There are speculations that an ‘Events’ section was spotted in an update for their Android app. Here is what you need to know.
Google+ launched amid a lot interest. Larry Page called it the company social spine.
However, there are mixed reports analyzing the performance of the social network.
While the Mountain View based tech giant talks about “impressive engagement” and “healthy growth”, other reports declare it dead.
Google+ for the Event Industry
It is not yet clear what the impact of Google+ pages is for events, destinations and the meetings industry.
While there is some interest about Hangouts (and so it was for Google Wave, dare I say) no practical implication has been tested yet.
My take is that Google+ pages might have an impact on SEO, but will surely have a wider implications once Youtube livestreaming will be opened to the masses.
At least until today.
The News
It so happens that The Verge reports that Google ‘forgot’ a reference to Events and Local in their Android developers toolkit, called ADK.
While we are quite aware of what Google is doing with Local, I am thrilled to find out what are about.
I’ve speculated in the past about their potential move in the events ecosystem.
And guess what… I was right!
They did not buy Plancast but allow me to cite myself:
The section missing on Google+ is events. Yes you can create virtual Hangouts. Very cool, but what about face-to-face?
What Could be the Benefit for Events
The immediate benefit will be in terms of SEO. Posting your event to Google+ could impact the way you index on search results.
This is the case only if you have a follow base that will be willing to engage with that section. In fact it looks like Google prioritises Google+ items with comments or +1s.
In Conclusions
I suggested back in the days to get your event a Google+ page. If this rumour is confirmed I’ll wait for a thank you note in my letterbox.
In the meanwhile go and +1 this post on our page 😉
Photo by: Robert Scoble
