I don’t know if many of you have jumped on the Google+ social media bandwagon yet; I have, because as a blogger, I’m always on the look-out for the newest craze. Honestly, it’s nothing special. It was supposed to be the next big *thing* and compete with existing networks like Facebook and Twitter. It doesn’t even come close.
Google recently updated their Buttons Policy and as a result, it is no longer possible to use Google+ as a giveaway entry option:
| “Publishers may not direct users to click a Google+ Button for purposes of misleading users. Publishers may not promote prizes, monies, or monetary equivalents in exchange for Google+ Button clicks.” |
When I first read this, it was my understanding that this new policy doesn’t really apply to me because in my giveaways I ask my followers to add Rabid Reads to one of their Google+ circles. However, apparently “clicking” on the “add to circles” button falls under this rule because it’s a button and this is the Google+ Buttons Policy after all.
How will this impact you as a follower? Not at all. I recently started including Google+ in my giveaways but going forward I will make sure to exclude this network as an entry option.
To the best of my knowledge, no one actually finds my blog via Google+. It’s just another network where I post daily links to my blog. If anything, this is going to hurt Google more than anyone. Their social media network is already sub-par so why not make it even less interesting by forbidding users from using it in giveaways. Good call.
Anyway, I just wanted to warn my fellow bloggers who have also jumped on the Google+ bandwagon and who use it as an entry option in their giveaways that there’s now a policy in place against it.
What are your thoughts on Google+? Aye or Nay?
About the Blogger
I review Urban Fantasy and Paranormal Romance books with a focus all things werewolf. Based out of Ottawa, Canada
Owner, designer and main blogger behind Rabid Reads. Avid book reader, snowboard bunny, video gamer and Supernatural fan. I love all things paranormal, werewolves especially. Oh, and I’m Canadian, eh!
I hadn’t heard about this until now, but I’m glad you made me aware of it just in case I HAD thought of using Google+ as a means of a giveaway entry. Really, I feel mostly “meh” about Google+ simply because it doesn’t seem that useful as a social networking source. If someone +1’s my post, yay. If they don’t, I’m no worse for wear, so it’s not a big deal. It doesn’t seem as though Google’s being very smart about how to use what it has.
I started using google+ when everyone else did, but I soon got bored and just deleted it. There is honestly just way to many social networks, and I can not keep them all up. Just like the linky tool, I started it but gave it up. I just will not keep them updated.
Thanks for this information. I really liked Google+ at first and then the spam started. I haven’t posted there for over two weeks.
I don’t find anything useful about Google+. I would go so far as to say I actively dislike it.
I barely use Google+ and…..well, actually I don’t even use it and you’re right, it doesn’t even come close to competing with twitter and facebook, I honestly think it’s the worse social networking site out there. It’s not even useful. :/
I was also one of the first people to jump on the Google + bandwagon and I am a BIG Google fangirl. Well, I cancelled my + account when I realized that I wasn’t using it at all, and neither were my friends…and whats the point of a social media site without the social aspect?
Unfortunately, Google+ seems to be a big fail and I’m actually surprised its still hanging on.
After Google dumped GFC with little warning, I decided that I wasn’t going to invest the time to promote any more of their social networking products. It doesn’t make any sense when they can, and have, discontinued them at their whim. I don’t use or like Google+ anyway, so their policy change doesn’t bother me one way or the other.
@DJL I feel the same way, if someone +1’s one of my posts it’s cool and I appreciate it but at the end of the day it doesn’t change my blog’s performance.
@Amber I @ Awesomesauce I’m on the fence about Google+. I’m very tempted to delete it and with this new policy that temptation has grown even stronger. Something to think about I guess.
@Mary BookHounds Jacobs I don’t read anyone else’s posts via Google+. I think I spend a total of 30 seconds a day on it to post my feed links.
@LisaILJ I hear ya. I’m not a fan either.
