with
the likes of Facebook, but instead integrate social components into existing products. Stay tuned for
PCMag's hands-on with Google+ to see if that is still the case.
For more from Chloe, follow her on Twitter @ChloeAlbanesius.
For the top stories in tech, follow us on Twitter at @PCMag.
Copyright (c) 2014 Ziff Davis Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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Google's Facebook Competitor, The Google+ Social Network, Finally Arrives

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Also on Marketing Land:Social·
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Strategy

Google’s Facebook Competitor, The Google+ Social
Network, Finally Arrives
Jun 28, 2011 at 1:12pm ET by Danny Sullivan

Google’s long expected second shot at taking on Facebook in the social
networking space has arrived in the form of the Google+ Project. It has some interesting twists on the social networking
model but is far from a Facebook-killer.

That Name
The terrible name is a bad start. Google+? Google+! I can’t even question or exclaim about the bad name without it looking
bad in writing.
Pronounced “Google Plus,” the product is officially written as Google+ — making placing any punctuation after the name
fairly awkward.
Seriously, I’m cursing whoever made the final decision to go with Google+ as a name. Wasn’t the Google +1 sharing
service bad enough?
Now we have Google+, which in turn allows you to +1 things that you’ve Google+’d. My head hurts from writing that.

In this article, I’ll generally stick with the Google+ name except where Google Plus is more legible, due to punctuation.

The Google+ Project
What about the product itself? Google dubs Google+ as a “project” rather than a product, stressing it’s part of making Google
itself more social rather than being a standalone social network to take on Facebook.
“It’s ‘Plus’ because it takes products from Google and makes them better and ‘project’ because it’s an ongoing set of
products,” said Vic Gundotra, the senior vice president who oversees Google’s social products.
But is it Facebook competitor, I asked in a follow-up question. Google emailed back:
No. We realize that today people are increasingly connecting with one another on the web. But the ways in
which we connect online are limited and don’t mimic our real-life relationships. The Google+ project is our
attempt to make online sharing even better. We aren’t trying to replace what’s currently available, we just
want to introduce a new way to connect online with the people that matter to you.
OK, but as the saying goes, if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it’s probably a duck. And Google+ looks like and
quacks like Facebook in several ways.

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Circles
Most important, Google+ is a social network of your friends, family and other contacts, a way to connect to these people, just
like Facebook.
Unlike Facebook, Google+ is built from the ground up around the concept of sharing material with groups of people, called
“Circles.” Here’s an example of how they look:

The idea is that you can easily drag-and-drop people into different types of Circles, which you can then use for sharing
different types of things.
For example, you can create a “Family” circle where you might chose to share things only with family members in it, while
another “Work” circle might contain work colleagues who only see what you share to that.

Google+ Circles Vs Facebook Lists & Groups
While Facebook might not have been built from the beginning with a Circles-like sharing concept, Facebook does currently
have two features that are similar: Friend Lists & Groups.
Added in December 2007, Friend Lists allow you to share some of your Facebook information with specific groups of
friends (or other selected contacts) that you create. They’re also supposed to allow you to group message people in a list,
though I couldn’t get this to work, when I tested it today.

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Friend Lists don’t allow for selective sharing. But the updated Facebook Groups feature that came out last October does
provide this, a way to share what you want with whom you want.
How does Circles weight up against these? I can’t say first hand. The Google+ product wasn’t live for me to test when I
wrote this (our hands-on review will come later today).
Friend Lists are nice in that if you pick one person, such as below where I selected Facebook communications chief Elliott
Schrage, you get relevant suggestions that appear (other Facebook execs who’ve friended me on Facebook):

But that list can’t be used, as best I can tell, to start an associated group to share just to these people. Instead, when I tested
today, I was still forced to make a group, then pick people individually to add to that.
So, the drag-and-drop interface of Circles looks appealing. Then again, if you have hundreds of “friends,” it still might turn
into too much organization. Maybe people will use it to create some select groups that they really want (family, close friends,
those in a club, etc.). But if it turns into a wonderful tool, it’s hard to imagine that Facebook couldn’t easily match it.

Who’s In Your Circle?

There’s no limit to the number of circles you can create. But where do the people come from who will
be in your circles?
First, any contacts you’ve stored through the Google Contacts service will be available. If you have no contacts, you can
import them through the CSV format, which many contact services will export out to.
Google also said that it is looking into ways to directly important contacts from Yahoo and Microsoft. Facebook wasn’t
mentioned.
That’s not surprising. Facebook hasn’t allowed the export of friends’ email addresses, except to … Yahoo and Microsoft. The
stories below explains more about this:
• Facebook: You’ve No Right To Export Email Addresses (Unless It’s To Yahoo & Microsoft)
• Facebook Messages: Export Of Facebook.com Addresses OK
What’s all this mean in practical terms? Everyone in Google+ will effectively be starting from scratch.
If you already use things like Gmail, you probably have Google Contacts that give you email addresses of your social
network. If you don’t, you can import — and Yahoo and Microsoft may serve as go-betweens to help you bring information
from Facebook into Google Plus.

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From Email To Virtual Person

The bigger issue is that your contacts — be that from within Google or imported from Facebook —
are basically just email addresses. The won’t have any social connection information with them.
Google Contacts won’t know that a particular person whose email address you have is friends with other people you know. A
Facebook import won’t turn email addresses gathered from there into links with other people who use Facebook.
Instead, what will really jump start Google+ is if a significant number of people come into the system and start claiming
profiles within it, effectively turning those email addresses into virtual people who have connections within Google Plus.
That’s a big if. If you’re already happy using Facebook, you may have no more incentive to use Google’s new social network
than someone already happy using Google has to switch over to Bing. What you’re using is doing the job just fine.

Buzz Off Google Buzz
When people do get into the system, that does open up another way to add contacts. You’ll be able to search through other
members who have registered.
But here’s the crazy thing. Those connections you may have already formed using Google Buzz? Remember, Google’s last
attempt to take on Facebook from February 2010? None of that is being used for Google Plus. The two products are being
kept completely separate.
I suspect Google’s trying to be as cautious as possible, in the wake of its settlement with the US Federal Trade Commission
(see Google Settles FTC Charges Over Buzz, Agrees To 20 Years Of Privacy Audits). Buzz seems tainted, so keeping
Google+ isolated from that may be deemed the most prudent course.
And what’s the future for Buzz, with Google+ coming out? Google told me in a follow-up email:
The short answer is it won’t have any major impact on Buzz at launch. Buzz users will still see a Buzz tab on
their Google profile, and Buzz will continue working as it always has. Google+ users can also be Buzz users
or can decide to just share their content using one of the products. Over time, we’ll determine what makes the
most sense in terms of integrating the products.

Google+ Stream
Now let’s talk about how you see what’s being shared by those in your network, as well as what you can specifically share.

Information appears in your “Stream,” which is akin to Facebook’s news feed. At the top of your stream is a sharing box.
Actually, two sharing boxes:

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In the new black navigation bar that began showing up for some people this week, there’s a “Share” area to the right side.
That bar, by the way, has been dubbed the “One Google” bar, Google told me. No matter where you are on Google, you’ll
have the ability to share something out to Google Plus.
In the Stream itself, there’s a longer box, where you can enter a status update or use icons to upload and share photo and
videos. You can also share links or your location, if you’ve allowed Google to track that for you. On mobile devices, you can
select from a drop-down of nearby places to check-in.
The check-in feature also raises questions about Google Latitude — does it get absorbed into Google+ eventually? What
about HotPot?
What do you see from others? Here’s an example:

In this screenshot, the person is viewing what’s been shared only by people in their “Bike Geeks” groups, as highlighted on
the left side. By selecting another circle that’s listed, they would see only information being shared by that group.

Friends, Followers & Off-Network Friends
As with Twitter (or with Facebook, when it comes to fan pages), it’s possible with Google+ to follow other people on the
network, even if they don’t reciprocate and follow you or friend you back.
Google says that if you follow someone this way, you’ll only see what they choose to share with everyone publicly. If they
share some things more restrictively, with particular circles, for example, those outside of those circles won’t see that.
Somewhat related, you can be friends with people who aren’t formally part of Google Plus. If they’re an email-only contact
and never formally join the service, you can still add them to circles and share with them.
When you do this, they’ll apparently be sent an email with whatever you wanted to share, a picture, an update and so on.
The downside is that if they’re not on Google Plus, they’ll get a notification anytime you share anything. So if you’re a big
sharer, potentially you might hit some of your friends with a lot of email.

Where’s +1?

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In the stream example above, there was a +1 button at the bottom of the photo. Yes, anything you
like within Google+ can be +1′d, in the way that anything you like on Facebook can be liked with Facebook Like buttons.
If you do that, do your friends on Google+ see that action, in the way that friends on Facebook may see what you like? Nope.
Not to my understanding,
Further more, all those Google +1 buttons that are now starting to appear on Google search worldwide? Those Google +1
buttons that publishers have diligently been adding to their sites since they were released earlier this month? Nothing from
those button clicks flows back into Google Plus.
It’s crazy. It makes no sense. It’s as if Facebook launched its Like buttons but forgot to hook them up to flow information
back into Facebook.
Right now, it remains the case that if you want to see what someone has +1′d, then you have to remember to go to their
Google Profile page on a regular basis, then hope they’ve enabled the +1 tab on that profile, then rinse and repeat for other
people.
Google told me that it would be “logical” to see +1 flow into Google+ and that “one could guess eventually” it will happen.
So, I’m pretty sure we will see this happen. But when it will launch is unclear, and it really feels like an incredible mistake
that it’s not part of the launch.

Google Sparks: Tips On What To Share
Time for more features. What if you started a social network and no one knew what to share? That’s a problem that Google
Sparks is intended to solve.
Think of it like Google Alerts made to flow into Google Plus. Google Sparks lets you follow topics of interest:

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You can browse suggestions or set up your own keyword-based searches. Then when you select a “Sparks” link, you’ll get a
feed of search results that you might wish to share. Here’s an example of what Sparks might show for a fashion topic:

The relevancy is supposed to be tweaked to find especially sharable content that people are already clicking on, things that
are very visual with photo and pictures.
I got a brief demo trying two searches, and the results didn’t thrill me. They were OK, but they didn’t feel particularly
shareable. Still, the feature will probably be useful to some, and I can’t really assess the relevancy either way on such limited
testing.

