Google+ is disrupting the business models of pureplay social networks; here's how to use it to your advantage.

1. Making Disruption Profitable™
How Google+ Will Trivialize
Pureplay Social Networks
Opportunities 2012-2013
Entire contents © 2010-2012 by Christopher S. Rollyson

2. Agenda
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Background
– How search works
– How social data is different
– How Google+ combines social and search to change the game
– Google’s business model much more robust and why that’s
important
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Opportunity
– Debunking conventional wisdom
– Google+ functionality and opportunities
– Features and how firms can use them
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Recommendations for 2012
Copyrighted
material
Confidential
1/24/2012
Social Business for Enterprise, Government & Small Business
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3. Background: My Perspective
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25 years experience as management
consultant and line executive
Expertise: disruptive innovation, strategy
and transformation
Strategy and execution for game-changers:
Java, e-business, SOA, Web 2.0, social networks
Founded CSRA in 2006 to advise commercial and government
enterprises on social business
Copyrighted
material
Confidential
1/24/2012
Social Business for Enterprise, Government & Small Business
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4. Background: Conventional Wisdom: “Google
Failed Social”
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Orkut—social network launched in 2004
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Dodgeball—geosocial app acquired in 2005
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Jaiku—microblog app acquired in 2007
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Google Wave—Launched in 2009, integrated functions of
email, IM, photo sharing and groupware
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Google Buzz—Launched in 2010
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Google+—Launched in 2011
Copyrighted
material
Confidential
1/24/2012
Social Business for Enterprise, Government & Small Business
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5. Background: Conventional Wisdom: “Google
Failed Social”
Orkut—social network launched in 2004
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Dodgeball—geosocial app acquired in 2005
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Jaiku—microblog app acquired in 2007
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Google Wave—Launched in 2009, integrated functions of
email, IM, photo sharing and groupware
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Google Buzz—Launched in 2010
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Google+—Launched in 2011
#
F
A
IL
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Copyrighted
material
Confidential
1/24/2012
Social Business for Enterprise, Government & Small Business
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6. •
Social action: "an action is 'social' if the
acting individual takes account of the
behavior of others and is thereby oriented
in its course” (Max Weber)*
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Pureplay value proposition
– More engagement
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Google+ value proposition
– Infusing search with social
Action
Background: The Anatomy of a Social Action
Social
Explicit
Implicit
Copyrighted
material
Confidential
1/24/2012
* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_actions
Social Business for Enterprise, Government & Small Business
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7. Background: Social Network Business Models
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Twitter: still searching
LinkedIn: diverse revenue streams
Facebook: growing on size and gaming
Google: in a class by itself, revenue from Google+ not needed
300 million users
120 million users
$243 million (2010)
800 million users
$4,270 million (2011)
90 million users*
Source: Wikipedia
$45 million (2010)
$29,321 million (2010)
* Projected 400 million, December 2012 - Website-Monitoring
Copyrighted
material
Confidential
1/24/2012
Social Business for Enterprise, Government & Small Business
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8. Background: Big Idea
Pureplays pale in comparison
to Google: it can outinvest
them and create synergies
with Internet search
Copyrighted
material
Confidential
1/24/2012
Social Business for Enterprise, Government & Small Business
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9. Strategy: Introduction to Google+
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Profile, friends, circles
One Wall.. but also Walls for each circle
Share updates, photos, videos and +1 (likes)
Photo & video albums: powerful editing tools
Google authentication across the Web
Hangouts: real-time video chat
Analogous to Twitter and Facebook, but...
– No 140 character limit
– No need for advertising (that’s not the model)
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Copyrighted
material
Confidential
1/24/2012
Sharing is easy and clean, one click
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Friends and Extended friends
Any combination of Circles
Individual user [is a private message]
The Public
Social Business for Enterprise, Government & Small Business
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10. Strategy: Google+ Balance Sheet
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Strengths
– Social actions juice search results
• Internet searches more relevant to buying than social networks’
• Normal Google combined with “social network effect”
– More focused, less advertising
– Seamless integration with other Google products
– Android ecosystem will introduce mobile advantages
– Your competitors don’t understand it
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Weaknesses
– Mink oiled boots syndrome
– Less obvious value proposition for users
– Potential antitrust impact
Copyrighted
material
Confidential
1/24/2012
• FTC investigating whether Google unfairly advantages Google+
results
• Think Microsoft desktop+browser
Social Business for Enterprise, Government & Small Business
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11. Strategy: Google+ Strategy: Add Social to Search
SPYW
Search
Plus Your World
Copyrighted
material
Confidential
1/24/2012
Social Business for Enterprise, Government & Small Business
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12. Strategy: Google+ Strategy: Add Social to Search
SPYW
Search
Plus Your World
Copyrighted
material
Confidential
1/24/2012
Social Business for Enterprise, Government & Small Business
10

