Google+ vs. Facebook

Most of us have been following the hype about Google+, the new social networking platform that has picked up more than 10 million members over only two weeks. For the first time, it looks as though Facebook could be facing a real competitor in social media from an advertising opportunity. This week, Google closed its application process for companies to be included in the test phase of Google+ and companies are rushing to “get in on the ground floor.” http://adage.com Google’s expertise in search gives Google+ an incredible edge in advertising. As David Williams, CEO of Blinq Media, puts it: “While Facebook knows who you are, Google knows what you want…Facebook has interest data, but not intent data…Google will have a tremendous amount of intent data that could allow them to create a better ad model for social than Facebook -- a very, very powerful ad model." Despite these advantages, the extent of Google+’s success is still uncertain. The network is still a baby and we don’t know what it will do with its brand pages. We also don’t know what kinds of users it will capture. Finally, who is to say that its members will outnumber Facebook’s? It’s possible that Facebook’s 750 million active users are the only ones who will open a Google+ account, without closing their Facebook accounts, in which case both social networks would become equal rivals. Under that scenario, Google should still be very pleased. Google would have to find more ways to differentiate itself in its advertising capabilities. Any ideas on how Google+ could make itself more appealing to companies than Facebook?