Google+ Has New Rivals

There is no denying that there has been an ongoing battle between Facebook and Google+ on which platform is better. However, with online presence for over a year now, Google has taken a different approach in its new feature updates.

Google has released a new set of tools for businesses on Google+. The tools are available for free through the end of 2013 while Google will continue to add more features and administrative controls designed for organizations. Once the New Year hits, users will then need to pay a subscription to Google’s cloud-based software for businesses to receive access.

The new features include:

• Private Sharing: Users now have more control over the content that they post on Google+. Posts now have the ability to be labeled as “restricted.” This will limit the post’s visibility to those inside your organization and cannot be re-shared with anyone on the outside.
• Administrative Controls: To help insure users are sharing only with the people they intend, admins can now set up company-wide sharing defaults for posts and Hangouts.
• Hangout & Calendar Integration: Now, users can attach Hangouts to Google Calendar events, enabling attendees to join a Hangout directly from the Calendar entry or original invite that was sent directly from Gmail.

Google reports that these new features are just the beginning and that they are planning to introduce a mobile version of Google+ as well.

With the introduction of these new features, Google seems to be stepping away from being Facebook’s potential rival. The corporate approach that Google is now taking is steered more to becoming a rival for Yammer and Salesforce Chatter. Both of these platforms are for employee collaboration rather than personal socialization. Both are labeled “Enterprise Social Network,” which seems like the direction Google+ is trying to take. Not to mention, before the end of 2013, Google+ business features will be free of charge, just like Yammer and Salesforce Chatter.

When comparing Yammer and Salesforce Chatter to Google+, all three networks offer privacy among content that is shared over the networks, messaging capabilities with your employees, administrative controls and privacy, etc. So with the switch to a more business environment, did Google+ finally realize that it stands as no match to Facebook or are they actually trying to revert themselves to being business friendly on top of being social?

What do you think of the new businesses tools? Do you think Google+ is Yammer and Salesforce Chatter’s new rival?