Google+ launches pages for brands and businesses

Today Google+ has officially opened its doors to brands and businesses looking to create dedicated pages, not just individuals according to the Official Google Blog.

It’s called Google+ Pages (no surprises there then) and basically allows all kinds of businesses to interact in the same way individuals do on the social network, taking part in hangouts, adding people to circles and updating statuses. Just like Facebook’s “like” button, users can “+1” a page to show their affiliation with that brand or business. There aren’t really that many other differences to shout about when it comes to your experience of Google+ now businesses are finally in the mix, so if you’re a big fan you can breathe a sigh of relief.

A number of brands have already set up their own +Page, like Angry Birds, Pepsi and The Muppets. There’s even a Google page for the team behind the big brand, which showcases some of its best doodles in the photo bar at the top.

The thing we like most about the new pages, is they can be found so easily from within a regular Google search. The new way of discovering +Pages is called Direct Connect and basically this means you type “+” followed by a brand to find its Google+ page. So for the page above we’d just type “+Angry Birds” into Google and it’ll bring up the Angry Birds Google+ page right at the top.

Last week we wrote a post about the fact many of us have forgotten about Google+ a little, still favouring the likes of Twitter and Facebook when it comes to daily updates and stalking. We imagine that Google+ Pages will really divide current users, driving some deeper into the social network and enhancing their experience of the site or turning some off for good.