After months of waiting, Google have finally rolled out business pages for their Google+ social network.

The world’s fastest-growing social network had received criticism from a variety of sources for rolling out their services piecemeal, with the lack of dedicated pages for businesses chief among the concerns voiced.

The new pages allow businesses to start conversations and connect directly with their clients, as the pages provide full access to the site’s innovative Hangout feature. And while the pages themselves aren’t as customisable as Facebook’s equivalents, there is one very special trick up Google Plus’ sleeve.

These pages are plumbed in directly to the search engine.

You’ll be able to connect your Google+ Page to your business using something called DirectConnect, which will then allow clients to search for and add themselves to your page directly by adding a + before the company name in a Google search. (For a quick demonstration, search for +Pepsi or +Toyota, and pay careful attention to what happens to the autosuggest)

However, not everyone is impressed with what Google are trying to do with Plus:

“Google… is certainly trying to build their own little version of Facebook”

Mark Zuckerberg

We think that there’s a silent “aww, bless” on the end of that statement…

Follow FirstFound’s Google+ page, Facebook page and Twitter account.

Google is expanding rapidly, making inroads into social networking, online libraries and instant communications. But it looks like some products won’t be coming along for the ride. It’s emerged today that Google Labs is being dropped entirely, while changes are in store for Google Places.

Changes were predicted following Larry Page’s announcement that Google needed “more wood behind fewer arrows”, and now the head of research for the search giant has told blog subscribers that Google needs “greater focus” in the future. And that means closing Google Labs.

Google Labs to Go

“…we’ve decided to wind down Google Labs. While we’ve learned a huge amount by launching very early prototypes in Labs, we believe that greater focus is crucial if we’re to make the most of the extraordinary opportunities ahead.

In many cases, this will mean ending Labs experiments—in others we’ll incorporate Labs products and technologies into different product areas.”

Bill Coughran – Official Google Blog

While Labs is being shut down entirely, product-specific prototypes (such as Gmail Labs and Maps Labs) will continue for as long as Google continues to innovate in the fields of email and online maps.  In this case, it looks like all of Google’s research is being taken ‘in house’ by relevant departments, as opposed to having one big public testing area.

But it’s not just the way Google does research that’s being changed.

Google Places Streamlined

Google Places is also being changed. No longer will a business’ Places page feature third party reviews. From now on, the only ratings shown to searchers using Places will come from Google itself, following complaints from Yelp and Trip Advisor.

The new streamlined Places pages feature content taken from Google’s review site ‘Hotpot‘, alongside videos from YouTube and standard Google Maps reviews. It’s also theorised that the site will be integrated further with Google’s social networking experiment, Google+.

If you want to get your business on Google Places, download our free PDF guide.

There’s been a war of words in the press. There have been malicious press releases. But now Facebook’s war with Google has heated up even further. Because it looks like Google+ has rattled more than a few pages down at Facebook HQ.

This time it’s over advertising. Specifically, a fun little advert from an application developer who posted an advert on Facebook yesterday. The wording of the advert led to a ban – and bearing in mind that Facebook’s been criticised in the past for allowing hate groups and cyberbullying, you’d be forgiven for thinking this wording must be pretty offensive.

But you’d be wrong. Here’s the advert text:

Add Michael to Google+

If you’re lucky enough to have a Google+ account,
add Michael Lee Johnson, Internet Geek,
App Developer, Technological Virtuoso.

Seems harmless enough, right? Well not to Facebook, who banned all of Mr. Johnson’s adverts and suspended his advertising account for an unspecified violation.

Seems to us that Google might just have their rivals rattled. But it wouldn’t be surprising if Facebook  stops pretending that Plus doesn’t exist and starts to unveil new features to keep their users right where they are.

We could be in for very interesting times…

If your business isn’t on Facebook and Google, you’re missing out. So take us up on our £250 Facebook Fan Page offer!

