After confusion, Google+ WILL make business pages available to 'one and all'

"Yes we did make a mistake" says head honcho Gundotra. Now business pages will be available to all in two months

One thing that shouldn't have been a surprise to Google was the massive demand from brands and companies for profiles on Google+, said AdAge magazine. 

 "After all, Facebook brand pages and Twitter brand accounts have existed for years." Yet it happened! First, Google suspended profiles created for brands, such as Mashable and Sesame Street. Then they restored just one -- the Ford Motor Company - saying "they reserved the right to use Ford for testing purposes."  Next Google collected thousands of applications for a limited number of business accounts - then dropped that idea saying instead that business profiles would become available to "one and all" all in the next two months, reported AdAge.  Google social head Vic Gundotra told TechCrunch that he "made a mistake" in his handling of business accounts.  Despite the confusion, brands are said to be still looking forward to trying out what appears to be the only real competitor Facebook has seen in years.  Shiv Singh, global head of digital at PepsiCo, said Google+ had great potential because it combined the best of social media. "Google+ tries to take the best from Facebook and the best from Twitter and brings it together." Singh told AdAge he was looking forward to getting from Google+ what Google is good at: analytics, something that others say is missing from Facebook.   Scott Monty, Ford social media head, said they were looking forward to the in-depth analytics from Google. Reason: targeting is important for the company, which launches different cars in different parts of the year all over the world. Other firms are relaxed about the delay in getting access. "I'm happy waiting a bit," said Singh  of PepsiCo. " I know they're putting in the rigour behind developing the right analytics and designing the brand pages so they meet business needs."   An analyst for Commodore USA said they did a quick test on on G+ "until we got suspended . . . engagement levels seemed high."  He urged Google to get business pages up and running well ahead of the Christmas selling season "so that businesses can integrate G+ into holiday marketing efforts with appropriate planning and monitoring." That seems to be the idea!   Note: See also earlier analysis by Murray Calder