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Hangouts: Group Video Chat
Google seems to be hanging most of its hopes that Google+ will attract people from Facebook on two main features, I’d say.
One is the aforementioned Circles sharing feature. The other is the Hangout video chat feature.
With Hangouts, up to 10 people at a time can all interact through video:

The demo I saw of the system was compelling. As one participant spoke, the main image automatically changed to that
person. You can also play video that everyone watches.
Gundotra spent some time talking with me about how Google has examined the social dynamics of video chat, to get people
more comfortable participating. The key is to get several people all involved casually, rather than to barge in with a solitary
invite.
He used a “talking to your neighbor” analogy to explain more. You’re probably are hesitant to knock a neighbor’s door and
disturb them just because you want to talk. But if you saw them outside on their porch, Gundotra said, you’d probably feel
better saying “Hi” when passing by. If two neighbors were sitting and talking, you’d probably feel rude not also stopping and
chatting.
Hence the Hangouts name. When someone launches a Hangout, this shows up on the feed that goes out to their friends. As
more people join, the notifications get updated to show the number participating. As that number rises, Google says even
more people are compelled to take part.
The party ends at 10, however. No more can participate for scale reasons and also because the group dynamics get too hard,
Gundotra said. If someone leaves, others can come in.
The puzzling thing to me is that Google’s not made it possible for anyone to stream the chat out to non-participants. If you
have a group of friends, and not all can take part at once, others might be interested just to listen in.
Beyond that, Hangouts seems like a pretty awesome tool for those who wanted to record video shows. But there’s no way to
save what happens.

Huddle: Group Text Chat

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Somewhat related to Hangouts is Huddle, a group text chat service. I can’t really tell you more than that. Google didn’t cover
this during my talk with them about Google Plus last week, so I’ve only got a screenshot for you and a promise will cover it
more in our coming hands-on piece:

Huddle is for Android 2.0+ phones, iPhone 4.0+ phones and SMS, Google tells me.

Instant Upload

The last major feature of Google+ is called “Instant
Upload.”
For those with Android phones, you can have any picture you take be uploaded to a centralized — and private — photo
album area.
Google tells me they hope to bring it to other phones, as well.

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Getting Google+
Want to try the service? Right now, it’s strictly invite only. Some press are being allowed in, along with others that Google
hand picks. There’s no ETA on when wider invites will be available.
Unusually, this isn’t being called a beta test or an experiment but rather a “field trial” that’s meant to finally gather some
feedback from outside Google itself.
The limited test is probably wise. It’ll give Google more time to discover things it might not have anticipated being problems,
as was the case with Buzz.
As for a wider release, and possible success, it’s anyone’s guess. As I said earlier, if you’re happy using Facebook, there
seems relatively little to make you want to switch over to Google Plus, at the moment.
Perhaps with further Google +1 integration, that might change. Perhaps if there are people who want a Facebook alternative,
Google’s now got a core to build on for them. At least the guessing about what Google might be doing is over.

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Meet +1: Google’s Answer To The Facebook Like Button
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A Portrait Of Who Uses Social Networks In The US (And How Social Media Affects Our Lives

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First Look: “Hands On” With Google+
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Related Topics: Channel: SEO | Features: General | Google: +1 | Google: Google+ | Google: Social Search | Top News
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About The Author: Danny Sullivan is a Founding Editor of Search Engine Land. He’s a widely cited authority on search
engines and search marketing issues who has covered the space since 1996. Danny also serves as Chief Content Officer for
Third Door Media, which publishes Search Engine Land and produces the SMX: Search Marketing Expo conference
series. He has a personal blog called Daggle (and keeps his disclosures page there). He can be found on Facebook, Google
+ and microblogs on Twitter as @dannysullivan. See more articles by Danny Sullivan
Connect with the author via:Email | Twitter | Google+ | LinkedIn

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3/20/2014

Google resets social agenda with Google+ | The Digital Home - CNET News

CNET News

Google resets social agenda with
Google+
Launching a small "field trial," the Web giant circles its way back
toward the social sphere with its Google+ project. Can this win the
friends that Buzz failed to gather?
by Don Reisinger | June 28, 2011 11:29 AM PDT

Google+ has sev eral features.
(Credit: Screenshot by Don Reisinger/CNET)
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13506_3-20075124-17/google-resets-social-agenda-with-google/

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Google resets social agenda with Google+ | The Digital Home - CNET News

Google is taking another stab at the social space with a new service, called Google+
[http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/06/introducing-google-projectreal-life.html] .
For now, Google is quick to call Google+ [https://plus.google.com] a "project," and
acknowledged that the social service still has "rough edges." However, it currently has a
host of features to help people communicate over the Web with friends and family.
Google+ is designed around "Circles" that allow users to group people within their social
sphere into different categories. Google says that the people you tend to meet up with
on Saturday nights, for example, can be grouped into their own category, while parents
can be placed into another. You can then decide to share only certain information with
different Circles.
In addition, the social service includes a feature called Hangouts that lets you find others
who are "hanging out" on the Web. If you decide to join a given hangout, you'll be able to
engage in a video chat with the others there. Google+ also comes with an Instant Upload
option that automatically uploads all photos and videos from your phone to your profile.
From there, you can decide who to share that content with.

Google+ features a Circles option to place different friends in unique groups.
(Credit: Screenshot by Don Reisinger/CNET)

A Sparks feature in Google+ lets users input interests and then receive "something cool"
related to the specific topic, including news, videos, and other content. The service's
Huddle option allows for group chatting on mobile devices.
Though Google acknowledged that its social service is currently in a "field trial period,"
comparisons are already being drawn to the company's past attempts to build a top
social network.
Related links:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13506_3-20075124-17/google-resets-social-agenda-with-google/

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3/20/2014

Google resets social agenda with Google+ | The Digital Home - CNET News

• Why you're a pawn in Facebook vs. Google [http://news.cnet.com/830130684_3-20022411-265.html]
• Facebook planning IPO on $100 billion valuation?
[http://news.cnet.com/8301-13506_3-20070877-17/facebook-planningipo-on-$100-billion-valuation/]
• CBS MoneyWatch: Facebook value 'plummets' to $70 billion
[http://moneywatch.bnet.com/investing/blog/investmentinsights/facebook-value-plummets-to-70-billion/1432/]
• Facebook's antisocial PR pitch against Google
[http://news.cnet.com/8301-13506_3-20062192-17.html]
• CBS News: Google kool-aid infiltrates the Googleplex
[http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-501465_162-20075188-501465.html]
Google's first major foray into the social networking world came byway of Orkut, a
service that has seen some success outside the States, but has largely been ignored by
U.S. users.
Last year, Google tried its luck again [http://news.cnet.com/8301-30684_310449662-265.html] with the launch of its Buzz social network. Upon its launch, Buzz
came under fire from users who criticized the service
[http://news.cnet.com/8301-31322_3-10451428-256.html] for violating their
privacy by automatically making some of their contacts public. The company quickly
scrambled to address the problem, but it didn't make much of a difference: like Orkut,
Buzz has been unable to compete with Facebook.
Mano a mano with Facebook
Even so, it's becoming clearer that both Google and Facebook see each other as threats.
Google is an online-advertising juggernaut, easily outpacing all others in that market.
However, as Facebook's user base continues to grow--most estimates suggest the
company has more than 600 million active users--advertisers are warming to the idea
of promoting their brands on the social network.
In fact, research firm eMarketer reported earlier this year
[http://news.cnet.com/8301-13506_3-20029292-17.html] that Facebook
generated $1.86 billion in advertising revenue in 2010. This year, the company expects
Facebook to make $4 billion in advertising revenue. In 2012, its advertising revenue
could reach $5.7 billion, the company said.
Aside from Google's advertising business, Facebook has also taken aim at the search
giant's social strategy.
In May, public relations firm Burson-Marsteller revealed that Facebook had hired it to
initiate a campaign against Google's Social Circle feature
[http://news.cnet.com/8301-13506_3-20062192-17.html] , which lets users
see publicly available information on those they're connected with in Google Chat and
Contacts. On Facebook's behalf, the PR firm said that Google was "cataloging and
broadcasting" the personal information of users in Social Circle "without their
permission."
Though Facebook's involvement was initially kept secret, the company told CNET in
May that it stood by its decision to launch a PR campaign against Google.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13506_3-20075124-17/google-resets-social-agenda-with-google/

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Google resets social agenda with Google+ | The Digital Home - CNET News

"You and your readers can look at the feature and decide if they have approved of this
collection and use of information by clicking here
[http://www.google.com/s2/search/social] when their Google account is open,"
a Facebook spokesperson said in an e-mailed statement to CNET. "Of course, people
who do not have Gmail accounts are still included in this collection but they have no way
to view or control it."
For its part, Google didn't comment on Facebook's campaign. But now, the search
company is firing another shot over Facebook's bow with Google+.
Google+ is available now to a small number of users. Those who are interested in
eventually joining can sign up on the project's page and wait to be notified when invites
are available.
Check out the video below to see Rafe Needleman's early thoughts on Google+ and how
it's better--and worse--than Facebook.

[http://www.cnet.com/profile/dd13reis/]

About Don Reisinger [http://www.cnet.com/profile/dd13reis/]
Don Reisinger is a technology columnist who has written about everything from HDTVs
to computers to Flowbee Haircut Systems.

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http://news.cnet.com/8301-13506_3-20075124-17/google-resets-social-agenda-with-google/

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5/6

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Google resets social agenda with Google+ | The Digital Home - CNET News

[http://www.nextadvisor.com/blog/2014/02/20/best-credit-cards-2014?kw=nrel_bestcc5_22+[domain]]

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Google+ Project: It's Social, It's Bold, It's Fun, And It Looks Good — Now For The Hard Part | TechCrunch

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Google+ Project: It's Social, It's Bold, It's Fun, And It Looks
Good — Now For The Hard Part
Posted Jun 28, 2011 by MG Siegler (@parislemon)
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Last night, you may have heard talk of
a mysterious black bar appearing on
the top of Google.com. Or you may have
even seen it yourself. No, you
weren’t hallucinating. It was a sign of
something about to show itself. Something big. Google+.
What is Google+? It’s the super top-secret social project that Google has been working on
for the past year. You know, the one being led by General Patton (Vic Gundotra) and
General MacArthur (Bradley Horowitz). Yes, the one Google has tried to downplay as
much as humanly possible — even as we got leak after leak after leak of what they were
working on. Yes, the one they weren’t going to make a big deal about with pomp and
circumstance. It’s real. And it’s here.
Sort of.
You see, the truth is that Google really is trying not to make a huge deal out of Google+.
That’s not because they don’t have high hopes for it. Or because they don’t think it’s any
good. Instead, it’s because what they’re comfortable showing off right now is just step
one of a much bigger picture. When I sat down with Gundotra and Horowitz last week,
they made this point very clear. In their minds, Google+ is more than a social product, or
even a social strategy, it’s an extension of Google itself. Hence, Google+.
How’s that for downplaying it?
“We believe online sharing is broken. And even awkward,” Gundotra says. “We think
connecting with other people is a basic human need. We do it all the time in real life, but
our online tools are rigid. They force us into buckets — or into being completely public,”
he continues. “Real life sharing is nuanced and rich. It has been hard to get that into
http://techcrunch.com/2011/06/28/google-plus/

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software,” is the last thing he says before diving into a demo of Google+.
What he proceeds to show me is a product that in many ways is so well designed that it
doesn’t really even look like a Google product. When I tell Gundotra and Horowitz this,
they laugh. “Thank you,” Gundotra says very enthusiastically. Clearly, they’ve put a lot of
work into both the UI and UX of Google+.