13. Strategy: Google+ Strategy: Add Social to Search
SPYW
Search
Plus Your World
Copyrighted
material
Confidential
1/24/2012
Social Business for Enterprise, Government & Small Business
10

14. Strategy: Google+ Strategy: Add Social to Search
SPYW
Search
Plus Your World
Copyrighted
material
Confidential
1/24/2012
Social Business for Enterprise, Government & Small Business
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15. Strategy: Big Idea
Google has more social
transactions with people
than all other social
networks combined
Copyrighted
material
Confidential
1/24/2012
Social Business for Enterprise, Government & Small Business
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16. Opportunity: Functionality and Tools
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Circles let you segment and relate
– Different types of prospects
– Each with its own Wall
– Affect search results
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Growing developer community will add widgets
Pages for brands but better
– Circles make it easier to share with various constituencies
– Synergies with YouTube, Picasa, Docs and others
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Facebook Pages very limited, most brands have poor ROI
Internet searches more likely relevant to buying decision
– Social network searches usually relevant in pre-buying
Copyrighted
material
Confidential
1/24/2012
Social Business for Enterprise, Government & Small Business
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17. Opportunity: Circles Enable Granular Sharing
Copyrighted
material
Confidential
1/24/2012
Social Business for Enterprise, Government & Small Business
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18. Opportunity: Circles Have Their Own Walls
Copyrighted
material
Confidential
1/24/2012
Social Business for Enterprise, Government & Small Business
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19. Opportunity: Big Idea
Google+ is not a mere social
network—it combines social
actions with search to impact
Internet buyers’ decisions
Copyrighted
material
Confidential
1/24/2012
Social Business for Enterprise, Government & Small Business
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20. Recommendations: Google+ Opportunities in 2012
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Make Google+ pilots a priority if your firm invests in Internet
search/SEO/SEM
– There will clearly be disruptive advantages because social data
improves relevance (and search results)
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Explore Google+ pilots if your firm does not invest in search
– Analyze Google+ activity and memberships
– Determine how its segmentation and sharing tools compare to
your other social business investments
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Google+ will disrupt the market, so most organizations will
benefit from gaining experience with it
– Few firms understand it because they think it’s a social network
– Use their confusion to your advantage
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Copyrighted
material
Remember, Google+ is social
– It will take time to develop a quality community (in circles)
– Community sharing affects search results and buying decisions
Confidential
1/24/2012
Social Business for Enterprise, Government & Small Business
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21. Learning More: Contact
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Social Business Services
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The Social Network Roadmap
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Copyrighted
material
Confidential
1/24/2012
Methodology for platform-based social business execution
http://executivesguide-socialnetworks.com
The Global Human Capital Journal
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Social business risk mitigation methodology & toolset
http://socialnetworkroadmap.com
The Executive’s Guide to Social Networks
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How enterprises evolve sales, marketing, service, HR,
IT, Product Management...
http://socialbusinessservices.biz
CEO/CMO/CIO journal for innovation
http://globalhumancapital.org
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Social Business for Enterprise, Government & Small Business
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