Over at Sitepronews today, Joseph Piracci wrote “Google+: The Next Big Thing or Another Google Failure?”
He covered google’s list of previous forays into social media, that they didn’t get right, didn’t understand, or just didn’t give enough time to.
He says, “There are some conspiracy theorists out there that believe Google doesn’t care how long people spend on their Plus profiles. They believe that all Google cares about is gathering as much information on their users as possible the way Facebook does in order to eventually deliver customized ads and increase their already large revenue stream.”
I think he hits the nail on the head right there, and then suggests Google+ may only survive if they can find a way “to create an environment that better engages their users.”
A Bet Each Way
Joseph has an each-way bet, and isn’t prepared to give up on Google yet, “While I don’t think it is likely that Google+ will ever seriously compete with Facebook, I wouldn’t put anything past Google. With their immense resources, talented engineers and the lessons they have learned from their past failures, it is possible they may one day become a minor nuisance to Mark Zuckerberg.”
In my answer to Joseph, I really want to say Google+ will never match Facebook – “Not in a million years” but maybe that’s a bit too harsh – but only a little bit.
The big problem is that google just doesn’t “get it.”
The big problem for google, is Google. Its all about them. They don’t care about anyone else. They don’t interact. They don’t give back. They think they can just build cool technology and everyone will use it. And if people don’t, they just pay people to use it, until they get bored and then they add more bells and whistles.
Google Is Netscape On Steroids
Google is basically Netscape on steroids. Netscape cried foul against Microsoft, but Netscape did it all to themselves, because they couldn’t build a product that actually worked flawlessly, that people wanted, and that had a great fit and finish.
Google are just business destroyers. They want to destroy everyone else so they can be successful and that’s not the way you create friends or supporters. It definitely isn’t social. What you create is enemies and people that hate your guts.
But its not likely Google will know that, because they aren’t listening. They keep preaching to us about how we should do things for our visitors, not for search engines, but when we try to talk to them, they don’t listen, they just do what they want to do. Note to google – we are YOUR visitors, stop treating us like garbage.
Yes, I hate their guts, and I can’t live very well without them, but that doesn’t mean I have to like them. And they don’t care if I like them or not, because they aren’t listening. They are too busy doing their own thing, acting like prima donnas.
That’s my two cents, and that’s the reason I believe Google+ will never beat facebook, unless facebook stumbles and kills itself, or someone with a better attitude takes control of google.
What do you think?