The first thing Gundotra shows me about Google+, and the first thing you’re likely to
interact with, is something called “Circles”. You may recall that talk of this feature leaked
out a few months ago — though it wasn’t exactly right. In fact, our story from months
prior about a feature of Google +1 (the name of the network at the time which ended up
being the name of the button — more on that in a bit) called “Loops” may have been a bit
closer. That is, Circles isn’t actually a stand-alone product, it’s a feature of Google+ — an
important one. “It’s something core to our product,” Gundotra says.
It’s through Circles that users select and organize contacts into groups for optimal
sharing. I know, I know — not more group management. But the truth is that Google has
made the process as pleasant as possible. You simply select people from a list of
recommended contacts (populated from your Gmail and/or Google Contacts) and drag
them into Circles you designate. The UI for all of this is simple and intuitive — it’s so good,
that you might even say it’s kind of fun. It beats the pants off of the method for creating a
group within Facebook.
Gundotra realizes that many social services have tried and failed to get users to create
groups. But he believes they’ll succeed with Circles because he says they’re using
software in the correct way to mimic the real world. More importantly, “you’re rewarded
for doing this,” he says. How so? A big feature of Google+ is the toolbar that exists across
the top of all Google sites (yes, the aforementioned black one). Once your Circles are set,
http://techcrunch.com/2011/06/28/google-plus/

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Google+ Project: It's Social, It's Bold, It's Fun, And It Looks Good — Now For The Hard Part | TechCrunch

sharing with any of them from any Google site is simple thanks to this toolbar.
Speaking of this black toolbar, which was codenamed the “Sandbar” as Google was
working on it, Horowitz explains that it arose from the fact that sharing models on
different sites are all different. The toolbar is an attempt to unify them. This toolbar will
exist across all Google properties (though it may take some time to fully roll out). And
down the road, you can imagine browser extensions, mobile versions, etc. But again,
we’re on step one here.

Next, Gundotra showed off a feature called “Sparks”. He was quick to note that even
though it’s a search box, this is not some sort of new search engine. Instead, he calls is a
“sharing engine”. “Great content leads to great conversations,” he says. With Sparks, you
enter an interest you have and Google goes out and finds elements on the web that they
think you’ll care about. These can be links to blog posts, videos, books — anything that
Google searches for. If you find something you like, you can click on an item to add it to
your interest list (where it will stay for you to quickly refer to anytime you want). Or you
can see what others are liking and talking about globally in the “Featured interests” area.
http://techcrunch.com/2011/06/28/google-plus/

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Google+ Project: It's Social, It's Bold, It's Fun, And It Looks Good — Now For The Hard Part | TechCrunch

“Our goal here is to connect people. And everyone has a camera in their pocket,”
Gundotra says as he shows me “Instant Upload”. This feature of Google+ relies on the use
of an Android devices to take photos or shoot video. From a new app, you’ll do either of
these things and the content will automatically be uploaded to Google+ in the
background and stored in a private album (which you can share with one click later).
Another feature of Google+ is called “Huddle”. It’s essentially a group messaging app that
works across Android, iPhone, and SMS to allow you to communicate with the people in
certain Circles. When I asked why they wouldn’t just use Disco, the group messaging app
that the Slide team within Google built, Horowitz would only smile and pretend that he
didn’t know what I was talking about.
Finally, there’s a feature called “Hangouts”. “Everyone has high-speed networks these
days, but how many use group video chat?,” Gundotra asks. “Not a lot.” He notes that
while there are technical challenges, and some cost money, the biggest problem is that
it’s socially awkward to video chat with someone. The Google+ team set out to fix this by
thinking about neighbors sitting out on porches. If your neighbor is sitting there, you
know that they’ll likely be interested in striking up a conversation. In fact, it would be rude
for you to walk by and not say anything.
With that in mind, Google+ Hangout attempts to solve the social problem of video chat by
making it easy for you to let others know that you’re interested in chatting. And if you’re
already chatting with a Circle, everyone else in that Circle will get an alert to come hang
out. This works for up to 10 people. And seeing it in action is a bit magical. Gundotra
starts a Hangout with some co-workers and as they join, conversations start between
multiple people. But the Google+ system is smart enough to focus on who is controlling
the conversation in any given minute. This makes the conversation easy to watch. It was
almost as if an editor is working behind the scenes, cutting between people.

http://techcrunch.com/2011/06/28/google-plus/

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Google+ Project: It's Social, It's Bold, It's Fun, And It Looks Good — Now For The Hard Part | TechCrunch

Even cooler is that you can share a piece of content, like a YouTube clip, and everyone in
the Hangout can watch it together while talking about it. It sounds a bit cheesy, but it’s
really pretty great.
After the rundown of all of these features, Google+ may sound a bit convoluted. But the
key to the project is the attempt to unify everything. This is done via the toolbar (which
features a drop-down showing you all of your relevant Google+ activity), but also on the
mobile apps (again, Android and iPhone), and, of course, on the web. The Google+ site is
the main stream on which you’ll find everything. From here, you can easily switch
between all of your Circles, share content with any of them, start a Hangout, look up
Sparks, etc.
All of the information flowing through the system does so in real time. As something is
shared with you, it appears at the top of your stream. It’s a bit like FriendFeed, in this
regard (which I love).
You’ll also find a link to your Google+ Profile, which will replace your old Google Profile if
you have Google+ enabled. On this profile you’ll find not only a stream of everything
http://techcrunch.com/2011/06/28/google-plus/

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you’ve shared across Google+, but also your +1 content. That’s likely important. While
there has been plenty of speculation (by myself and others) that the +1 Button is already
a dud, the larger picture is still a bit hidden. While Gundotra and Horowitz declined to
specifically talk about it too much, you’ll see a +1 button on all Google+ content — the +1
Button clearly ties deeply into all of this. It is going to be their Facebook “Like” button.
All of this sounds great so far, but what about the downsides? Whether they’ll admit it or
not, Google is making a bold and perhaps risky move by attempting to attack social from
scratch. What if they flop again?
From the little that I’ve seen so far, Google+ is by far the best effort in social that Google
has put out there yet. But traction will be contingent upon everyone convincing their
contacts to regularly use it. Even for something with the scale of Google, that’s not the
easiest thing in the world — as we’ve seen with Wave and Buzz. There will need to be
compelling reasons to share on Google+ instead of Facebook and/or Twitter — or, at the
very least, along with all of those other networks. The toolbar and interesting
communication tools are the most compelling reasons right now, but there will need to
be more of them. And fast.

Speaking of Buzz, one thing that strikes me about Google+ is that it seems a bit like
Google Buzz done right. When I asked if Google+ would be the official death of Buzz,
http://techcrunch.com/2011/06/28/google-plus/

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Google+ Project: It's Social, It's Bold, It's Fun, And It Looks Good — Now For The Hard Part | TechCrunch

Horowitz declined to say, but did note that it was still being decided how those pieces will
play together.
And that could be a bigger issue for Google. With much of Google+, they’re simply
creating a new layer rather than utilizing Google’s existing services. For example, when
you upload pictures to Google+, they don’t just go to Picasa (though they do go there as
well), they also reside on Google+. On one hand, that will confuse some users. On the
other, it’s quite refreshing to see Google attempt to start fresh with this new project.
What about Twitter, Facebook, or other social integration? Horowitz wouldn’t go into too
much detail as it sounds like tie-ins are still being discussed. As I understand it, right now,
Google+ will largely be a stand-alone network with some low-level third-party social
network integration.
So when can you try Google+? Here’s the thing that will be a kick in the pants to some
users: Google is beginning to roll it out today, but it will only be a very limited field trial.
You can submit your email address here to be entered into the system and notified as
roll-outs continue, but Google says that they have no set time table for a full rollout.
Again, this is phase one of what Google hopes to do with Google+, so they’re taking it
slow.
“It’s not about one particular project, it’s about Google getting better. We know this is
going to take us a considerable amount of time. But we want to make Google better by
connecting you with your relationships and interests,” Gundotra reiterates. He declined
to state how big the team within Google currently working on the project is, but says that
it’s a “decent sized team”.
“Today’s web is about people. To organize the world’s data, you have to understand
people,” Gundotra concludes, noting that newly crowned CEO Larry Page has been
heavily involved in this project from the get-go.
As it is unveiled to the world, Google+ sounds and looks great. But we’ve seen that before
from Google. Now comes the hard part.
More:
Why Google+ Looks Good: Original Macintosh Team Member Andy Hertzfeld

http://techcrunch.com/2011/06/28/google-plus/

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Google+ Project: It's Social, It's Bold, It's Fun, And It Looks Good — Now For The Hard Part | TechCrunch

While We Await The Native App, The Google+ iPhone Mobile Web App Is Pretty Solid
Good First Sign: I Have A Strong Desire To Keep Using Google+
Watch Twitter Explode: Google+ Invites Granted To Early Users
Walking Around In Circles: As Google+ Opens Up Will People Start Using It Correctly?

The Google+ project: A quick look

http://techcrunch.com/2011/06/28/google-plus/

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0:00 / 1:49

Google+: Circles

0:00 / 1:04

Google+: Sparks

http://techcrunch.com/2011/06/28/google-plus/

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0:00 / 0:59

The Google+ project: Hangouts

0:00 / 0:54

Google+: Instant Upload

0:00 / 0:43

The Google+ project: Huddle

http://techcrunch.com/2011/06/28/google-plus/

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0:00 / 1:05
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541 comments

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Also post on Facebook
Srinivas N Jay ·

Posting as Jae Shin (Not you?)

