Google+ is struggling with low user engagement compared to Facebook. One barrier is that while Facebook connects existing friends, Google+ focuses on connecting users based on shared interests, which is harder. To improve engagement, Google needs better tools to help users discover shared interests and "break the ice" with new connections. Some ideas include an "Explore" page highlighting shared interests based on search history, tagging posts with interest categories, and integrating Google Groups to help users engage around shared interests. Improving interest-based connections would help Google build an "interest graph" to improve search and ads.

1. Fixing the Google+
Engagement Problem

2. Many of us have found wonderful
community on Google+.

3. We can’t understand why others
aren’t having a similar experience.
“3 minutes”
(average time spent per month on Google+, according to ComScore)

4. But the
truth is that
there is a
barrier on
Google+.

5. Google+ is different than Facebook.
=
/
While Facebook connects us
with existing friends,
Google+ connects us to new
friends via shared interests.
5

6. It’s easy to
find existing
friends on
Facebook,
and begin
engaging
with them
right away... After all, we already
know these people.

7. That’s a
nice hat.
But Google+ is more like a party
where you don’t know everyone, and
need to reach out via shared interests.

8. The problem
is, it’s still too
hard for new
users to find
people who
share their
interests on
Google+.

9. Helping us connect to a bunch of
famous people isn’t the solution...
...They don’t engage back.

10. Humans have a problem with paying
too much attention to famous people
as it is. We don’t need any more
help there.
We’re
already
wired that
way.
10

11. On social networks, people with lots
of links tend to get even more links.
When it’s easy to get “famous
for being famous,”
and when the
“rich just get You and Me.
richer,” it actually The Famous.
weakens a social
network...
11

12. Conversations
become broadcasts
and less actual
information gets
exchanged on the
network.
t r r!
ae
s w
p o

13. This isn’t TV.
It’s not about
sitting back and
watching famous
people broadcast
to us.
That’s old-school.

14. This is about getting into it... you
know, engaging with other people.

15. Think of it this way...
Broadcasters do share But way more interesting
interesting content. content is exchanged
over a phone network.
15

16. Google now needs lots of social
content sharing to improve its
search results.
But right now, new users just
aren’t engaging enough on
Google+ to generate a really
broad base of “social signals.”
16

17. Facebook gets
lots of social
signals by
connecting
existing friends.
Facebook users have 234 friends on
average. That’s a lot of dense,
decentralized connecting - seven
hours per person, per month, in fact.
17

18. Facebook already has the
network for existing friends,
and most people don’t
really want another one.
To build a new network
with lots of engagement,
Google needs a different
approach.
18

19. And that approach is helping people
build new ties via shared interests.

20. Here’s the thing
about meeting
new people:
sometimes we
need a little help.
Think of it as
helping us
break the ice.
20

21. Knowing people’s interests can help
with breaking the ice...
...and Google already knows a lot about our interests...

22. What if...
Google made
better use of
what it knows Here are a few rough ideas...
about our
interests to
help us better
connect with
others?

23. Explore your interests. These are some
topics and people we think you might like, based on
your search history and Google+ engagement.
☐ Travel to exotic places.
How about an Tips and ideas from people
like you.
Explore page
for tuning ☑ Social enterprise
what Google
mixes business and mission.
Insights from people in the
field.
knows about
our shared ☑ Clean energy is our
interests?
future. Stay up with the latest
trends and breakthroughs
from people who know.

24. Google is starting to play with
Search as a kind of interest-sharing
icebreaker...
(See how the Explore page is now highlighting search topics?)

25. But what if our “saved searches”
became a much more important
way to consume content and
connect with people?

26. How about more
structured,
standardized
ways to tell
others about our
interests on our
Google+ profiles?

27. And what if we could use that info
to more easily find people, based on
what they tell us they care about?
Topic clean energy

28. What if we could tag our posts
with these same categories...

29. ...and then filter people based on
how heavily they engage with our
posts in those categories?

30. Shared circles are great for getting
people to circle you.
But they can also perpetuate the
“rich get richer” problem...

31. We need better tools for following
people back - like improvements to
circle notifications to make it
easier to
discover
shared
interests.

32. And how about
integrating a Marvel Fan Club
little of Google b
lu
Groups, to help n C
Fa
groups of us
better engage
around shared
interests?

33. These are just rough
ideas, but make no
mistake:
“Icebreaker technology”
is absolutely critical to
Google right now.
33

34. It will help
Google build the
“interest graph”
- which
improves search
and ad targeting.
And that means
more revenues.
34

35. More importantly though....
7 hours = 3 minutes
/
Google has a real problem with
Google+ engagement, especially
relative to Facebook.
35

36. Facebook will use its deeper, more
distributed engagement to better
understand people’s interests... and
threaten Google’s core business.
36

37. The world doesn’t need another
network to engage existing friends, or
another network to hear more from
famous people.
What it does need is a better
network to share interests with those
who share our interests.
37

38. At the simplest level, that means
Google needs to invest like crazy in
helping us build new relationships
around shared interests.
And that, in the end, comes
down to giving us better tools to
break the ice.
38

39. All images use Creative Commons licensing:
• Sea Ice: http://www.flickr.com/photos/windsordi/5446835336/
•Wall: http://www.flickr.com/photos/79286287@N00/215951891/
• Party talk: http://www.flickr.com/photos/def6nyc/6312502880/
• Alone: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jb-london/3594171841/
• Chimps: http://www.flickr.com/photos/davidbygott/5091918303/
• Bieber: http://www.flickr.com/photos/cukuskumir/5689500961/
• TV: http://www.flickr.com/photos/roadsidepictures/276395210/
• Talking: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ameotoko/4334357860/
• Radio: http://www.flickr.com/photos/johnmcnab/5169133473/
• Operators: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ironrodart/4154904299/
• Couch: http://www.flickr.com/photos/flamsmark/282514569/
• Handshake: http://www.flickr.com/photos/wwworks/5907692738/
• Limbo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jdhancock/3605011903//
• Twister: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jdhancock/3842546304/
• Badges: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bbaltimore/5431709358/
• Ice: http://www.flickr.com/photos/paul_cullen/405112678/