Google+ (also nicknamed G+, Google Plus, Plus) is quickly hitting the business market.  Since the rollout of Google+ Pages for businesses just a little over a week ago, 61 percent of the top 100 brands in the U.S. have created Google+ pages.  With Google+ enabling consumers to “like” more than statuses and “share” more than tweets, businesses with Google+ pages are going to see more traffic through their sites and have better features to target consumers.

Google+ does hold some similar features of other social networks, but the following explain its 6 main differences.

     1. Google+ Direct Connect

Google+ Direct Connect is an easy way to directly access a brand’s Google+ page.   By typing the “+” symbol in front of the company’s name within Google’s search query, users will be provided with direct access to that company’s Google+ page. If you’re signed in to Google+ when using this search feature, you will also have the option to add that brand’s page to your circles. Although Google is still experimenting with the Direct Connect feature, Google plans to make it more widely available over time.

     2. Google+ Ripples

Google+ Ripples is a helpful visualization tool for monitoring public posts and its progression over time – displaying who has publicly shared the post along with the comments they’ve made, how it was shared, and statistics of a public post as it “ripples” through your brand’s network. Although Ripples only uses public shares, it provides valuable data and the ability to discover new and interesting people to follow.

     3. Google+ Circles

With Google+ Circles, businesses can organize their followers into specific categories such as prospects, clients, influencers, etc.  Within these circles, you’re enabled to choose what information you want to share providing each circle with relevant information that will help keep each circle of followers engaged. 

     4. Google+ Hangouts

Google+ Hangouts allows you to hold a video chat with up to ten people suggested by your circles.  This feature does not require scheduling a chat, as long as you’re available through joining or stating “hangout” others available can join.  Google+ Hangout is an easy way to instantly share YouTube videos, conduct workshops and seminars, demonstrate products and hold training sessions.

     5. Google+ Huddle

Google+ Huddle is a mobile application that allows you to send out group texts.  Through Google+ Huddle you can either select specific names and emails of people in a circle to send to, or select the entire circle.

     6. Google+  Impact on AdWords (Social Extensions)

Businesses using Google AdWords can activate the “social extensions” feature within their AdWords account.  Creating a new social extension using your Google+ Business Page URL allows for “+1’s” to be shared between your AdWords campaigns and your company’s Google+ Page.  Utilizing this feature can provide an increase in social recommendations that will help your business reach and influence more customers.

Google+ Pages for business is not just another social network; it provides the closest integration of social media along with web search available today. As more businesses and brands continue to build their Google+ pages, it will be interesting to see the battle unfold between Google+ and its competitors (Facebook and Twitter), as well as the impact SEO will have in today’s social landscape.