Comment

Follow · Works at EA - Electronic Arts

RIP Facebook!
Reply · Like ·

59 · Follow Post · June 28, 2011 at 11:35am

Joshi Abhishek ·

Follow · Associate Consultant at Atos

Its really a cool invention .....
Reply · Like ·

4 · June 28, 2011 at 11:41am

Anton Savchuk · Los Angeles, California
http://techcrunch.com/2011/06/28/google-plus/

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Google+ Project: It's Social, It's Bold, It's Fun, And It Looks Good — Now For The Hard Part | TechCrunch

yee.. get rid facebook. .
Reply · Like ·

4 · June 28, 2011 at 12:30pm

Suhas Jagadeesh
heyyy Microsoft promoter... don't demoralize google! lol
Reply · Like ·

4 · June 28, 2011 at 12:50pm

View 7 more
Eli Waite ·

Follow · Night Auditor at The Resort at Port Ludlow

For the love of freaking God, GOOGLE! Why do you hate Google App users. You need a Google
Profile to use Google+, and Google App users are not able to make a Google Profile for some
unknown, crazy reason.
Reply · Like ·

43 · Follow Post · June 28, 2011 at 10:37am

Chris Chabot ·
Follow · Head of International Developer & Platform Relations at
Twitter · 249,947 subscribers
We're only just starting down the road of the Google+ project, but we love our Google
Apps users so please stay tuned
Reply · Like ·

70 · June 28, 2011 at 11:01am

Chaitanya Paruchuri
any chance for getting invites to the beta of google + ?? ..........past 30 mins googling
like hell to see f there s a way......for an invite ......am sooo excited....
Reply · Like ·

5 · June 28, 2011 at 11:14am

Héctor Ramos ·

Follow ·

Top Commenter · San Francisco, California

The product was barely announced today. Hold your horses.
Reply · Like ·

8 · June 28, 2011 at 11:16am

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Adam Rifkin ·
subscribers

Follow ·

Top Commenter · Co-Founder/CEO at PandaWhale · 48,654

I hope Google+ Sparks let me meet new people who have the same interests as me -- this is why
I like Twitter...
Social isn't just stuff I do with people I know. Meeting great people I don't yet know is part of what
makes the Interest Graph so compelling!
Reply · Like ·

38 · Follow Post · June 28, 2011 at 12:14pm

Jesse Farmer ·

Follow · University of Chicago · 125 subscribers

God these buzzwords
Reply · Like ·

12 · June 28, 2011 at 12:15pm

Patrick Nouhailler ·

Follow · Zürich, Switzerland · 816 subscribers

the new Google Wave+1Buzz you mean ? ;-)
Reply · Like ·

3 · June 28, 2011 at 12:20pm

Dean Bairaktaris ·
subscribers

Follow · Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School · 159

Let's see who gets in first. Indeed TheDudeDean.
Reply · Like ·
http://techcrunch.com/2011/06/28/google-plus/

3 · June 28, 2011 at 12:59pm
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Dan Peguine ·
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Follow ·

Top Commenter · Director of Product Marketing at BillGuard · 1,253

The number of anti-Facebook comments here would alarm me if I were part of that company.
Reply · Like ·

30 · Follow Post · June 28, 2011 at 12:53pm

Yoav Segal ·

Follow · Owner and General Manager at ​ ‫ קפה‬Cafe Segal​
‫סג ל‬

wow, the + project is freaky local
Reply · Like ·

1 · June 28, 2011 at 2:37pm

Graham Michaels ·

Top Commenter · University of Alberta

why? Facebook is doing fine.
Reply · Like ·

3 · June 28, 2011 at 8:25pm

williamdagreat2002 (signed in using yahoo)
"was" (past tense )
Reply · Like ·

1 · July 3, 2011 at 4:34am

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Scott Hildebrand ·

Top Commenter · Works at Black Antelope

I've got $5 on this disappearing faster than Wave did.
Reply · Like ·

27 · Follow Post · June 28, 2011 at 11:30am

Chris Chabot ·
Follow · Head of International Developer & Platform Relations at
Twitter · 249,947 subscribers
I'll take that bet :)
Reply · Like ·

79 · June 28, 2011 at 11:50am

Ankur Vakil · Works at PriceGrabber.com
I'm trying it as we speak.
Reply · Like ·

2 · June 28, 2011 at 12:11pm

Chris Cho
Well, Facebook is 95% useless. So I'm up for any competition that can create a more
useful social network. We shall see.
Reply · Like ·

5 · June 28, 2011 at 12:12pm

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Will Heineman ·

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Top Commenter · Penn State

I think they have a winner on their hands. But it needs to be smart enough to parse ANYTHING I
can throw at it. I hate putting links to pictures or videos on facebook, but finding that it is too dumb
to recognize what I am posting. Showing pictures and video right in the stream would be big to
me (and Google already hosts most of it).
Deep ties into Android will also be very cool. I also like the idea of cross-platform chat and video
chat!
I am also much more comfortable with Google hosting my internet identity. Right now I am
commenting from a facebook account, which I have very little control over. I would much rather
register for sites through Twitter or Google, but Facebook has become the standard. I want
control back!
http://techcrunch.com/2011/06/28/google-plus/

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Google+ Project: It's Social, It's Bold, It's Fun, And It Looks Good — Now For The Hard Part | TechCrunch

I cannot wait till I can sign up for the beta.
Reply · Like ·

26 · Follow Post · June 28, 2011 at 10:34am

Ben King ·
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Follow ·

Top Commenter · Nottingham Trent University · 2,511

What?! If you share pictures/videos on Facebook it formats them appropriately...
Reply · Like ·

4 · June 28, 2011 at 11:50am

Anton Savchuk · Los Angeles, California
yes, facebook sucks.. have to eliminate this fb connect.. I would love to use google
account
Reply · Like ·

8 · June 28, 2011 at 12:29pm

Pedro Marques ·

Top Commenter

Really looking forward to this project, as I usually am with all of Google's products. The
one that got me least excited was Sparks, but if that has a history of my +1's, it could
come in handy.
After seeing all the videos, there's something missing for me. In Circles, it (apparently)
only allows you to put a friend into one circle. However, I may have one that should be
inserted in two circles. For instance, close friends of mine that also belong to my
university network.
Something awesome: instant upload. Like contact sync for android. Glad I'll never lose
my camera photos again.
Finally, I believe if they tagged Buzz along for the ride and allowed streamlined sharing
with your other social accounts (i.e. auto share +1 pages on facebook , auto retweet
buzzes on twitter) Google+ could easily become people's internet hub, letting people
do all the crucial social activities on the page and accentuating their online presence
on all sites automatically.
I'd be down with that.
Reply · Like ·

12 · June 28, 2011 at 2:38pm

View 8 more
Deron Blevins · Bristow, Virginia
I try all the new stuff Google puts out there, and I was a big "pre-fanboy" of Wave before it rolled
out. One of the problems with Wave, and what they may face again with Google+ - is this " but it
will only be a very limited field trial. "
I, and many others I imagine, don't want to start using a product that relies on your other
friends/family/pals to ALSO be using it to truly get the full use out of it.
With Wave, we could invite others, but it took way too long to get them in there to do any interacting
with. It got very lame very fast. I sure hope Google does not make the same mistake with this "very
limited release" - as it is easy to get someone to try a new type of candy, but if they get a bad taste
in their mouth, they'll be hard pressed to try it again.
Reply · Like ·

23 · Follow Post · June 28, 2011 at 11:27am

Chris Wilson · Centreville High School
Wave seems like a flop - they would have been better of building the functionality in to
Google Talk. I have been a big fan of Voice ever since it was in Beta and I still use it.
Reply · Like ·

1 · June 28, 2011 at 1:08pm

William Foster · Duke Law School
Speed and usability--not use rbase--was the problem w/ Google Wave.
Reply · Like ·

2 · June 28, 2011 at 2:15pm

Justin Alexander ·

http://techcrunch.com/2011/06/28/google-plus/

Top Commenter · Penn State

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Justin Alexander ·

Top Commenter · Penn State

The main problem with Wave was a horrible UI.
Reply · Like ·

9 · June 28, 2011 at 2:21pm

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Drew Olanoff ·
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Top Commenter · Director of Communications at Convo · 12,664

WANT!@#!@#!@#
Reply · Like ·

16 · Follow Post · June 28, 2011 at 10:14am

Theodore M. DeBettencourt · Martha's Vineyard Regional High School
Here's what will happen. People will think its great at first and sign up and everything, then realize
its just a bunch of random new ideas that have a social element with no real unified social
network platform. The Stock will go up at first with people saying "Yaaa Google GETS social" Then
a few days will pass. FB will start working on the "Circles" feature but call it "Ringlets" or
something and then people will say "Wait...what exactly did Google just do? Didn't we see this
before with Buzz? How does this help me stalk my ex? What! - No farmville integration!"
Google isn't a social company - they generally aren't that good with social. This is a just a bunch
of random social elements. They're throwing S&@t to a wall to see what sticks. Did they acquire a
ton of new talent? Did they evolve? I doubt it. They're too big. They're great at what they do - but this
isn't it. Even the article quotes the guy as saying this will take a while. Most big companies can't
change their core competencies over night and I don't thing Google is any different. I predict this
product to be more succesful then Buzz but still not that big of a deal.
If I weren't poor I'd ride Google until about 520 or until the tide turns and people realize Google+
isn't that great, then short it. I have been waiting for FB to come out with a Circles Feature for
years. This will probably motivate them to do it - but who knows.
Reply · Like ·

11 · Follow Post · June 28, 2011 at 12:24pm

Theodore M. DeBettencourt · Martha's Vineyard Regional High School
I see Google employees are reading these posts. Please don't have my most beloved
google apps lose all of my saved data :-) I love google. Please.... I'm afraid... I'm
rooting for Google. FB scares me. I want Goog to win. Promise.
Reply · Like ·

4 · June 28, 2011 at 12:38pm

Paul Heintzelman ·

Follow ·

Top Commenter · University of Delaware

I mostly agree. But I think social is more crucial to Google's search than you realize.
Social is the future of search, just look at the number of links shared daily. Google
needs to work social out in order to survive. Is Google+ the answer? I doubt it. Keep
trying Google.
Reply · Like ·

1 · June 28, 2011 at 1:48pm

David Knowles ·

Follow ·

Top Commenter · Harlow College

Facebook already got its circles, it called groups and it crap.
Reply · Like ·

6 · June 28, 2011 at 1:55pm

View 2 more
Hua Zhong ·

Top Commenter

If MG says Google has done something cool, it must be fantastic.
Reply · Like ·

9 · Follow Post · June 28, 2011 at 11:31am

Nick Felker ·

Follow ·

Top Commenter

I like what Google did. They didn't just say, 'this is what Facebook is doing, and we need a
Facebook competitor.' They looked at what social is, and what it used to be, and is creating a
http://techcrunch.com/2011/06/28/google-plus/

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Facebook competitor.' They looked at what social is, and what it used to be, and is creating a
digital version of those services.
I can't wait to get access to it. I just hope it is successful.
Reply · Like ·

8 · Follow Post · June 28, 2011 at 11:36am

Indhuja Pillai ·
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Top Commenter · Designer & Catalyst at The Inverted Box · 1,668

Know more about the "+" from here: http://me.lt/4xhGj.
Reply · Like ·

7 · Follow Post · July 6, 2011 at 3:50am

Robert Glastra ·

Follow ·

Top Commenter · PayPal

Super excited to see some deep Android integration with this. Really looking forward to seeing
this kick off big time!
*hovers mouse over 'Deactivate your Facebook account' button in anticipation*.
Reply · Like ·

