Why brands shouldn’t rush to Google+

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dan.goodswen

Why Brands Shouldn't rush to get Google+

Google+ may have have launched their long-awaited pages, but brands shouldn’t necessarily rush to sign up.

It seems the search giant have jumped the proverbial gun, with pages currently having no option for multi-admin access, no way to transfer pages between owners, and no option to add a vanity URL.

Addressing concerns from users in the Google+ forums, Google+ Community Manager Toby S. gave an update on the status of branded pages;

First, there is no multi-admin functionality yet, but it is a priority for our team and coming very soon!

Second, our team is working on a way to transfer page ownership so that, if a page owner leaves his or her company, the brand page can be maintained. That’s also coming very soon.

Toby also weighed in on the subject of vanity URLs;

I can not speak to long-term plans for vanity URLs, but it is currently not a priority for our team and I would proceed under the assumption that they will not become available.

This seems to be something of a #fail for the Google+ team, who launched the pages to much fanfare yesterday.

Even brands that have embraced social are still nervous about the prospect of losing a page due to a staff member leaving the company or going rogue.

Having multi-admin access on social channels not only allows the whole team to take part in community and brand management, but also acts as a security blanket – brands know they won’t lose the page if they lose a staff member.

The way Google+ brand pages are currently set-up, there is no way to safeguard against this.

Brands are also increasingly pointing fans directly to branded social channels through traditional media, by including their Twitter handles and vanity Facebook URL on everything from television spots and billboards to magazines and digital banners.

Not having the option of a vanity URL will be a difficult sell for brands, leaving them with the choice of either including the long-form URL, complete with a 21-character number ID, or asking them to Google their name with a ‘+’ in front, i.e. +We Are Social Australia

While it may seem necessary to rush out and set-up a branded page to stay ahead of the curve, we’d advise proceeding with caution until at least multi-admin access is enabled.

With the success of the platform depending on Google’s ability to entice brands to use pages, they might not just be a case of jumping the gun, but of also shooting themselves in the foot.

What are your thoughts; major fail? Or too soon to tell? Leave us a comment below…