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A great summary of the way brands are approaching Google+ and what is in it for them from Andrew Blakeley @ The Wall Blog

– They don’t see this as a “Facebook killer” and said several times during the meeting, “you’ll still need Facebook, and you’ll still need Twitter”

– They don’t see it as as social network, rather a social enhancement to the whole web. One day everyone will need a G+ account because it’s practically impossible to use the internet without using Google owned sites.

– It’ll be nice and open for competitions for brands, UNLESS they are trying to use them to gain +1s on their content, in order to affect search results. You will be able to use inclusion in Circles as an incentive for contests.

– The +1 Button is going to be huge. By owning a brand page and using +1 Buttons on your other owned sites, you create a link between them, demonstrating that they are official, and improving search rankings.

– +1 Buttons will appear on all ads in the Google Display Network. +1ing them will count towards the final landing URL. Users will be served more relevant ads than ever, based on their friends’ +1s and ad clicks.

– Circles will be great for segmentation. Brands will be able to segment their users into different circles and push out different messages to each.

– G+ will be a testing ground for ideas – trying them on a small circle of fans – say 100 – and seeing how that goes before pushing an idea to the entire consumer base.

– Hangouts are the main distinction from Facebook. The ability to host hangouts with fans, and consumers, and then publish them to YouTube for the whole world to see is likely to become much more normal. Only 10-15 may be able to participate at once, but thousands can watch a “stadium” hangout.

– People are already using Hangouts innovatively, from Dolly Parton chatting to fans, to hosting focus groups, to creating a remote baby-sitting tool.

– Another thing that may be useful for brands is the Android App and Instant Upload – imagine being at a brand event and being able to put the pics up, for everyone who couldn’t make it, in seconds.

– The Android app and Instant Upload will make brand events more instantly shareable to the web. Imagine being at a brand event and being able to put the pics up, for everyone who couldn’t make it, in seconds, without having to go through any complicated upload sequences.

via What Google+ will mean for brands | The Wall Blog.