Apple designer, Andy Hertzfield, was employed by Google to head up the design (I think we can all appreciate Apple’s insight into design); immediately you notice that the Google+ interface is totally different to those of other Google products out there. However, my one criticism is that there seems to be a lot of wasted white space between content streams on their wall. Although I have no doubt the Google designers will get this right.

Considering when I think back to how Facebook’s design layout looked upon first launch, its a far cry to what it is now. The ease of synchronising Google+ with Gmail, docs, calendar, chat are just a few areas, but still far beyond what Facebook has been able to achieve (FYI, Facebook has just signed an agreement with Skype to compete against Google Chat – I fear they may have missed the boat on this one, maybe they’ll prove me wrong..).

Now for the first time, we potentially have a platform that can manage our lives all in one area, hallelujah! I personally have never used Gmail as much as I have since joining Google+, I’ve even started using Google Calendar and am seriously thinking of moving away from my Outlook and plugging all my pop email accounts into Gmail.

So what does this mean for business?
This does not mean you can now create a profile for your business within Google+ ! Google have already announced that they will be launching a product for businesses shortly. According to Googler, Christian Oestlien, because of the demand for business profiles within Google+ they will be launching this product offering even sooner than originally planned. Both Ford and Sesame Street have had their profiles deleted by Google and have warned the community that migrating your ‘individual’ profiles to your new business profile will become messy.

My prediction for Google+ Business is that it will tie in nicely with Google Places. By using Google Places, which are already approved business listings within Google (thanks to cell phone/landline confirmation as well as Google Street View, adding a touch of verification to the business). They could potentially bring in Google+ streams into Google Places, which will be a sounding board for businesses. Google Places could also potentially display the followers a company has, like Facebook and Twitter. They already display testimonials but now it could even be further enhanced by the activity on the page, this will become a great CRM (Customer Relations Management) tool for businesses! Maybe this is something Hellopeter might have to aggregate??

I also believe that Google+ Business could be an eventual Twitter Killer. I say this because of the use of Circles, now thankfully, I don’t have to know that Joe Soap is scratching his back in Camps Bay. The Google + circles allows you to push content out to relevant people (or ‘Circles’) so your messages become a lot more personal, targeted and private. If Google can achieve a user base of 75 million plus they might even have the critical mass to conquer the giant known as Facebook. They have already 10 million users in their first month and are still on ‘invites only’.

I never even got to mention how Google+ will synchronise with search.. but lets wait until Google+ Business has been launched so we can see raw data!!

Once you’re a verified owner of a website, you can view the Verification Details page (linked from Webmaster Tools or the Verification home page). That page will show you information about the site as well as a list of any other verified owners. At the bottom of the list of owners, you’ll now see a button labeled “Add a user…”. Click that, enter the user’s email address, and that person will instantly become a verified owner for the site! You can remove that ownership at any time by clicking the “Unverify” link next to the person’s email address on the Details page.

There are a few important things to keep in mind as you use this feature. First, each site must always have at least one owner who has verified directly (via meta tag or HTML file). If all of the directly verified owners become unverified, the delegated owners may also become unverified. Second, you can only delegate ownership to people with Google Accounts. Finally, remember that anyone you delegate ownership to will have exactly the same access you have. They can delegate to more people, submit URL Removal requests and manage Sitelinks in Webmaster Tools, etc. Only delegate ownership to people you trust!

Source

Like many other well-known organizations, we face cyber attacks of varying degrees on a regular basis. In mid-December, we detected a highly sophisticated and targeted attack on our corporate infrastructure originating from China that resulted in the theft of intellectual property from Google. However, it soon became clear that what at first appeared to be solely a security incident–albeit a significant one–was something quite different.

First, this attack was not just on Google. As part of our investigation we have discovered that at least twenty other large companies from a wide range of businesses–including the Internet, finance, technology, media and chemical sectors–have been similarly targeted. We are currently in the process of notifying those companies, and we are also working with the relevant U.S. authorities.

Second, we have evidence to suggest that a primary goal of the attackers was accessing the Gmail accounts of Chinese human rights activists. Based on our investigation to date we believe their attack did not achieve that objective. Only two Gmail accounts appear to have been accessed, and that activity was limited to account information (such as the date the account was created) and subject line, rather than the content of emails themselves.

Third, as part of this investigation but independent of the attack on Google, we have discovered that the accounts of dozens of U.S.-, China- and Europe-based Gmail users who are advocates of human rights in China appear to have been routinely accessed by third parties. These accounts have not been accessed through any security breach at Google, but most likely via phishing scams or malware placed on the users’ computers.

We have already used information gained from this attack to make infrastructure and architectural improvements that enhance security for Google and for our users. In terms of individual users, we would advise people to deploy reputable anti-virus and anti-spyware programs on their computers, to install patches for their operating systems and to update their web browsers. Always be cautious when clicking on links appearing in instant messages and emails, or when asked to share personal information like passwords online. You can read more here about our cyber-security recommendations. People wanting to learn more about these kinds of attacks can read this U.S. government report (PDF), Nart Villeneuve’s blog andthis presentation on the GhostNet spying incident.

We have taken the unusual step of sharing information about these attacks with a broad audience not just because of the security and human rights implications of what we have unearthed, but also because this information goes to the heart of a much bigger global debate about freedom of speech. In the last two decades, China’s economic reform programs and its citizens’ entrepreneurial flair have lifted hundreds of millions of Chinese people out of poverty. Indeed, this great nation is at the heart of much economic progress and development in the world today.

We launched Google.cn in January 2006 in the belief that the benefits of increased access to information for people in China and a more open Internet outweighed our discomfort in agreeing to censor some results. At the time we made clear that “we will carefully monitor conditions in China, including new laws and other restrictions on our services. If we determine that we are unable to achieve the objectives outlined we will not hesitate to reconsider our approach to China.”

These attacks and the surveillance they have uncovered–combined with the attempts over the past year to further limit free speech on the web–have led us to conclude that we should review the feasibility of our business operations in China. We have decided we are no longer willing to continue censoring our results on Google.cn, and so over the next few weeks we will be discussing with the Chinese government the basis on which we could operate an unfiltered search engine within the law, if at all. We recognize that this may well mean having to shut down Google.cn, and potentially our offices in China.

The decision to review our business operations in China has been incredibly hard, and we know that it will have potentially far-reaching consequences. We want to make clear that this move was driven by our executives in the United States, without the knowledge or involvement of our employees in China who have worked incredibly hard to make Google.cn the success it is today. We are committed to working responsibly to resolve the very difficult issues raised.

Posted by David Drummond, SVP, Corporate Development and Chief Legal Officer

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