Snowballing
Google has managed to get its iPhone app for Google+ approved by Apple a mere three weeks after the launch of the new social networking service.
The release of the iPhone app was announced, over Google+ of course, by Google SVP of social Vic Gundotra. "iPhone, meet Google+," he wrote. "Share just the right stuff, with just the right circles :-) This app should be rolling out over the next few hours. Try getting it here: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/google/id447119634?ls=1&mt=8" But be warned, the link will probably automatically open iTunes.
Now TechCrunch is reporting that the app is already the number one free app in the US Apple app store. The online app store charts don't reflect this, but maybe they derive their information from a different source. Either way, this is further evidence that Google+ has captured the popular imagination, and not just Google enthusiasts.
There has been a spate of blog posts from the self-anointed tech elite seeming to declare, as is so often the case, that everything else is now obsolete and sooo last week. On the flip side many commentators, including this one, think Google+ has promise, but until you can properly sync it via service like TweetDeck, it's too much hassle to keep on top of, especially when you already have at least two other social networking accounts on the go.
Things like this will presumably addressed in due course, and while there will be many times when people post to Facebook, Twitter and Google+ simultaneously, the latter will also establish its own niche. As Gundotra was keen to stress, Circles is already a popular feature, as is group video chat. So maybe Google+ will become the more cliquey service.
It certainly seems to have already got Facebook's attention. TechCrunch was once more the source of a story that Facebook pulled an ad on the site by some chap looking for more Google+ contacts. To be fair to Facebook, its terms of service do ban the advertising of competing products, but is this a sign that Facebook is taking Google+ more seriously than it's letting on?
