Does Google Plus = Marketing Minus?

Remember when you could still peacefully peruse the online menu of your favorite Japanese restaurant without being directed to “Like them on Facebook”?

Or, when friends wouldn’t recommend that you “like” the page of the mediocre frozen yogurt stand you went to once.

I’ll tell you what: Those were the days.

And now they’re gone.

The business pages that are now running rampant on Facebook seem to exacerbate many of the frustrations people already have with the social networking giant. If you’ve seen the movie, The Social Network, then you’re familiar with the conversation about how advertisements on social networking sites suddenly make them less cool.

Uh, yeah, if that’s the case, Facebook is losing cool points with exponential and unparalleled speed.

Think of all the businesses on Facebook that literally have no business on Facebook. There are pages for toothpaste , life insurance, online payroll and even candied apples.

WHY, Mr. Zuckerburg, why?

Businesses like using Facebook more than say Twitter, foursquare or MySpace because they can make an informational page instead of a personal profile. Plus, everyone and their mother (quite literally) use it.

They can post coupons, deals, promotions, and giveaways all without having to use paper, pay for advertising or stay within 140 characters.

With Facebook falling to the depths of lamedom, people are turning to Google+ because it’s totally trending, to speak in Twitter parlance.

Google+ is so cool, in fact, that they successfully incorporated a symbol into their name, you could previously only get in with an invite AND they kick any business pages back off their site and back to Facebook. Where they belong.

But, how cool can Google+ become before it needs to stoop just a little to start pulling in the profits?

Eventually, every social media site sells out. MySpace, Facebook, Pandora, even AOL Instant Messenger did it over time. They need money, they want to gain more membership, they want their name everywhere. And allowing businesses to either have a presence on the site or buy ad space is the way to do it.

So, what will happen when Google+ starts letting businesses create pages for sending you recommendations for the softest toilet paper or creamiest ranch dressing?

What’s really amazing is that social networking is so huge, it’s literally creating jobs. Many of my friends who didn’t go on to grad school have found jobs as “Social Media Marketing Specialists” or “Social Media Managers” for major companies.

When/If Google+ decides to allow businesses onto the site, they would only push the legitimacy of social media further. Whatever businesses weren’t already online soon would be. That could mean more jobs for recent college grads in a tough job market.

That’s a plus.

It could also mean that marketing – especially online marketing – can grow bigger than it already has. The advertising industry is huge—much bigger and more relevant than it was even 20 years ago.

With a site as huge as Google creating a social networking site, the market for online advertising would skyrocket even higher. The market for marketing would blow up.

It’s hard to tell what will happen with Google+. Actually, I really don’t think it’s very hard at all. It’s going to be lame at first, because it doesn’t have enough members. Then it’s going to be cool, when it has more members. Then it’s going to be huge. Then even more huge– and overrun with businesses, grandmothers and 12 year-olds. Then it’s going to be lame.

Then, people will move on to the next cool thing.

Kind of sounds familiar.