2 
Venture Beat is reporting that there’s an extra Google+ feature that wasn’t announced at yesterday’s I/O, which sucks content from other sites for you. Sounds like it might be only way you’ll ever post anything to your profile.
Called Google+ History, it’s an API that lets you add — retrospectively, if you wish — statuses, pictures, purchases and whatever the hell else information you like to share, direct from other social network accounts like Twitter and Foursquare. The API automatically drags content and dumps it, historically, on your page.
The idea, it seems, is to allow everyone with an empty Google+ page — that’ll be most of us, then? — to fill it up with content that has previously been posted online. It’s a bit like buying a new house that you don’t want to live in, then filling it with all your old junk from your adolescence so it looks used. Used, yes. Only a little hollow and depressing at the same time.
Combined with the upgraded Google+ feature, most notably Events, can it make people take notice of the social networking site? Probably not. [Venture Beat]
Riker Ipsum Is the Nerdiest Way to Fill Your Site
Google Wants To Starve Piracy Sites to Death
Train Company Site Update Delayed by... Bad Weather
You lot don’t like Google Plus much, do you?
After reading someone argue why they don’t use G+, I realised it is due to lack of knowledge on the tool and lack of will to give it a try. Funny enough, they decide it is best to criticise it, probably to hide the fact that they have no clue what it does.
If that person is me, here’s my defence: I used it a fair bit on the official Giz UK account, for the first few months, but we saw no return on our digital marketing there (unlike Facebook and Twitter), and our digital marketing team confirmed none of our other official pages were seeing anything like the response they do on Facebook and Twitter.
I assumed that that could be because we were an editorial brand, and maybe it’s just not suited to Google+, but speaking to O2′s online person, they don’t see any interaction with users there either, nor get much click-through etc. This could all mean it’s just individuals that are better suited to it, unlike brands which do so well out of Facebook and Twitter, but what I do know is that a site should be easy to navigate and able to pick up easily within five minutes. Sam and I both spent about 15 minutes each using it last week, and actually said we should learn to use it properly, to see what Darrell, you, and the other 30 or so readers get out of it, but honestly…life is too short.
Arguably, most brands don’t do as well on G+ as people. You would be much better off using G+ simply as Kat rather than GizUK. You might even attract some new readers to the site that way.
Whatever you might think of the user numbers given by Google (how come nobody questions Facebook numbers? Oh wait, they’ve started doing it now) it is the third largest social network out there and you’re not really doing yourselves any favours simply ignoring it wholesale.
And articles like this one are just trolling.
I don’t run a company, and no one really knows what is good for the other. Maybe and this is a big maybe Google+ was not intended for companies in the begining and it has changed a bit?
O2 also has a different crowd with different mentality, what you have created here is a community and people love the site, I have never heard or read anyone saying they love 02.
I just don’t like to see things bashed when there is no foundation for the bashing. During the IO yesterday Google revealed the numbers, 250 million registered users and 150 million active.
I do like Google’s products but I am hardly blinded with fanboism, as soon as someone does something better I jump ship (the iPhone, Sony, Nokia and Motorola were once my favourites), in the end we are paying for these people to give us the best and not the other way around.
I must confess that I do feel sad that you don’t like G+ it would have been great to have the next meetup organised on it with features like photo sharing, live comments and all it would probably make the event even better (assuming that I will get an invitation).
It was not directed at you, but the one below is.
At last but not least, you know I love Giz UK, and there is no doubt you are doing a great job, and by you I mean all of you.
P.S. If one of the options to register on Giz UK was using G+, maybe the numbers would be greater on hits.
I found this article the other day that really sums up many of my feelings about the service, I know many people dont give the site the time of day but investing time in Google+ does pay off with interesting content http://www.androidpolice.com/2012/06/28/welcome-to-google-your-social-network-is-finally-ready-so-what-are-you-waiting-on/
In that case, there are other features that have been there for a while like:
What’s hot
Using the #tags to find cool topics you are interested.
