The “Google Experience”
As Stich so succinctly put it, “I can’t believe it.“
Though I differ as to what I can’t believe. The big two surprising things throughout all of this are Google’s sudden “firing on all cylinders” approach and their Apple-esque marketing.
Google usually takes baby steps with their products. Their first miserable and failed attempt at the social space, Buzz, was a big baby step, but a baby step nonetheless. It was incorporated into Gmail for all users. Annoying, but to many, barely noticeable. The Google+ approach is different. That’s because it’s not a social approach at all. It’s a Google approach, an approach to the entirety of Google.
While testing out their Google+ product on a what seems to be a pretty massive scale, Google is simultaneously overhauling their entire interface and experience. They’re in the midst of putting all of the content that everyone uses in one extremely convenient place. And everyone is already used to (and using) the toolbar. Google just made a couple of changes to it. When G+ hits prime time, everyone will already be ready and trained for the interface.
Facebook can only dream of this.
Meanwhile, Google is up on the advertising front with the videos it put out. They were like the best Apple can put out. I get annoyed with catchy hipster tunes and contrived “family” moments in Apple ads as much as the next guy but they’re nothing if not effective. They’re what people want out of their devices and software: an easy way to connect with family & friends, fast access to their music and videos, etc. This is exactly what Google did. And they managed to do it with none of the pretense.
Google is engaging in a whole new ball game here and they’re doing it with style. They want the web to be a “Google experience” and for the first time, it looks like they might be ready to do it.
