There are always benefits of competition. If you look at Pepsi… Coke may come to mind. If you think of Papa Johns Pizza, many will think of Dominoes Pizza. Not too far back, Google had aspiration of entering the world of social media and thought the could create the next Facebook… hence Google + was created. Many said this was doomed from the start.
Being in the Social Media industry, I hear a ton about different platforms and user experiences. Some have said, “what is the real value of a tweet?”. Or, what is the purpose of a website that you just post pictures? I’m sad to say that I have never heard a single good thing about Google +. It was confusing and people just didn’t get it.
Today, Google’s Vic Gundotra announced that he would be leaving the company after eight years. The first obvious question is where this leaves Google+, Gundotra’s baby and primary project for the past several of those years.
What we’re hearing from multiple sources is that Google+ will no longer be considered a product, but a platform — essentially ending its competition with other social networks like Facebook and Twitter.
So, competition is good but, sometimes you have to stick to what you know…