7 · Follow Post · June 28, 2011 at 12:14pm

John McKenzie Ibm · IBM
Any invites?
Reply · Like · June 28, 2011 at 2:31pm
Robert Glastra ·

Follow ·

Top Commenter · PayPal

Only through https://services.google.com/fb/forms/googleplus/ so far
Reply · Like · June 28, 2011 at 3:30pm
Paul Denlinger ·

Follow ·

Top Commenter · University of St Andrews

Sounds a lot like the idea of sixdegrees.com and ecircles.com from the late nineties. While FB
has a flat organization in terms of who you know and connections only, it seems like Google is
trying to help people group people together by activities and activity partners. This would provide
people with tools to define different levels of granularity in their activities compared to FB, and
presumably giving advertisers better targeting in their advertising by providing levels of activities to
define customers.
Reply · Like ·

6 · Follow Post · June 28, 2011 at 10:50am

Marcel Ekkel ·

Follow · Hong Kong

well healthy to see competition for Fb
Reply · Like · June 28, 2011 at 11:11am
Johann Quassowski ·

Follow ·

Top Commenter · Universiteit Maastricht

It's kinda also like the concept of Diaspora... or what Diaspora should have been, I
guess.
Reply · Like · June 28, 2011 at 12:00pm
Paul Denlinger ·

Follow ·

Top Commenter · University of St Andrews

Diaspora promised data privacy, but it didn't have anyone on its team who understood
how to build a business proposition. Sad.
Reply · Like · June 28, 2011 at 12:04pm
Nisarg Bhavsar ·

Follow

facebook. google is here.... watch out... the promo is awesome. how about the whole movie..
Reply · Like ·

5 · Follow Post · June 28, 2011 at 11:58am

Hezi Taniani ·

Follow · Interaction Designer at Designit

The request link for Google + project invitation is available again.

http://techcrunch.com/2011/06/28/google-plus/

16/20

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Google+ Project: It's Social, It's Bold, It's Fun, And It Looks Good — Now For The Hard Part | TechCrunch

The request link for Google + project invitation is available again.
Try your luck at https://services.google.com/fb/forms/googleplus/.
Reply · Like ·

4 · Follow Post · June 28, 2011 at 11:06am

Sharona Rozenblum ·

Follow

;-) ...‫איך אתה אוהב את גוגל‬
Reply · Like · June 28, 2011 at 10:15pm
Anand Muglikar ·

Follow · Senior R&D Engineer in Computer Vision at TouchMagix

I just hope, just hope...this is good for us and not a flop like wave! Though wave ws good too for
me...bt nt for all~ Wish u all the best Googol...beat FB nw!
Reply · Like ·

4 · Follow Post · June 28, 2011 at 11:31am

Michael Henry · Drexel
Each video about the individual Google+ features is like a lifetime movie, I kind of want to cry at
the end.
Reply · Like ·

4 · Follow Post · June 28, 2011 at 4:19pm

Ben Rochon · Drexel University
Well I might as well delete facebook, skype, and dropbox. Never going to need them
ever again.
Reply · Like ·

2 · June 28, 2011 at 5:35pm

tedd.meyers (signed in using yahoo)
My Theory: This will gain heavily against Facebook, because its my impression that no one
*loves* Facebook. Facebook is just something everyone uses so you use it. Facebook used to be
cool its first few years before every relative, co-worker, and boss jumped into your friend group. I
don't bother with Facebook apps, nor should you, so to me Facebook is little more than a space,
and given their IPO lust and privacy violations, Facebook has done nothing to get consumers
emotionally attached to their product. Again, its a space we all have to use, and as long as cute
girl from across the hall is using it, we will continue to use it (and for many that's the actual appeal
of Facebook, that appeal being entirely in spite of Facebook). Google+ on the other hand has built
some very interesting features. The video chat is killer. I'm curious to try it. My friend group has no
emotional attachment to facebook, but I could see that same group saying "wow, Goolge+ is
great." So, thank you Google, from someone who is very ready to get off Facebook.
Reply · Like ·
Kat Meredith ·

3 · Follow Post · June 30, 2011 at 3:26pm
Top Commenter · Jacksonville, Florida

I hope it has slightly better integration for the kickoff. Instant Upload sounds great but if it doesn't
go to Picasa, Twitter, FB, I'll still have to find a way to send it there. Huddle sounds great but if
you're not in my Google contacts, I'll still have to either add you or leave you out. Circles just flat
out looks awesome and I can't wait to use it. Hangouts is just a great idea, if the implementation
is as good as MG said, so I hope that'll take off. Most people that I know are slightly paranoid
about their web cams. People are going to be the problem, everyone hates FB but we use it and
we're used to it. Change is hard. I really just want something to use as a hub, either a hub that
everyone uses or a hub that sends to everything, I don't care which. I will use this because it's
Google but I can't sign up for any more social networks, they're driving me insane.
Reply · Like ·

3 · Follow Post · June 28, 2011 at 11:55am

Martyn Jackson ·

Follow ·

Top Commenter

Weren't you guys all about how Google sucks and can't do this a while back? Anyway, looks good.
Great marketing. "Epic Bros" - great way to hook the users in emotionally. Let's hope this is
executed as well as they can market with the heart string pulling music and emotional narration!
Reply · Like ·
Michael Droz ·

3 · Follow Post · June 28, 2011 at 12:00pm
Top Commenter · Manager, Enterprise Automation and UI Development at Visa

http://techcrunch.com/2011/06/28/google-plus/

17/20

3/20/2014

Google+ Project: It's Social,
Michael Droz · Top Commenter It's Bold, It's Fun, And It Looks Good — Now For The Hard Part | TechCrunch
· Manager, Enterprise Automation and UI Development at Visa

The "toolbar" you see at the top of Google.com will be a plugin that sites will add to make their
sites 10x more social than fan pages on Facebook. Have this plugin will help your page rank incentive everywhere. Nice job Google. This is a homerun.
Reply · Like ·

3 · Follow Post · June 28, 2011 at 11:15am

David Haddad ·

Follow ·

Top Commenter · Dubai, United Arab Emirates · 239 subscribers

Here's the full demo for those who want to learn more: http://www.google.com/intl/en/+/demo/.
Reply · Like ·

3 · Follow Post · June 28, 2011 at 11:21am

Brandon Davenport ·

Follow ·

Top Commenter · Founder and Creator at The Hype Review

I was happy knowing +1 would make search results more accurate, now I'm just confused...
Reply · Like ·

3 · Follow Post · June 28, 2011 at 10:12am

George R. Bridges ·

Follow · Paris, France

For companies to grow and improve they need competition. I'm hoping this takes off and Google
gives Facebook the competition it needs. Everyone will benefit in the end and that's a good thing.
Reply · Like ·

2 · Follow Post · July 4, 2011 at 4:43am

Swen Eberhart
Any idea when this is coming out for the general public?
Reply · Like · July 4, 2011 at 2:20pm
Yurika Kawahara · Chesterton, Indiana
Contact me off line. I have some interesting info.
Reply · Like ·

1 · July 4, 2011 at 11:04pm
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13

Google unveils Google+, its Facebook-fightin'
social network
Tuesday, June 28, 2011 - 9:27am

Google today pulled the curtain back on Google+ (or Google Plus), a social network designed to go toe-to-toe with
Facebook while emphasizing something Facebook doesn't: privacy.

http://www.dvice.com/archives/2011/06/google-unveils-1.php

3/21/2014

Page 2 of 7

On Facebook, you find yourself with a mass of hundreds of friends — some close, some not, some unknown
entirely — all of whom you share everything from the delicious sandwich you just ate to the bad day you had at
work. Really, it can be like standing on a rooftop and shouting it out, and it can get folks in trouble

(http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/26/fired-over-facebookposts_n_659170.html#s115707&title=Swiss_Woman_Caught).
Google+, instead, will concentrate on sharing with smaller groups of friends with a focus on more robust group and
video chatting — including group video chats, too.
Facebook has its groups, sure, but it looks like Google+ brings it very much to the fore, and you'll be organizing
your contacts into "circles" (pictured above) that you can chat and share with in a more private way. Your family can
be in one, for instance, and your bar buddies in another. They can be as specific as you want: add one for your
weekend bird watching club.

In addition to circles, Google+ will also "sparks," which is basically just recommendations from the service of related
videos and articles you may enjoy; "hangouts," which is like a video chat session you can just leave open that folks
can hop into; as well as offer the ability to upload video directly to the service and form "huddles," or group chats.
This isn't Google's first foray into the social world, of course, and its own Buzz set off a bunch of privacy concerns

(http://dvice.com/archives/2010/02/google-responds.php) when it first started as it had you sharing with
everyone on your email contacts list. I don't know about you, but I don't exactly keep that pruned. That said,
Google+ appears to address all that with its design. Organization is easy, and it's a core part of the network.
Also, Google+ will allow you to follow someone without being their friend, and vice versa, much like on Twitter.
Read: mom doesn't have to see all those body shots you were doing at the bar last weekend. Neither does your
boss. Instead, you'll get the person's public updates, and they can sign up for yours.
Google+ will only be available to a select few users to start, but those users will be able to invite others into the
program (much like how Gmail was when it first started up, and almost every other Google beta afterward).
Honestly, we knew Google was going to lean more heavily on the social side of things, but this is quite the surprise.
We aren't the only ones caught off guard, either, according to Reuters

(http://blogs.reuters.com/mediafile/2011/06/28/first-look-at-the-google-plus-social-network-the-topsecret-demo/):
At a time when leaks about product launches, acquisitions and potential hires are rife, Google resorted to
extraordinary measures to ensure that word of its new social network, Google Plus, did not slip out ahead of
Tuesday's official announcement.
The company reached out to Reuters late on Friday about a special briefing related to some undisclosed
YouTube news, even tasking a YouTube PR-man with a curious sartorial style to coordinate the meeting, to
complete the red-herring.
Can Google carve out a space for itself in the social networking world? The slick look of the interface and the focus
on communication, smart sharing and being easy to use certainly has us curious. Of course, Google's reveal comes
after Facebook's bragging today about its 750 million users

(http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2387680,00.asp). David vs. Goliath, round two. Fight!

http://www.dvice.com/archives/2011/06/google-unveils-1.php

3/21/2014

Page 3 of 7

You can read all about what to expect from Google+ (https://plus.google.com/up/start/?sw=1&type=st) on
Google's official blog (http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/06/introducing-google-project-real-life.html).
You can also throw in your hat for a beta invite here (https://plus.google.com/up/start/?sw=1&type=st).
Google has released a ton of video about Google+, but we'd the one we've embedded below shows off the
functionality the best.
Google+ (https://plus.google.com/up/start/?sw=1&type=st), via Google

(http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/06/introducing-google-project-real-life.html), via NYT
(http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/29/technology/29google.html?_r=1&ref=technology), Mashable
(http://mashable.com/2011/06/28/google-plus/) and Reuters
(http://blogs.reuters.com/mediafile/2011/06/28/first-look-at-the-google-plus-social-network-the-topsecret-demo/)
For the latest tech stories, follow us on Twitter at @dvice (http://www.twitter.com/dvice)
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seomaster 950 days ago
Promoting google+ votes is becoming a very hot business. Using these types of services could have negative
or positive affects on SEO.

