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.

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

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.

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!

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

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.

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.

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Webmaster : Please delete earlier comment :)

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.

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

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.

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.

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.