A hand-picked number of people have recieved their invites from Google. Media outlets around the world are running press releases, stories and speculation. All because Google have finally thrown their hat into the social ring with a full blown social network.

And it’s called the Google + Project. No, we don’t know why it’s got nearly the same name as the Google +1 social sharing function either.

The invite only ‘Field Trial’ begins today, with a number of leading lights in the technology industry claiming to be part of the initial testing team. Unfortunately The FirstFound Blog’s invite seems to have been lost in the post, but we can tell you a little more about the service:

What does it do?

Google are launching over 100 products as part of the + Project, including the following social tools and features:

• “Circles” - + doesn’t have an all-encompassing friends list. You get to organise your friends and contacts to make sure the right social content is shared with the right people. Your friends will hear about trips to the pub, and your colleagues will hear about your theories on Google’s latest algorithm changes.
• “Sparks” – an “online sharing engine”. This is where the +1 sharing function comes in. You can search for what interests you (remember when that was all we used Google for?), share it with friends, and probably drive them to distraction by unduly affecting their search results.
• “Hangouts” – social video chat. You can create an open, public video conversation that your friends can see, join and influence by sharing their +’d content.
• “Streams” – like a condensed Twitter, or Google’s own version of your Facebook news feed.
• “Huddle” – a mobile chat functionality that will bring together users of iOS (that’s your iPhone), Android and SMS text messages to chat.
• “Instant Upload” – Any video or picture you take on your phone is automatically uploaded to your Google+ account. We’re hoping this has stringent security, as are politicians and footballers everywhere…
• “Location” – It’s another Foursquare clone!

Is it Going to Affect SEO?

It’s too early to tell, but we’d hazard a guess and say that being signed in is going to give you personalised search results. Which is great if you share tastes with your friends. And not so great if you don’t want to end up buying the exact same clothes as your mates, just because they’ve +1′d the shop.

As for the algorithm – it wouldn’t surprise us if Google + is somehow going to be incorporated into the algorithm. Just don’t ask us how.

And what about privacy?

Privacy campaigners are going to have a fit. If you use Google +, Google can track who you talk to, who you’re friends with (and why you’re friends – socially, through school, via work, etc), what pictures you take, where you are… The list goes on.

We think this may put people off using the service – along with the fact that it’ll take something massive to turn people’s heads away from Facebook. The amount of hype surrounding today’s launch has been staggering, but we imagine the privacy backlash will be even larger.

Expect to see controversy, and lots of it.

When can we see a hands on?

In short, we don’t know. Google haven’t announced dates for an open beta, let alone a full product launch.

We’ll keep you up to date with the project as it unfolds. But for those desperate for news, Search Engine Land have promised a hands-on look at the service later today. If you’re interested, we recommend checking their site this afternoon.

(Picture from The Guardian’s piece on Google +)

Remember Google Buzz? No? Well, neither does anyone else. Especailly not Google, who seem determined to try and out-Facebook Facebook. This time, it’s with social sharing.

Forgetting that the main reason we all use Google is the clean, simple, uncluttered interface and generally trustworthy results, Google have decided to let people mix up the results they see. The new “Google +1″ button allows you to like a result, the same way that you do on Facebook. Starting from today, it’ll be integrated on a number of websites, meaning that if you log into your Google account, your results will be influenced by what your friends have been plus-oneing.

So the next time you do a search for shoes, prepare to be bombarded with your brother’s hideous taste in trainers or your cousin’s inexplicable penchant for crocs.

Fortunately, most people don’t have Google accounts, but if you do, take a leaf out of our book. Log out of your account, clear your cache and enjoy the clean, untainted results that we all know and love.

And sooner or later, +1 will disappear onto the same scrap heap as Buzz and Wave.

Probably.

Concerns over mobile phones storing information have risen, following the news that Apple’s iPhone tracks and stores a user’s every move using the handset’s GPS, and Google have acted quickly.

