This Week in Digital Media: Google+, a true competitor for Facebook?

If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. This seems to be the motto for Google’s dev. team as they recently launched “Google+”, a new social media networking tool that is said to be the first real rival to Facebook. Some reviews are in, with many expressing both the positive and negative aspects, but it has yet to hit the major market and be judged by tens of millions of eager consumers. Google+ will be about networks, and emphasize who sees what on your profile; a privacy feature that has many people thinking this might be a more professional and viable solution. Where Facebook arguably got its popularity from pushing the envelope of privacy, Google+ is marketing itself to a crowd that is looking for specific people, and things to network about …and maybe share some photos as well.

What does this mean for businesses? There is no denying that a Facebook presence for business is critical for branding and advertising. With more than 750 Million reported users worldwide, Facebook allows companies, musicians, brands to be existent online. However, Google has announced that no “business” profiles are available at the moment. Speculators say this is due in part because of the initial testing period. But as usual, Google was ambiguous as to where their new social network tool will expand its market.

Regardless, getting users to ditch Facebook will be quite a task. But that’s not to say it can’t be done. Witness what happened with Myspace and the company’s recent news.

As far as gaining attention, Google has done a great job of creating a “buzz”, and It will be intriguing to see what Google does to promote its new product. Whether or not they open the service to companies and artists is up to them. But it appears as if that would be the next step to becoming a real competitor.