We just have to see how google treats them. Another place to buy google plus votes is bulkones.com

Will be interesting to see how this evolves over the next few months.

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Ishka 969 days ago
Kevin said something that was overlooked.

Don't sit on the sidelines with googleplus

jump in as an early adopter, use it and

position your self to help others with it down the road- especially offline, local

businesses.

That's what I'll be doing and here's the how to part

http://snipurl.com/howtousegoogleplus

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Ajit 991 days ago
Hope v get google+ soon as soon....!!

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Eric 991 days ago
Thank God, I'm so sick of Facebook. Hopefully Google+ does good. I also looked at OnlyMeWorld, smalltime wannabe's with their font on fire. Whatev's. Guess what "dawg", if it doesn't take off overnight, then it's a
flop.

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Reply

Titicaca 995 days ago
Those circles look like the chambers of a revolver.

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Reply

namelessme 995 days ago
Wait, why do we want to create small circles of tribes? is that necessary? Isn't the entire point of social
networking not to limit ourselves to people we ALREADY know and to expand outside our small circles of
associates? At least that's how I look at it. I have met a lot of new and interesting people thanks to NOT
limiting myself that way.

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0

Sartaj 996 days ago
It will be a great initiative by Google. Many people including me are looking forward to see somewhat more
mature social networking technology similar to facebook, however, with more control over the shared data,
privacy, security of information and social activity resembling real life behaviour. One of the salient feature of

http://www.dvice.com/archives/2011/06/google-unveils-1.php

3/21/2014

Page 6 of 7

such a tool must be its simplicity of use, light weight and setup to privacy protection by default, which is still a
huge challenge for the technology giant without any cost to the customers.

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Isaac 996 days ago
I dunno, Sartaj. It seems like you're making a lot of smart, reasonable points, but it just doesn't
convince me the way onlymeworld's argument for ONLYMEWORLD (triple digit growth dawg!) did.

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onlymeworld 996 days ago
Sorry Google, but people hate both you and Facebook! Both companies continue to collect an infinite amount
of information about it's users having a total disregard for privacy rights, whether it's users choose to or not!
Google talks about privacy, that's another joke! There is one serious competitor to both Facebook, and now
Google so called new social network, ONLYMEWORLD which is experiencing triple digit growth!

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Mesonto 996 days ago
Thank you! I am glad to hear someone else say this.

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scott 996 days ago
Well at least google TRIES to not be evil. Unlike facebook.

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Isaac 996 days ago
I definitely trust ONLYMEWORLD more than Google. Seems legit.

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Edwin 996 days ago
#CacheterosCrew!!!

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3/21/2014

3/20/2014

A complete video tour of Google+ featuring Mobile, Sparks and Circles - TNW Google

A complete video tour of Google+
featuring Mobile, Sparks and Circles
By MATTHEW PANZARINO, Tuesday, 28 Jun '11 , 06:38pm

Google has released video tours of the various features of its new Google+

social service. This includes the mobile experience as well as Circles, which
can help you to share with only the people that you specify and Sparks,
which shows you blog posts, videos and articles that you might be
interested in.

The Google+ project: A quick look

http://thenextweb.com/google/2011/06/28/a-complete-video-tour-of-google-featuring-mobile-sparks-and-circles/#!AINbZ

1/8

3/20/2014

A complete video tour of Google+ featuring Mobile, Sparks and Circles - TNW Google

0:00 / 1:49

The new Google+ social sharing project was detailed in full by Techcrunch
this morning. The project combines several sharing tools together to help
you share content, discuss things with friends and upload items that you

would like to share. The aim of Google+ is to help you to get more control
over who you share things with and how.

The main components of Google+ are Circles, Sparks, Huddle, Instant
Upload, Hangouts and Mobile.
Google+: Explore Circles

0:00 / 1:08

http://thenextweb.com/google/2011/06/28/a-complete-video-tour-of-google-featuring-mobile-sparks-and-circles/#!AINbZ

2/8

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A complete video tour of Google+ featuring Mobile, Sparks and Circles - TNW Google

The first major feature of Google+ is Circles, which is a group management
tool that allows you to create ‘Circles’ of friends, family and other people
that you share with. You can create Circles quickly online and add

members of your friends to them. People that you add to various circles
will not see content that you share with other ones.

This will allow you to share with people based on various bits of

information that you know about them, helping you to share content that
they will enjoy, without shoving it in the face of other people in your

Google+ network that may not want to see it. Google says that this should
help people to share more as they can pick and choose who they share
what with.

Google+: Explore Sparks

0:00 / 1:07
http://thenextweb.com/google/2011/06/28/a-complete-video-tour-of-google-featuring-mobile-sparks-and-circles/#!AINbZ

3/8

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A complete video tour of Google+ featuring Mobile, Sparks and Circles - TNW Google

Next up is Sparks, a recommendation engine that uses a list of interests
that you give Google+ to recommend links and content to you.
Google+: Sparks

0:00 / 0:59

You can then share those topics with friends in your various Circles,
getting input and comments from them.
Google+: Explore Hangouts

http://thenextweb.com/google/2011/06/28/a-complete-video-tour-of-google-featuring-mobile-sparks-and-circles/#!AINbZ

4/8

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A complete video tour of Google+ featuring Mobile, Sparks and Circles - TNW Google

0:00 / 0:36

The next feature is called Hangouts and its a multi-person video chat

service that allows you to create open chat rooms that members of your
Circle can drop into. Google says that this feature combines the ‘casual
meetup with live multi-person video.
Google+: Instant Upload

http://thenextweb.com/google/2011/06/28/a-complete-video-tour-of-google-featuring-mobile-sparks-and-circles/#!AINbZ

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A complete video tour of Google+ featuring Mobile, Sparks and Circles - TNW Google

0:00 / 0:43

The Instant Upload feature will be integrated into the mobile apps for

Android and iOS and will allow you to capture pictures or video which are
uploaded directly into your Google+ account.
The Google+ project: Huddle

0:00 / 1:05

Google has included a feature called Huddle in Google+ that allows you to
create temporary groups that allow you to plan gatherings or meetings
easier. You can think of it as a sort of group messaging service that can

narrow down the amount of people that you’re talking about plans with.
This way you can make arrangements to meet up at a certain time with
http://thenextweb.com/google/2011/06/28/a-complete-video-tour-of-google-featuring-mobile-sparks-and-circles/#!AINbZ

6/8

3/20/2014

A complete video tour of Google+ featuring Mobile, Sparks and Circles - TNW Google

only a few select friends, but without all of the text messaging and calling
that normally goes on when you’re trying to get people together.
Google+: Explore Mobile

0:00 / 1:23

Google+ will be available on mobile devices vi an Android app, a mobile
web app and, eventually, an iPhone app as well. Each of the major

components of Google+ will be accessible on the mobile app, including
Circles. These features will take advantage of location data to display
results that are near you, including the locations of checkins and
recommended topics on a Google map view.
Google+: Explore Settings

http://thenextweb.com/google/2011/06/28/a-complete-video-tour-of-google-featuring-mobile-sparks-and-circles/#!AINbZ

7/8

3/20/2014

A complete video tour of Google+ featuring Mobile, Sparks and Circles - TNW Google

0:00 / 1:08

If you find Google+ intriguing, you can sign up to get an invitation as the
network is rolled out here.

COMMENTS

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8/8

Print : Google Execs Explain Why They Launched Google+ Now, Before It’s Ready

Page 1 of 3

Social

Google Execs Explain Why They Launched Google+
Now, Before It’s Ready
Published on June 28, 2011
by Liz Gannes

Google this morning press-launched a set of in-progress social products that people have been waiting to
see for a long time. But most people are only getting the opportunity submit their email addresses for
updates about Google+.
Even many of those promised first-day access, like the journalists at AllThingsD, waited hours for the
company to untangle its “limited field trial” access process. I just corresponded with a Google PR person
who hasn’t been able to get in yet himself. You call that a launch?
I have to wonder, why now? Why
create any more buildup for
something that’s not ready yet? If
it’s not all ready to go, doesn’t this
just seem like a mess of
incoherent features? That’s what I
asked Google+ honchos Vic
Gundotra and Bradley Horowitz,
who are midway through this
unlaunchiest of launch days.
They essentially replied that they
were at a point in development
where they needed to get a
product out to real users, and real
users would leak the product to the press, so they had to mount a PR offensive.
Gundotra and Horowitz also helped untangle for me some of rationale and logistics for the product that
didn’t come through from the cutesy videos and grand theories of privacy and sharing in their blog post and
interviews today.
One thing I hadn’t grokked earlier is the somewhat awkward Google+ name, which Horowitz said is meant
to signify how it will impact every Google product by making them socially compatible: “It’s almost the
smallest modifier on Google itself that you can imagine,” he said.
Horowitz and Gundotra explain what that the heck that means in a lightly edited transcript of our
conversation:
AllThingsD: Why launch now when you’re not really launching?
Bradley Horowitz: I think we learned a lot from [previous much-maligned social product] Buzz and it has
very much informed the product that we’re moving forward. People care deeply about their online presence
and representation and a lot of what we’ve built conveys that. One of the things we’ve learned from Buzz is

http://allthingsd.com/?p=92338&ak_action=printable

3/21/2014

Print : Google Execs Explain Why They Launched Google+ Now, Before It’s Ready

Page 2 of 3

that putting a product to market teaches you a lot of things you cannot learn from testing. I believe we’ve
exhausted what we can learn from internal testing and so we’ll now expose to a limited number of users.
What kind of demand are you hoping for?
Horowitz: Demand is interesting when we’re capping growth artificially through this invite stage. At this point
we don’t have the intention of generating pent-up demand, mostly we’re in a learning phase.
But isn’t that what a press launch does — generate demand?
Horowitz: There’s no way that we
could have tested this that doesn’t
become a story. We’re not
proactively marketing this. Right
now if users come it’s a relatively
frustrating experience, they’re told
to go away. The intent is to
discuss our motivation so people
understand where we’re headed.
What is the hook that gets
people to incorporate this into
their daily lives?
Vic Gundotra: : We looked at how
people share and we looked at the
tools available to them and we
saw this huge missing capability. [Here he goes into the comparison of Circles with Facebook without
naming it; you can get this from other coverage around the Web so I'm leaving it out here.]
[continued] You’re using these services already; you’re using Google maps, you use Google search, you
use YouTube, you might be using Android or Chrome. So we’re going to continue to make Google
dramatically better and reward you for spending the few minutes it takes to say this is my family, these are
my real friends. And we think the process of creating circles is a breakthrough. People don’t like
cumbersome processes.
Is this a set of features or is it a whole package?
Horowitz: We’re calling this the Google+ project for a reason. It’s not a monolithic product. We’ve had
products before: Blogger is a product, Orkut is a product, Buzz is a product. This is a project and when we
say “project” we mean it’s much broader in scope. This is something that will impact Google.
That’s why it’s Google+, almost the smallest modifier on Google itself that you can imagine.
Similarly, it’s much longer in timeframe. There are features and foundational elements that we’re dropping
today: things like the stream, the rich profile, the Circle editor, those are core to everything that will come
next and those are new.
But you’ll see increasingly that this is about making these suite of Google services coherent and better. So
when you’re on maps and you want to share driving directions, you don’t have to do it in a different way, it
utilizes common infrastructure, common gestures.
We already have literally billions of users using these services at Google with the inefficiencies we have
today, and we think this will delight these uses and create a common way for them to connect to other
people and ultimately on the net.
Why did you do so much self-flagellation about being late to social in the various interviews you did
around this announcement? Why did you feel like you had to convey that level of humility?