I honestly suggest Giz staff and others spending 20 minutes browsing G+, so you can see what you are missing. I also suggest that you do this on a computer and not a phone, use the phone after you learned the basic like adding circles.
i have facebook that people use, why would i use G+?
It may be better, i don’t know, but none of my mates use it and lets face it, the people who do, are Google fanatics.
If your mates use it, and you are unwilling to change I respect. But bashing something you don’t know how to use and don’t know what kind of people use it is ridiculous.
I wont “bash” something unless i have tried it, like i said, it might be the best thing since the wheel, but if i can only talk to myself on it, no point.
The bash part was not for you it was more for the recent articles.
I like to try new things and G+ gives me a completely different and better experience than anything else.
I do use Facebook because of family and some friends, because they are unwilling to try and a small part would probably not even know how to use it, but I find the whole experience painfull and limited.
Oh look, more G+ bashing, there’s a novelty.
No doubt with some of the comments coming out over the last few days, I suspect the ban hammer’s gonna be wielded at least once or twice.
With articles like this piece ‘o’ cr@p, written purely to antagonise, is it any wonder the green section of readers from this site are getting a little wound up.
Maybe next time, rather than researching and writing through apple tinted glasses, you could have merely provided the information and not the clearly biased view you have of Google+.
before any retorts, I feel i must apologise to the Apple fans here. My reference to the authour being an Apple fanboi is unfounded. In my defence, the peeps on here usually sit in either one of 2 camps: apple and android, with the windows phone and rim fans sat on the edge having a good old chuckle and occasionally taking one on the chin when everyone else turns round and gangs up
Whatever this guys beef is, it’s totally unnecessary to provide such a biased article knowing full well what the kind of reader base there is here.
i’m a windows phone fan and i’ve never rim’d fans sat on the edge….
A.) We don’t ban anyone here on Giz UK.
B.) Commenters labelling writers/editors fanboys does nothing for their argument.
C.) Read my response to Mhatti3000 above.
sorry Kat,
if you saw my own reply to my comment an hour before you made yours, you’ll see i retracted my fanboy comment against the author as i felt i’d been quite harsh, the remaining part of that comment more light hearted about the fanboy commenters on here having kind hearted pops at each other.
With regards to Giz UK not getting any revenue from G+, that’s fair enough. Business is business, can’t make a buck somewhere then don’t keep flogging it. But essentially declaring it a load of crap because a)Giz doesn’t make any money there and b) because you and Sam couldn’t suss it out in 15 mins is a bit harsh. I’ve spent a reasonable amount of time with apple products, and apart from itunes which is some kinda spawn of satan (kidding), I don’t get them at all but appreciate that they’re well put together and other people get their kicks that way.
Last line of your post to Mhatti3000 though… not to sure that’s a good thing. If spending a bit of time learning how to use a piece of software (esp one that is big news at present) to interact with your readership is not worth your time… then why are you even responding to comments?
I apologise if it sounds harsh, but after retyping this a ton of times, I can’t think of any better way to write it.
Think you misunderstood me — it’s not revenue; it’s return. No-one was clicking the links or interacting, in the way they do on FB and Twitter.
While I am pleased 30 of our readers enjoy talking about Giz articles on Google+, I can interact with 5,000 commenters here in our comments fields. As it is, I am so busy with day-to-day work I don’t get much of a chance to write posts anymore — but I certainly try and take the time to reply to comments here. Ultimately I want to boost our readership and comments here; not pay FB/Twitter/Google+ the page views. FB and Twitter help redirect readers back to Giz; Google+, however well-meaning our commenters are over there, just doesn’t have that same return.
This is the last comment I’ll say on the matter, as I’m in a gruelling schedule of conferences and meetings today. I’m pleased people are so passionate about the site, and Google+ — if everyone had the same opinion as me, or the site, it’d be a pretty dull world.
You realise that if you removed from Facebook all the content that’s cross-posted from other websites, you’d be left with nothing?