Google+ on Thursday announced the launch of a new group feature called Google+ Communities. The new program allows users to create public and private groups that can be centered around a specific topic or brand.
According to Google VP Vic Gundotra the new Communities button on the left side of the Google+ menu allows users to form groups or search for groups by category. Once a member of a group users can join events or participate in video-chat Hangouts.
Google+ will also allow users to share Communities through +1 button support on the web.
Google has also announced that it has surpassed 500 million users with 235 million active Google+ customers for Hangouts and +1 button use. Google also claims 135 million Google+ pages users.
As Gundotra so vividly states:
“Today Google+ is the fastest-growing network thingy ever.”
Google appears to be targeting revenue possibilities with its Communities feature as the first to launch included Star Wars, Audi USA and other recognizable brands.
The biggest push for Google+ will now be to turn its massive user account base into active users in order to grab more attention away from Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter and other social networks.
Will you be taking advantage of the Google+ Communities feature?
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I think the success of Google Plus lies in the truth of its a Google product. As almost everyone knows here that Google now gives some value to websites in search who have strong social signal like +1 on Google. Google also included local listing in Google Plus so it has to be a hit. Result is in front of us with 500 million users. Anyway congratulations to Google for new feature called communities.