http://allthingsd.com/?p=92338&ak_action=printable

3/21/2014

Print : Google Execs Explain Why They Launched Google+ Now, Before It’s Ready

Page 3 of 3

Gundotra: It’s just sincere. I don’t
think it’s anything more than that. We
do have a mission that we’ve been
working on for a long time: organizing
the world’s information and making it
universally accessible and available.
And when you look at the web today
it’s obvious it’s not just about pages,
it’s about people. It’s not just about
information, it’s about what individuals
are doing. So I think we have to do
that in a coherent way. We think
there’s just tremendous room to do
great stuff.

Return to: Google Execs Explain Why
They Launched Google+ Now, Before It’s Ready
URL: http://allthingsd.com/20110628/google-execs-explain-why-they-launched-google-now-before-its-ready/

Brought to you by The Wall Street Journal | © 2005-2014 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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3/21/2014

(/)

GIZMODO (/)

This Is Google Changing All of Information Sharing
(http://gizmodo.com/5816311/this-is-google-changing-all-ofinformation-sharing)
Mat Honan (http://mat-honan.kinja.com)
(http://mat-honan.kinja.com)

Filed to: GOOGLE+ (/TAG/GOOGLE)

85,930
1
6/28/11 3:03pm (http://gizmodo.com/5816311/this-is-google-changing-all-of-information-sh

Google announced a new social sharing project today called Google+. It's among the company's most
ambitious ventures to date, up there with Gmail, Android, Chrome and, yes, Search. It represents
Google's very future. It's going to be huge.
Google+ is a concerted effort meant to turn the ship around. Google famously has a poor social track
record. Buzz and Wave were failures, so it needs to get this right. But Google+ goes far beyond just
sharing status updates or photos with friends: It aims to change the very way we share and
communicate. As it notes in a new blog post today
(http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/06/introducing-google-project-real-life.html), "We'd like to bring
the nuance and richness of real-life sharing to software. We want to make Google better by including
you, your relationships, and your interests."

While there is much more to come, there are three major pieces announced today:

Circles
Circles (http://www.google.com/intl/en-US/+/learnmore/index.html#circles) let you share selectively
with certain groups of people. Y ou create a new circle, add contacts to it, and can share with just those
selected people. As Google says "[t]he problem is that today's online services turn friendship into fast food
—wrapping everyone in friend paper—and sharing really suffers." This seems to be somewhat like
Facebook's friends lists. But the big difference is that it isn't a walled garden. Y ou don't have to opt into
Google+ to be included in a circle. If I want to add someone to it who's not a Google+user, I can do so
via email and they can still take see the things I want to share with them.

Sparks
Sparks (http://www.google.com/intl/en-US/+/learnmore/index.html#sparks) is essentially a topical
section that delivers news videos and blog posts on subjects you define. But moreover it lets you discuss
those things with other people, or as Google puts it, "nerding out and exploring subjects together." This is
something that Google is almost uniquely positioned to deliver. If you think about your Facebook feed,
or, say a Tumblr tagged feed, they contain items placed there by humans. Google can deliver an endless
supply of newly relevant items using an algorithm.

Hangouts
Hangouts (http://www.google.com/intl/en-US/+/learnmore/index.html#hangouts) is an online
meetup space with live video that includes up to ten people. But it's designed to let people come and go,
dropping by at will, rather than be locked into scheduled meetings. It sounds a bit like Campfire with
video.

Mobile
Mobile is the last major component announced today, and it has several moving parts. The table stakes
are that you can always add your location (or not). Instant Upload automatically adds your photos to a
private album online. Finally, Huddle is a group messaging tool that lets you communicate with a selfselected circle on your mobile device.
But these are just the beginning stages, the initial rollouts that are part of a much larger project led by
Vic Gundotra. Wired's Steven Levy followed Google+ from the inside for more than a year, and has the
inside scoop (http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2011/06/inside-google-plus-social/all/1). As he notes,
it's a huge drive by Google. In fact it is, more or less, Google's future—an internal Manhattan Project
meets moon shot.

Developed under the codename Emerald Sea, it is a result of a lengthy and urgent effort
involving almost all of the company's products. Hundreds of engineers were involved in the
effort. It has been a key focus for new CEO Larry Page.
The parts announced Tuesday represent only a portion of Google's plans. In an approach the
company refers to as "rolling thunder," Google has been quietly been pushing out pieces of its
ambitious social strategy—there are well over 100 launches on its calendar. When some
launches were greeted by yawns, the Emerald Sea team leaders weren't ruffled at all—lack of
drama is part of the plan. Google has consciously refrained from contextualizing those products
into its overall strategy.
That overall strategy will begin now, with the announcement of the two centerpieces of
Google+. But even this moment—revealed in a blog post that marks the first limited "field tests"
outside the company—will be muted, because it marks just one more milestone in a long slog to
remake Google into something more "people centric."
"We're transforming Google itself into a social destination at a level and scale that we've never
attempted - orders of magnitude more investment in terms of people than any previous project,"
says Vic Gundotra, who leads Google's social efforts.

The entire story is worth a read (http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2011/06/inside-google-plussocial/all/1), complete with outsized personalities, massive stakes, and secret murals. But the takeaway
is that this isn't just about social networking. As Levy notes, it's much bigger than that: It's about
organizing information around people.

As Tim Carmody points out on Twitter (https://twitter.com/#!/tcarmody/status/85760763104477184),
"Google doesn't actually care about social. Google cares about identity. Social (such as it is) is a means to
an end." And: "Not accidental that social, identity, apps, & browser are all linked. This is Google's play to
control the whole stack like Apple does (https://twitter.com/#!/tcarmody/status/85765363790393344)."
I agree. Google's biggest screwup wasn't ceding social space to Facebook. It was ceding identity.
Google wants to get to know you, and help you to get to know yourself. It wants to be the go-to place
where you show who you are and what you care about to your friends, your family, your coworkers and
the entire world. It wants to be the key you use to unlock the Web and the internet as a whole, the
passageway through which all your interactions flow. Today is a big step in that direction.
Like

151 replies | Discuss

2.6k

(/posts/5816311/reply)

Highlights (http://gizmodo.com/5816311/this-is-google-changing-all-of-information-sharing)
All replies (http://gizmodo.com/5816311/this-is-google-changing-all-of-information-sharing/all)

Chief Chili Fry Maker started this thread

6/28/11 3:13pm
Chief Chili Fry Maker (http://jalb.kinja.com)
(http://jalb.kinja.com)

It all hinges on one thing: will I know anyone else that uses it?
Reply

(/posts/475750726/reply)

Reply

(/posts/475750728/reply)

Reply

(/posts/475750732/reply)

jazam2010 (http://jazam2010.kinja.com)
(http://jazam2010.kinja.com)

Exactly.

Gawker (http://gizker.kinja.com)
(http://gizker.kinja.com)

Do you know anyone who uses google?

Show more replies (http://gizmodo.com/5816311/this-is-google-changing-all-of-information-sharing?
comment=40476813#comments)

6/28/11 4:56pm

OCEntertainment started this thread

OCEntertainment (http://ocentertainment.kinja.com)
(http://ocentertainment.kinja.com)

Honestly, the coolest part of this, for me, is the Sparks feature. While I'm excited about a lot of this,
Sparks sounds like the perfect idea for a social network feature when Google's behind it. Integrating
actual content from the web into the social network is brilliant. Not only is it great for content discovery,
but it gives people a reason to be on the network. Conversation starters built-in, and new content that
doesn't necessarily devolve into a rampant stream of "Repost this if you love Jesus, and if you don't
you're going to hell."
Awesome.
Reply

(/posts/475750837/reply)

Reply

(/posts/475750885/reply)

ipottersmith (http://ipottersmith.kinja.com)
(http://ipottersmith.kinja.com)

cough cough stumbleupon cough cough :p

OCEntertainment (http://ocentertainment.kinja.com)
(http://ocentertainment.kinja.com)

Umm. No. In my experience, stumbleupon is a crapshoot of various possibly interesting but usually
barely relevant links in a topic. Compare to, say, Google News where if you pick a topic, that's pretty
much what you get. And it's not surprising. Google's got the data and the engineering skills to solve that
kind of problem.
That being said, few of these ideas are really all that new. Doesn't mean I don't want them integrated
into one nice, fluid package.
Reply

(/posts/475750892/reply)

Kardster started this thread

6/28/11 3:29pm
Kardster (http://kardster-old.kinja.com)
(http://kardster-old.kinja.com)

Why hasn't facebook implemented some sort of Circles before? I know there are a lot of facebook posts
that don't get posted for fear of the wrong "friends" seeing them. For example, one can't post that they're
having fun at the beach when they're supposed to be working and their circle of co-workers will see the
message!
Reply

(/posts/475750758/reply)

(http://krev.kinja.com)

Krev (http://krev.kinja.com) to only let certain people see the posts but that would take too long to block out all
Y ou can tell Facebook

of the friends that you don't want seeing you insulting a person (the person being insulted, the person's
family, the person's friends, general chatter mouths, etc...)
Reply

(/posts/475750766/reply)

gohatters (http://gohatters.kinja.com)
(http://gohatters.kinja.com)

I thought you used to be able to selectively block people or groups from anything on your wall. The
technology is there to really create a custom list of groups to manage sharing and privacy, but I dont
know many people who take the time to set any of that up. I have a few friends, all girls (not that it's
indicitive of women) who spend more time on facebook in one day than most people do in a week yet
they have no clue how to use groups or the some of the new message features or any security measures.
They're just too lazy to try to learn
Reply

(/posts/475750767/reply)

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comment=40477475#comments)

kdupree started this thread

6/28/11 3:24pm
kdupree (http://kdupree-old.kinja.com)
(http://kdupree-old.kinja.com)

I'm rooting for this I really am. However will people drop Facebook for it? I think what they'll need to do
is allow the site access to Facebook so that if you do something on + it puts it on Facebook as well. So
those that don't want to switch will still get our updates and we can still read theirs. Kinda treat it like a
RSS Reader app but for social sites.
Reply

(/posts/475750743/reply)

astrocramp (http://astrocramp.kinja.com)
(http://astrocramp.kinja.com)

This is what Windows Live does, and the social part of windows live is still a graveyard in a ghost town.
Reply

lambdacore (http://lambdacore.kinja.com)
(http://lambdacore.kinja.com)

I think something like that might be necessary.

