back to article Check out The Register's Google+ page

The Register has taken a billet at Google+. You can find us at http://google.com/+theregister. Nothing spectacular – just a feed of our articles, and the very occasional cartoon share. We will monitor and sometimes reply to comments and will step up our social media community engagement ... if numbers justify. Google+ …

COMMENTS

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  1. Ben Rose

    Not for me but...

    I do hope that the costs of this venture don't mean (even) more banner ads and pop-ups on the main site.

    I know advertising is essential to pay bills, wages etc. but keeping costs down can help too.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Not for me but...

      Feedback noted, but are you sure about ad pop-ups? We don't run them, If any reader spots one please grab URL of landing page and ping to webmaster@sitpbub.com

      Also we have enough ad units - we carry fewer ads per page than our UK competitors.

      BTW Google+ running costs are a fraction above zero.

      1. Ben Rose

        Re: Not for me but...

        The pop-ups I get are often crappy survey things, although admittedly I haven't seen one for a while.

        1. Captain Scarlet Silver badge
          Thumb Up

          Re: Not for me but...

          Have to agree for months the take this survey were very annoying (I hate all websites that do such things)

      2. Samuel Penn
        Unhappy

        Re: Not for me but...

        The Register using pop-up ads was what drove me to originally install Adblock. That was some time ago though.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Re: Not for me but...

          Hmm. I can't say that we have never run pop-up ads, but I can say that we have implemented a policy of not running pop-ups for several years.

  2. a33a

    1337

    http://imgur.com/Thd0qDH

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Joke

    Just admit it El Reg...

    You just couldn't live without the option to comment on Youtube video's. And to carefully masquerade that problem you've now fully decorated your Google+ page, but we know what's going on! ;)

  4. sabroni Silver badge
    WTF?

    I can't believe...

    ...that you're trying to force us all to use Google+! Subscription cancelled!!!!

  5. Cliff

    Does anyone 'get' G+? I'm still not quite sure how or why I should be embracing it. Google seem keen, but I can't quite work out how it's supposed to improve my life?

    1. Spanners Silver badge

      I was a fairly early adopter of G+. I find it a good way of getting information and discussing stuff with people who want to talk about what I consider interesting.

      1. Michael Habel

        I was a fairly early adopter of G+. I find it a good way of getting information and discussing stuff with people who want to talk about what I consider interesting.

        I'm sure Google want to take Google+ beyond the Linux / Android geek-squad who use this as their private Knitting Circle. 'Cause you're never gonna get those epic Facebook numbers just catering to those types...

        1. sabroni Silver badge

          I'm sure Google want to take Google+ beyond the Linux / Android geek-squad

          They've kind of done that by grabbing all the gmail logins and youtube commenters. Of course that only makes those people "Active G+ users" in the marketing gumpf, but nevertheless news agencies will parrot it when "Google+ users outnumber facebook users"....

    2. silent_count

      @Cliff.I see where you went wrong. It's got nothing to do with improving your life but quite a lot to do with weighing down the pockets of google shareholders.

    3. Charlie Clark Silver badge

      I think it's main purpose is an identity server tying the various other Google services you may or may not use together. The value grows as the network of those services grows. This allows it to recommend apps on the Google store that your Google+ contacts have approved of. I ignore that kind of thing and you can turn it off but it's certainly a lot less intrusive than other approaches and I can see its appeal. I don't do a lot of the "look at me" sharing stuff, after all what's e-mail for? But I will admit to finding Hangouts very nicely done. If Google can continue to put providing useful services first then I'm sure they'll get more and more successful and Google+ will simply be a part of those services and not something on its own. Companies will like it because, of course, it offers the prospect of single sign-on with the holy grail of detailed demographic data.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        I think you got that backwards.

        re: "Companies will like it because, of course, it offers the prospect of single sign-on with the holy grail of detailed demographic data."

  6. Andrew Jones 2

    At the time that I followed/circled you - you have 1,448 +1's and 720 people have circled you.

    In what - an hour, an hour and a half?

    We G+ folks are a demanding bunch though - we like engagement - that's what sets apart G+ from every other network - even on Twitter a lot of the time you aren't talking to the person you think you are - you are talking to whoever represents them (there are obviously very high profile exceptions to this).

    Expect to see people mention you in comments and posts - we like social.

    PS - in the time it took me to to write this (a few minutes) your follower count went from 720 to 733.

    I think you may yet learn the value of Google+

    1. Mike Bell

      Hat-tip to the big guy in black

      @Andrew Jones 2

      "I think you may yet learn the value of Google+"

      Or, put another way: "I find your lack of faith disturbing"

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Learn the value of Google+

      Well... I would like to say that we have tapped into fast growing reader source but... we stumbled across this G+ page a few weeks ago that a staffer had put up a couple of years ago. - no content, but 500 followers and maybe 500 who had had put us in their circles.So we added content maybe three weeks ago and told Google that this was our official page.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Learn the value of Google+

        If those 500 + and circles are anything like what I see on Youtube, they were all accidental clicks.

        Sorry, but that's what they did with Youtube (and I've seen all the mistaken posts/clicks/likes/adds from the pros/businesses) and I'd not expect better else where.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Re: Learn the value of Google+

          You are probably right - but people have to find us on Google+ - we are not presenting any G+ roadblocks.

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Ok, followed you.....

    .... and then noticed that the G+ articles only show the main headline, not the joke strapline underneath, which is usually the best bit of the headline.

    Can you do anything about that?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Ok, followed you.....

      The jokey subhead - we'll have a look and report back on Monday.

      1. graeme leggett Silver badge

        Re: Ok, followed you.....

        You say "jokey subhead", I say "to the point and ego-pricking"

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Re: Ok, followed you.....

          That is very kind of you, Graeme. Unfortunately, G+ doesn't take kindly to those subheads.

          Kevin, our web coder, says:

          We have the og property set for subheads but G+ don't seem to support it so I don't think so.

          <meta property="og:description" content=""/>

          Does anyone know different?

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: Ok, followed you.....

            You want us to google it for you?

            Are you kidding?

  8. JDX Gold badge

    FaceBook?

    Is G+ following on from a FB page that's so old it doesn't get a mention, or is El Reg making the novel step of using G+ instead of FB?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: FaceBook?

      That would be novel... we get some traffic via FB, but almost all via the FB lLke button on our articles rather than through our our FB page. Yes, we have one! We monitor this lightly - every now and then someone gives us a story tip, or tells us off, or tell us they love us.

      But for interaction, story tips, corrections etc. - Twitter is by far the most active medium for us. There is that official @theregister address again.

      1. Charlie Clark Silver badge

        Re: FaceBook?

        @Drewc thanks for the very open and informative discussion about this.

      2. ad47uk

        Re: FaceBook?

        Never got into Twitter to be honest, hard to follow.

  9. oceanhippie

    On google+ nobody can hear you Scream

    I'm sure you have some kind of stats system on your web server - if not I'll do you a one line wonder in grep, cut and wc, but far more people read this post than went to to your google+ page.

  10. Craigie

    Cool

    Another reason not to switch tabs from my G+ one!

  11. i like crisps
    Big Brother

    GOOGLE+!!!

    Found any 'Back doors' in the web page yet...oh er...oh yeah...you

    wouldn't be able to tell us if there was would you?

  12. chrisp1141

    No

    I don't want to use google+. I left facebook because of privacy, and I definitely won't make the same mistake by joining google+. But, if you create a page on Ravetree, then I'll check it out.

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