The 28th of June may mark a significant history in cyberspace and. During this day, the search engine giant Google launched Google+, its own social media network. With exciting new features, Google+ has the potential to be the next big thing in social networking. Here’s why:

1. Google+ is going to attract huge influencers.

Do you remember Yahoo Meme? It stays in the background, wallowing in obscurity, because it can’t attract users that influence opinion. Google+, however, is not going to suffer the same fate.

Thousands of people amassed into the site when Google opened the test phase. Google users started to invite other people, resulting an influx so huge that Google was forced to limit the invitations. People used their invites to invite contacts and friends from Facebook and Twitter. People started to take notice when they received the invitations.

When movers in cyberspace (e.g., artists, experts, movie stars, politicians, etc.) take notice of Google+, the masses will surely follow.

2.  Google+ will influence search algorithm.

Social factors strongly influence search results. That is why reTweets and Facebook likes play an important role in higher rankings.

However, with the integration of the Google+1 feature, social media and search come together. Google+1 is integral to Google+ user feeds, and it is as easy as reTweeting or Liking. Best of all, it is directly connected to the company’s search function, which is already the dominant factor in Internet searching.

Thus, Google will just have to look internally to see how popularity should affect the search results instead of decoding another company’s social signals. That will also mean that webmasters and SEO specialists will have to swallow the bitter pill and adapt by Google’s new search engine protocols.

3.  Google+ is a true alternative to Facebook.

Google+ is well designed and contains features that can compete with Facebook. Its most prominent feature is its “Circles” function.

When you Tweet or post something in Facebook, unless you took the effort in carefully—and painstakingly—configuring your privacy settings, everyone in the world can see it. With Google+ Circle, you have the capability to categorize or group together certain people in your network. If you want to share something in Google+, you can select which circle/group can see your post.

In addition, Google+ has other features that Facebook does not have such as “Hangouts,” a conference-video chat function. Because it can incorporate other Google products such as Picasa or Google Docs, Google+ is certainly going to ensnare users of such products.

4. Google will not make it fail.

Make no mistake about it: Google+ is going to be pushed. The search engine alone gets a billion hits per month. Hundreds and thousands of people use Google’s other products. And today, “google” is now a legitimate word.

Google+ is the giant’s push towards the social market, and it is going to be pushed hard. It has a unique advantage considering that Google owns the largest, most popular search engine in the world.

But there is one reason why Google+ is not going to conquer the social media industry. That is, Facebook. The emperor of social marketing websites will pull Google+ to a stop.

Google remains the undisputed leader in the search market because it is ingrained in people’s consciousness. Simply, the world does not search, they Google. This is the same reason why Facebook cannot be beaten in social media. They Facebook, not use social networks.