(/posts/475750778/reply)

But will facebook allow it? It's probably its biggest competition yet.
And that probably would be a nightmare for Google engineers.
Like I post on my "work" circle, and on Facebook, it has to post only to those persons? Y et everybody
else can go on their wall and see it too?
Hmm.
Reply

(/posts/475750784/reply)

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comment=40477260#comments)

Blue Celery started this thread

6/28/11 3:19pm
Blue Celery (http://blue-celery-old.kinja.com)
(http://blue-celery-old.kinja.com)

Is this Android only? DOA, then.
Reply

(/posts/475750734/reply)

sw_white (http://sw_white-old.kinja.com)
(http://sw_white-old.kinja.com)

No, they've announced apps for iOS too, according to the New Y ork Times article I read.
Reply

(/posts/475750737/reply)

Reply

(/posts/475750815/reply)

DrBoom (http://drboom.kinja.com)
(http://drboom.kinja.com)

Um...????
500,000 activations a day and you think it would be DOA?
That's just confusing.

Carl Halligan started this thread

6/28/11 3:28pm
Carl Halligan (http://carlhalligan.kinja.com)
(http://carlhalligan.kinja.com)

Too many people use Facebook religiously now that I really can't see anything becoming more popular
and making people not use it.

Reply

(/posts/475750756/reply)

Reply

(/posts/475750801/reply)

Reply

(/posts/475750808/reply)

Creative Ninja (http://romit.kinja.com)
(http://romit.kinja.com)

I think Google's support behind this is enough.

DrBoom (http://drboom.kinja.com)
(http://drboom.kinja.com)

MySpace and LiveJournal agree with you!

Show more replies (http://gizmodo.com/5816311/this-is-google-changing-all-of-information-sharing?
comment=40477446#comments)

Ulmaxes started this thread

6/28/11 4:04pm
Ulmaxes (http://ulmaxes-old.kinja.com)
(http://ulmaxes-old.kinja.com)

So, question: is this up and running now? Or is it supposed to be implemented later?
Reply

(/posts/475750791/reply)

Reply

(/posts/475750835/reply)

Reply

(/posts/475750870/reply)

Monty (http://monty.kinja.com)
(http://monty.kinja.com)

Coming soon.
[www.google.com] (http://www.google.com/+/demo/)

lucian.armasu01 (http://lucian-armasu01-old.kinja.com)
(http://lucian-armasu01-old.kinja.com)

Invite-only for now.

vsound started this thread

6/28/11 3:11pm
vsound (http://vsound.kinja.com)
(http://vsound.kinja.com)

I still find myself pulling for Google in the social networking race. Facebook is kind of bothering me by
implementing its new messenger service, with its own email addresses and such.
I like the idea of Google + social networking more than Facebook + email.
Just my opinion.
Reply

(/posts/475750724/reply)

turwaith (http://turwaith.kinja.com)
(http://turwaith.kinja.com)

Y eah, I'm the same way. As much as google may not always make the right decisions with privacy, they
at least don't run people over and tell them to get over it if they do something wrong.
Reply

(/posts/475750746/reply)

Jaredu (http://jaredu.kinja.com)
(http://jaredu.kinja.com)

Agreed. Plus, the circles thing reminds me of my AOL grouping buddies days; but with links to profiles
instead of usernames I can't remember anymore. This seems pretty cool. :)
Reply

(/posts/475750750/reply)

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comment=40476724#comments)

Graviton1066 started this thread

6/28/11 4:15pm
Graviton1066 (http://graviton1066-old.kinja.com)
(http://graviton1066-old.kinja.com)

"Google's biggest screwup wasn't ceding social space to Facebook. It was ceding identity."
Gotta say ... I don't know what the fuck that means ... Identity belongs to each individual ... my identity
is mine ... not Facebook's or Microsoft's or Apple's or Amazon's or Google's ...
Google and the others have no right to know me or anyone else ...
Reply

(/posts/475750797/reply)

truenorthstrongandfree (http://truenorthstrongandfree.kinja.com)
(http://truenorthstrongandfree.kinja.com)

100% agree. Fake facebook name (and disposable email addy) with no photos tagged of me or on my
profile, fake twitter name... no youtube/google account, no gmail. I refuse to see benefit of allowing
google to index my life. It's giving users stupid platforms that deliver little while reaping staggering

profits off your personal data. Just use search. That's all you need. And I can largely text, email, or gasp - call my friends on my mobile.
Reply

(/posts/475750807/reply)

siirial (http://siirial-old.kinja.com)
(http://siirial-old.kinja.com)

It is your identity, but where your tracks that make up your online identity are stored is what google or
facebook wants.
Reply

(/posts/475750823/reply)

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comment=40479370#comments)

astrocramp started this thread

6/28/11 3:16pm
astrocramp (http://astrocramp.kinja.com)
(http://astrocramp.kinja.com)

Meh. Uploading photos automatically with "Mobile" I've already done with my Windows Phone, and
honestly it's annoying. Not every picture I take is share-quality. Hangouts seems like chatroulette. The
other stuff has also been done. I'll check it out though. I agree with the sentiment about identity - pretty
soon you will be able to log on with your facebook account to bank accounts, computers, and basically
everywhere online. Google missed the boat on that, as did everybody else. It's probably too late for
Google.
Reply

(/posts/475750730/reply)

jdale (http://jdale-old.kinja.com)
(http://jdale-old.kinja.com)

Given Facebook's privacy and security record, the idea of logging into your bank account via your
Facebook account is head-smackingly horrifying.
I feel like Google has too much of my information, but at least what gets out is on purpose. Facebook
really doesn't care, they'd leak all your info to everyone if they could get away with it.
Reply

(/posts/475750749/reply)

astrocramp (http://astrocramp.kinja.com)
(http://astrocramp.kinja.com)

Google's had it's share of privacy snafus and leaks. And if you look at the proliferation of "share on
facebook" and "comment with your facebook account" I think it's inevitable that facebook accounts
become ubiquitous as identity management. If there's anybody who knows what they're doing at

facebook they are buttoning up security for these kinds of applications.
Reply

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Google Launches Google+, a Facebook Clone - The Wire

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Google+ to a limited group of users on Tuesday.
Google+ is the search giant's all-in attempt to add
a social layer onto their other products, and the
executives in charge describe it as an extension
to what Google's already doing. The company is







http://www.thewire.com/technology/2011/06/google-launches-google-facebook-clone/393... 3/21/2014

Google Launches Google+, a Facebook Clone - The Wire

emphasizing privacy in differentiating itself from
the rest of the social networks.

The New York Times duly notes that the new

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service "happens to look very much like
Facebook," but it works differently. The guiding

MOST POPULAR

principle behind Google+ is the notion that users
want to share different kinds of things with
different groups of people. A feature in Google+
called "Circles" allows users to put group their
friends and share to the groups. Other unique
features include "Hangouts," a group video chat
feature; "Sparks," an automated feed of videos and
articles custom-tailored for the user; "Huddle," a
text message-powered group chat; and "Instant

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Upload," an automatic photo uploader for mobile
phones.

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Different Policies’

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Along with the launch, Google announced that

crashed in the first hour after being released.)

Chris Christie Clarifies: He
Fired the 'Traffic Problems'
Staffer Mostly For Being a
Liar

However, those offered previews seemed positive



development on Google+ wasn't fully finished the
service would be rolled out slowly. (The service

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about the product, despite Google's recent failed

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Page 3 of 12

social products, Buzz and Wave. MG Siegler at
TechCrunch wrote:
From the little that I’ve seen so far,
Google+ is by far the best effort in social
that Google has put out there yet. But
traction will be contingent upon

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Greatest 'Wheel of Fortune'
Puzzle Solve in History

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everyone convincing their contacts to
regularly use it. Even for something
with the scale of Google, that’s not the
easiest thing in the world — as we’ve
seen with Wave and Buzz. There will
need to be compelling reasons to share
on Google+ instead of Facebook and/or
Twitter — or, at the very
least, along with all of those other
networks. The toolbar and interesting
communication tools are the most
compelling reasons right now, but there
will need to be more of them. And fast.
You can sign up for the waiting list and read more
about Google+ features here.



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Page 1 of 10

Google launches all out social networking
assault with Google+ (video)
BY BRIAN HEATER

@BHEATER

JUNE 28TH, 2011 AT 2:34PM ET

0

Social networking has long been Google's white whale. The company has done plenty of
dabbling in the space, releasing Orkut, which has failed to catch on in the US, and rolling out
Buzz to the relative indifference of its massive user base. Announced today after seemingly
endless leaks, Google+ represents a major push for the software giant. The service began
showing itself to a smattering of users last night, as a black bar across the top of various of
the company's properties. A "+You" button on the far left of the bar currently brings you to
the service's landing page, offering a tour of the many features that fall under the Google+
umbrella. Get to know the services better after the break.

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Page 2 of 10

Among the sub-services is Circles, which lets users divide up which of their friends / followers
can see which content, assuring that only your "Epic Bros" and not your boss sees what you
were up to at last night's bachelor party. Hangouts, meanwhile, offers up multi-person video
chat with members of your Circle. Sparks is a customized feed aggregator of content you
curate from across the web -- remember when RSS feeds were a thing? This is kind of like
that.
There's also, not surprisingly, a mobile element to the service. Huddle offers up group
messaging, largely targeted at arranging real-world meetups for those times you actually
want to, you know, socialize with humans in the flesh. The Instant Upload feature makes it
easy to transfer photos to private albums in the cloud.
Google+ is still in a limited trial mode and has a few "rough edges," according to the
company. In the meantime, we want to know what you think. Is Google finally giving
Facebook a run for its money? Is this just the latest social flop from the company? Let us
know in the comments, and while you're at it, check out a whole bunch of officially
sanctioned Google+ videos below.

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0 COMMENTS

Share

VIA: Google Blog
SOURCE: Google+
TAGS: circles, facebook, google, google circles, google hangout, google plus, google sparks, google+,

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