@Mariya I don’t think you’re wrong in saying that it’s the worst social media networking site out there because it really is. LOL
@Violette If a big Google fan girl like yourself gave up on this network what hope is there for the rest of us? 😉
To me G+ is just another place to copy and paste my posts to. I do check it out once a day or so for others’ posts. But I’m not a die hard fan of it.
@Manga Maniac The GFC disbanding was bad enough but then they try to replace it with Google+? Yeah… epic fail.
@Jennifer@The Book Nympho I don’t even do that much so it’s a pretty useless tool for me. This new policy makes it even more so.
I have a G+ page for my blog but I hardly even go on there to update links for posts mainly because I forget that it exists but also because there are way to many social networks sites to keep up with and I like Fb and twitter, so far they are the most fun and useful. But thanks for the heads up on the policy change I don’t use G+ as a entry for giveaways but still good to know since I still have my blog under blogspot and google is known to make blogs disappear due to violating a policy.
You right, it’s not really what they thought it would be, now I have to be careful, I’m always, sharing on google other bloggers giveaways, just to help promote them.
Thanks for heads up.
Thanks for letting me know! I only used it as anentry once. I’m not a big fan of it. I added it to my blog just in case some people prefer it. I have every possible way to follow just because I know everyone prefers something different. No big deal for me to not include it as an entry. I barely understand how to view blogs through google+ anyway lol
@Book Flame From what I gather from everyone’s comments; no one is a Google+ fan!
@Lupdilup I’m not sure if sharing a giveaway post is the same thing as making Google+ an entry option… You’d have to investigate that.
@Jennifer Messerschmidt I’ve only used it a few times in giveaways as well so it’s no big loss.
When I found out that GFC was no longer going to be available to blogs not in blogger, I knew right away I was not going to sign up for Google+. I heard nothing in the recent months to change my mind either. If I can’t follow a blog using gfc I’ll just follow through twitter or fb.
I don’t use Google+ to follow blogs or interact with fellow readers or authors so I don’t mind this at all. It doesn’t affect how I currently interact online.
I don’t use Google+. I’m already on Facebook and Twitter. I didn’t need another social media network. This is just one more reason not to sign up. Heck, the only reason I thought of signing up was because other bloggers had.
@Mary Google hasn’t exactly been making the best decisions as of late for the blogging community.
@Na Well then, you’re in the clear!
@Leah Same here. I just signed up because it seemed like the thing to do. Now it seems like the thing to do is to delete your Google+ account. LOL
I’m not a fan of Google+ to start with, but they’re sure doing a good job of making it worse!
@Megan My thoughts exactly!
I just think that there are too many of these “social networks” these days and if you were going to be on every single one of them, it would take up all your time. I don’t bother with Google+ because I don’t really see the need to add yet another social network site to my internet “burden” as it were. Although I do have a Facebook account, I don’t really link that to my blog or anything else I do online, either, because I simply joined it as a way of keeping in touch with university friends. I did open up a twitter account a few months back as a means to promote a forum I run, but I might get more hits when I post links to it from my twitter account but has it encouraged even one person to join the forum? No. Social networking sites take up a lot of time, but for little gain in my opinion. You’re better off maintaining your blog by posting good quality reviews and other content. In fact, my blog was set up really as a diary and to share what I was reading with other people, rather than a marketing device, which is what a lot of bloggers seem to have the aim of their blog to be. I don’t bother with giveaways anyway because if I did, I’d probably still be holding on to the book two years later because I tend not to follow trends and read books that I want to, not because others want me to read them.
I personally don’t like Google+. Same for Facebook – it is just full of games. I’d much rather use Twitter or Tumblr.
Thanks for the heads up on this one. I joined G+ when I left Facebook, but I only hear echoes over there. None of my friends ever visit me. I’ll probably delete it or stop using it altogether because of this one. I can take it or leave it. 🙂
@Flik Sivrak
I hear you! I have begun to feel the same. My time is best spent creating hopefully, good content for my blog.