That is typical Google and why they will fail in the SM arena. They’re alright with the techie stuff but when it comes down to plain old customer service they are appalling. Too busy counting cash to bother with the little old customer who is paying them it!

If I was within the Google executive team I would be focusing on customer service because that is ultimately why they will lose out to Facebook/Twitter et al and eventually when Sm grows and business clicks on to it properly traditional search will start to wane and people will start to stop spending so much on PPC etc.

Come on Facebook!!

Wow, That’s Funny.

This explains the issues I’m having too. Google Apps is the idiot savant of web services, and the whole integration into the whole Google ecosystem is definitely on the idiot side. If we had actual integration of the Google Apps universe into all Google services, I’m sure I could convince my whole company to use it instead of brand Ex, but this sort of stuff happens all the time.

I have seen the Google offices and employees on TV. I am convinced these hip cool people use Zappos and have purchases items, no? I mean they are cool hip web savvy consumers. So why do they not realize the importance of customer service.

Consider this if you pay for a service you would expect it to work and work well. in fact there would be financial consequences if it didn’t preform. Since this is a brand new product, and they are still testing the waters it makes perfect sense that they wouldn’t roll it out to people who actually have leverage should things go wrong.

I have a google Apps account as well, but maintain free gmail account to use fun new “google labs” bits every now and then. The only thing that honestly does suck is if your primary account is on google apps then that is where all of your data is too, time to export a sample set

They did say this about profiles for app’s users in March http://ow.ly/5sKp7

Wow, this is really silly of Google.
I am not surprised though, as they do not seem to innovate in the social arena well (I knew from the beginning Buzz would never flourish and even though I gave Wave a chance, it disappointed too). The thing is, they are in the ungracious position of playing catch up with FaceBook and Twitter, rather than truly innovate. A bit like sad Microsoft… I will say this for Google though, they quickly drop what didn’t work and move on ( unlike MS), so I’m not writing them off just yet ;-)
@Andy don’t think FaceBook or Twitter are much better than Google in customer service, they just got a better product out first.

Peter: Define “coming soon.” :)

I am extremely frustrated with Google Apps. My business creates Google Places profiles for local businesses and we can’t even use all the functions of Google Places because we don’t have profiles.

I created a Facebook group for anyone interested called Google Apps -1, http://on.fb.me/lSQjz8. Come and join in the discussion…I know I am not alone and it’s time we make some noise!

I’d argue that you might just be expecting a lot right now. Google’s site makes it pretty clear that this is a rough beginning, and that it is very much a beta project. It’s invite-only, so I’m sure they are working out kinks until they can open it up further. There may be something on the backend that complicates Apps accounts.

For those who say that Google keeps failing in the social arena, is that just because of Buzz? Who cares? I think Google takes risks, and that doesn’t mean that they are failures. Everybody seems to hate Facebook until Google tries something different, then all of a sudden, Facebook is the best thing ever.

In short, give it time. I think it looks very promising, and I’m sure that it will develop into something good. But it needs the chance first. Facebook was limited at the beginning too.

If anyone in the world could get a Google Human to respond, my money is on you. Good luck.

Tom:

Wouldn’t it make sense that the people who pay for Google get at least the same usability as those who use it for free?

There’s also no integration with Google Voice, even though the default notification settings lean heavily towards e-mail and SMS notices. Google Music integration would be nice, but that’s also in beta.

Seems understandable to have some seemingly (at least to us simple users) obvious elements excluded from a beta test. Google might have done a better job of saying up front what’s in, what’s out and why, as well as some direct feedback mechanisms from inside Plus.

That I think that is anyone’s guess! :)

Reminds me of the “new customer deals” that companies like Comcast and others offer. I understand that attracting new customers is vital…but it seems that large organizations often ignore the need for proactive customer retention. Smart customer service focuses on making all customers new and old—paying and nonpaying feel important and valued. All I can say is…Really Google? Really?
You might want to rethink this one.

Yes, You think this is ODD ? think of WP7 releasing its beta 2 for mango and not release it to number of developers who are Paid members. Only coz they are either from India or Japan… Strange ? And yes Google+ is something that should be open to google profiles which intern as not allowed by google apps means nothing for ALL of us. I would say the grapes are sour since I did not got it.

