Google+ Search: Killer Threat to Social Media

If you were to search a company’s official page on a social networking website, how would you search for it? Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn are built in with a search tool, so most of you will directly use this tool. However, the results displayed by the tool integrated on social networking websites are not as appropriate as the results displayed on Google’s result page. Google has used these skills of indexation and display to make the Google+ experience better than its social competitors.

In order to make this concept clearer, I will cite an example. Most of us are fond of coffee, and one of the most leading brands catering our caffeine cravings is Starbucks. If you typed in ‘Starbucks’ in the search box on Facebook, there will be a number of results displayed, and it is not necessary that the company’s official page is displayed first. However, if you searched for the same keyword on Google, the search engine’s result page will certainly display Starbuck’s official webpage on the top.

On Facebook, the top page listing is based on the page that has the maximum number of likes and visits, which is not what the user is actually looking for. Google has a more sophisticated search algorithm, which caters to a user’s needs appropriately. G+ does not allow business profiles yet, but the results displayed are better than those displayed by Facebook.

Google+ as a social networking website has marked its presence very quickly among the masses, by generating over 25 million users in the past few months. The usage and sharing seems to have dropped down, according to the online marketing circles. To retain its user’s interest in G+, Google needs to leverage its positive factor, that is: discovery.

Google+ offers well organized search results. It segregates the results under various tabs like people, Google+ Posts, and Sparks, to make the website user friendly. If G+ wants to capture the total interest of users in the social media arena, it should implement Google’s idea of continuous innovation. Once G+ starts allowing business profiles, the competition for Facebook and other social networks will be at its peak.

Webma