Schmit has announced that Google is working on a selection of projects to increase transparency. Planned improvements to Google’s current stance on user privacy include:

• A simplified Google Dashboard showing what data users share with the search engine
• Simplified Terms and Conditions, explaining just what users will share in the future
• Opt-out on data collection using Android phones

However, Schmidt did go on to stress that the more information you share with Google, the better your search results would be. Something The FirstFound Blog would be inclined to agree with if our Google searches didn’t come back packed full of “results from your history”, and “results from your RSS feed”.

As we’ve noted before, anything Google can do, Microsoft can do to a slightly lesser standard a few years later.

Not content with accusations that Bing is stealing from the Google algorithm, Microsoft have decided to unveil a brand new, never-before-seen addition to their maps functionality.

Only joking – they’re launching their own version of not-controversial-in-the-slightest service Google Streetview in Europe.In addition to the 56 US cities they’ve already mapped, Microsoft Streetside will start filming major cities around Europe next month – with mapping already underway in London.

According to Microsoft’s director of search Dave Coplin, they’re planning to combine Streetside with location-based services in a manner that in no way resembles Google Maps, Google Places or Google Hotpot.

The FirstFound Blog can’t help but wonder if innovation would serve Microsoft better than replication.

To mark Gagarin’s pioneering flight, the major search engines have commissioned logos and backdrops to help people learn more about the first man to travel into space and orbit the Earth.

Google

Google’s latest logo is in a distinctive Soviet style. It depicts Gagarin in a Soviet space suit, and features an animated Vostok 1 launch. Clicking onto the logo takes you through to a Google search for the term ‘Yuri Gagarin’.

Bing

Bing carry on the space theme, with a picture of the recently decommissioned Space Shuttle Discovery orbiting the earth. The search suggestion popups mention Gagarin’s flight, and prompt you to learn more. Bing also suggest you watch the cult Channel 4 comedy ‘Spaced’ (starring Simon Pegg, Jessica Stevenson and Nick Frost) – a suggestion that the FirstFound Blog staunchly agrees with.

Yahoo

And finally, Yahoo mark the anniversary of man’s conquest of the cosmos by announcing that Katrina Bowden is attractive to Esquire readers. Truly epoch-making stuff, I’m sure you’ll agree.

If you spot any other search tributes to Gagarin, Vostok I or the space race, let us know on Facebook or Twitter, or drop us a comment in the box below.

Ahead of today’s budget, people across the UK are expecting a fair few libraries to close – but over in the USA, judge Denny Chin has dealt a blow to what could have been the largest library in existence.

Google has scanned millions of books from some of the world’s greatest libraries, including Oxford’s Bodleian and Harvard’s library, so that they can be made available through Google’s eBooks platform.

However, as with everything Google do, pople have complained – this time it’s been authors, publishers and (predictably) rival firms twisting the knife. Google thought the project would go through, following an out of court settlement in 2008, but judge Chin’s ruling seems to spell the end for the Google Library.

The ruling hinged on the fact that Google hadn’t asked for permission before scanning books, and were adamant that an opt-in solution wouldn’t work. As this threw up potential copyright issues, the process has to be stopped.

Google will however be allowed to scan in works that are out of copyright – which gives them access to over two million books, including the entire works of William Shakespeare.

Poor Google. When they’re not being accused of spying on customers, they’re having to stop third parties from spying on their customers.

Over 50 applications infected with phone monitoring tools were added to Google’s Android Marketplace (their equivalent of Apple’s iPhone App Store). The infected programmes carried a virus called DroidDream that allows unscrupulous developers to monitor data sent from Android-powered handsets.

Google claim that they acted quickly, removing the programmes from the Marketplace and from users phones (via the medium of a killswitch) within minutes of learning of the attack.

If you use an Android phone, Google advise that you should always check the list of permissions when you install an app. If something is asking for access to too many things, you may want to think twice before you hit download.