Yes, You think this is ODD ? think of WP7 releasing its beta 2 for mango and not release it to number of developers who are Paid members. Only coz they are either from India or Japan… Strange ? And yes Google+ is something that should be open to google profiles which intern as not allowed by google apps means nothing for ALL of us. I would say the grapes are sour since I did not got it.

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Webmaster : Please delete earlier comment :)

Without getting curt, I’ll just echo Tom’s sentiment above.

Everybody fails (Buzz). Winners keep trying. Neither Buzz nor Wave prove that Google is a flash in the pan, or that they don’t get social whatnot.

A limited beta is hardly the right basis to make business decisions on, either. If that’s how you operate, however, it might explain your peculiar views on success.

Peter, that is indeed crazy, but I’m glad I’m not the only one with those problems.

I’ve run into that plenty of times, and not just with Google+. Sometimes calendars (from Eventbrite, for example) trip up the Google apps calendar, and Justin above mentions Voice problems.

From a UI perspective it sure *looks* like the same platform, so it’s a huge surprise that the functionality isn’t there.

From Dave Girouard: “Making Google+ work for Google Apps users is a very high priority for the team. Sorry to make you wait – we have to do it right.” http://twitter.com//davegiroua.....7597435904

I too am an apps user and just wrote about this yesterday. Many apps users I know are among Google’s biggest supporters and evangelists. Instead of giving core, often paying customers something to be excited about you irritate them.

No one likes feeling like they are being taken for granted.

Google has a lot to learn about managing expectations.

Hopefully they rectify this soon. I see this service as the long missing and much needed “glue” to finally tie all of Google’s services together.

–Jon

Peter’s just mad because we already have way more circles, hangouts and sparks than he does. #earlyGooglePlusjoke

I am in the same boat as you Peter. It sucks, I signed up my other Gmail addy with it and within 5 minutes of doing so a buddy (reliable source) told me they are working on getting business apps to work.

Peter, I’m with you and your readers: Google’s exclusion of PAYING Google Apps customers from key Google products is absurd.

This won’t change until we take action. Here’s what I propose:

1) Continue posting to Google Forums to express our frustration. Conduct a campaign to significantly increase the number of such comments until Google gets the message.

2) Conduct an outreach campaign to tech media, consumer media and other publications to point out this problem. Elevate this to the point of a larger publicity problem.

3) Contact decision makers at Federal, state and local government agencies that have switched to Google Apps. Notify them that Google Apps customers are denied access to critical Google products. This means the agencies are denied access to these services, as are the citizens these agencies serve.

4) Contact agencies that have NOT switched to Google Apps and encourage them to refrain from doing so until Google treats provides equal access to its products to paying customers.

These steps may seem extreme — after all, access to Google products isn’t a pressing social issue. But ultimately this is about consumers getting fair treatment in the marketplace. If Google isn’t held accountable, what message does that send to other service providers?

That is brutal, Google needs to figure that out pretty quick because its pretty obvious they want their top sites to be incorporating +1.. I’m still looking forward to seeing how it all pans out and if there really is some success in +1 or if it’s going to be manipulated beyond usefulness.

I’ve had the same problem. Our company uses Google’s email for our business email accounts, ( the professional version ) so, we couldn’t sign up either. Fortunately we had some alternative free gmail accounts…. I think they may have changed this by now, but I’m not sure.

It’s pretty clear that G+ is a B2C offering. As such the logical and largest pool of users to launch to in that space would NOT be paying Enterprise users like you and me Peter.

There are also likely issues where enterprise customers may not want their users spending all their time of G+, Facebook or Twitter all day at work – unless it’s their JOB as a PR or SMM Manager to do so.

Bottom line is that you and I are but tiny drops of water in Google’s Revenue Pool. We both have fewer than 5 licensed accounts we are paying for per year. Unfortunately, it is very, very obvious that Google treats enterprise users that represent a larger share of their revenue pool quite differently than the smaller ones.

While this is both unfortunate and somewhat understandable, what is Google is missing from their Customer Service Level Algorithm for paying apps users is Klout Score.

As a single user with a high Klout Score, you get treated differently as a customer by most companies than the rest of us do. That’s reality. If you were a Nike and had 20,000 apps users, you’d represent a larger portion of Google’s Revenue Pool and you’d be treated as if you had influence.

Google cares about Revenue, not influence. And IMHO this may be their downfall in the social media sandbox.

Is there any update to this? Anyone using Google+ with satisfaction now that it has been a few months?