Latest Google+ user figures will 'blow your mind', according to Google UK head of agency Matt Bush
Google UK's head of agency, Matt Bush, has promised that the next set of user figures released for Google+ will “blow your mind”, although he admitted that the platform still “had work to do”.
Comments: Matt Bush was speaking at Social Media Week London
Speaking at Social Media Week London, the often-asked question about the seeming lack of uptake for Google+ was put to Bush, to which he explained: “It's not just about the stream,” adding that many of Google's other services such as search, Gmail, YouTube, Android and maps, were linked to the platform and regularly used.
“It's not just about bringing people to the main stream, although that does have enormous growth in those numbers,” he explained. He was unable to reveal exactly what those numbers were, however, but promised that people would be surprised when the next set was released.
“That's the difference in the way that we view social and the way that others view social with most sites just about getting people to their destination, and then keeping them for as long as they can,” he went on. “Ours is about how we can add social to our products. You might not feel that you are on Google+, but if you are on YouTube, search, there is interaction possibility there.”
He continued: “We don't want to be another Facebook or Twitter, which is why we haven't really been bothered about trying to tell that story too radically because we can see that the numbers are going up, and engagement is going up.”
Recent figures from GlobalWebIndex claimed Google+ had become the second ‘most actively used’ network next to Facebook, with 318.4 million active users across 31 markets.
Bush predicted that “over time” users would begin to see the benefits of engaging through the platform.
“Critically, we are not a platform that is about connecting you with your friends,” he said. “That's not necessarily what we are trying to add.
“What it is about is trying to offer people the information they want at the right time and searching for information or people that you care about or take information from, when you want it most. That's the overarching strategy.”
Yesterday, Google announced the integration of Google+ comments into YouTube and today added hash tags into its search function.
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