Google+ profiles are for people, not businesses

I’ve been enjoying Google+ recently and have written a few blog posts about it, as well as put together a short introduction video. However, as expected, I started seeing one of my pet peeves within days of using the service: profiles being set up as a business, not a person.

Google has clearly explained in this post that Google+ profiles are for people, not businesses. In fact, they are explaining that they will shut down your profile if it’s mis-used:

“Our policy team will actively work with profile owners to shut down non-user profiles.”

In a previous post about Facebook, I explained that profiles are for people. Yet, for some reason, many businesses can’t resist using social profiles as a business. Not only is this violating the Google+ terms of service, it’s also just bad social media etiquette. Let’s not forget that people want to do business with other people. Brands are great, but a brand should not eclipse the people behind it.

Getting your Google account shut down has even scarier ramifications if you are using AdWords, since this would affect your ability to advertise on Google. Be sure to wait for Google’s official business service to launch later this year. In the meantime, enjoy using Google+ as a person.