Google+ Rolls Out Pages for Businesses & Brands

Many companies were disappointed when Google+ rolled out and banned the creation of accounts specifically for businesses and brands. Fortunately, today, Google began rolling out Google+ pages, for them to start connecting with customers and followers.

For an example of what a Google+ Page looks like, check out the one for the +The Muppets:

You'll notice that you can +1 the page, see how many followers they have, add them to your circles, and confirm that the page is verified. You can share the page on your own stream. Check out all the differences here on the Google+ support page. (Bonus: +The Muppets are having a hangout at 4PM PST today!)

Unfortunately, it doesn't look like just anyone can create a Google+ page. This is what I found, when I tried to click on the "Create a Google+ page" button:

But you can see what Google+ is trying to encourage in the background. You can define whether your page is for a local business or place, whether it's a product or brand, and whether it's a company or institution. You can also further categorize it in "Arts, Entertainment, or Sports" or "Other". There's a message encouraging you to host hangouts, and create circles, and ask people to +1 you. You can get more advice from the AdWords blog. According to +Danny Sullivan, he's been assured that everyone will be able to create a Google+ page within the next two days.

There's also Direct Connect, which simplifies searching for brands and businesses in Google search. Just go to Google, and type in the [+] symbol, along with the brand you're looking for. For example, when you search for "+Google", you'll be automatically taken to the +Google brand page. Currently this option only works for a few pages, but more is coming.

In addition to the +Google brand page, there are also a bunch more Google pages you can follow along with, including +Gmail, +Google Chrome, and +Android. You can check them all out here.

Here are the non-Google brand pages that are now up and running:

• +The New York Times
• +All American Rejects
• +Anderson Cooper 360
• +Angry Birds
• +Barcelona Football Club
• +Burberry
• +Dallas Cowboys
• +Fox News
• +Good Morning America
• +H&M
• +Macy's
• +Modelland
• +The Muppets
• +Pepsi
• +Phoenix Suns
• +Save the Children
• +Toyota
• +Train
• +WWE
• +X Games
• +Zen Bikes
• +Coldplay
• +ABC News
• +Burberry
• +Breaking News
• +Dell
• +Techcrunch
• +Rackspace Hosting
• +Digithrive, Inc
• +Cadbury
• +Android Police
• +The Vidcast Network

Have you spotted any more great brand pages? (By the way, the Facebook Google page has 4.5 million likes. How do you think the +Google page will stack up?)

ETA: Google+ pages is now rolled out to EVERYONE. Just go here to start. Don't forget to add +WonderHowTo to your circles! Have you created one for your business yet? Tell us about it in the comments.