Google is the undisputed heavyweight of the web; the bull in the china shop. The latest entry into the social media arena offers and aggregate solution to add weight to your personal profile and offer you more control over what part of your life is on display, or at least what comes to light first.
Google enters the personal profile arena
Google's latest expansion into public profiles is a logical extension of its current networking and marketing tools, but a confusingly late entry into the market. So far, Google's networking lacks focus; the components are not as cleanly integrated as those offered by some of the established social networking sites. But Google profiles are still in the early stages, and no doubt we'll see major improvement at first and quite possibly market domination in the end, with other social networking sites struggling to stay ahead of Google innovation. That seems to be a pattern.
SEO Profile results
The one thing Google can promise that no other social networking site can is search engine ranking. If you search for a name, a "profile results" category comes up at the bottom of the first search page on Google, complete with profile picture to help verify that you have found the person you were looking for and not someone with the same name.
Contolling your personal brand
Personal branding is becoming an increasingly important tool in business world. As more people become aware of the need to control their personal image online, the need for this type of personal aggregator becomes obvious. By listing the web profiles and links on your Google profile, you can make sure that people see what you want them to see, and not an ancient college blog you kept back in the day with pictures of drunken frat parties and ex-girlfriends. In a recent survey by Careerbuilder.com, 45% of hiring executives reported that they search social networking tools to research potential employees. That number is only likely to grow, and with a tight job market, controlling your online presence is vitally important to landing a really good job. Spilling out your bad habits online is akin to showing up for your interview naked. Even pages you thought you had deleted may come back to haunt you, so the only answer is to dominate your own search with things you want people to see.
Impact
What impact will this have on other social networking sites? Surprisingly, probably a positive one. Google allows linking to a number of sites, a valuable backlinking tool free of "no-follow" rules to advertise your blog and build search engine rank for your websites. At least for now. Once people start abusing the feature, that may change.