Pimping Google+ In Search Works: Lady Gaga Finally Joins Google+

Last week, Lady Gaga — one of the most popular people on Facebook and Twitter — didn’t even have a Google+ account. Today, she does. It looks like Google’s pimping of Google+ on its search results page just paid off big time.

Welcome To Google+, Lady Gaga

Lady Gaga started posting yesterday on a verified Google+ account here:

Currently with 10,000 followers, Lady Gaga has about 46.5 million to go to match her Facebook page or 18 million to match her Twitter account.

On Facebook, her account has told people there about her new Google presence, an announcement that’s gathered 18,000 likes so far:

On Twitter, no news of the Google+ account has been posted. Instead, those following her on Twitter have just been thanked again for their support:

What Took You So Long?

Lady Gaga — despite being prominently interviewed at Google’s headquarters last March — apparently never got an invite to join Google+ when Google+ launched back last June or used any she might have received. Nor did she join when Google+ opened to anyone in September.

What might have caused Lady Gaga — Twitter’s most followed person and Facebook’s third most followed person — to suddenly decide to join Google+?

I don’t know, but I’m sure realizing that when people search for music, the only way she has a shot of showing up alongside Britney Spears or Snoop Dogg was to have a Google+ account didn’t hurt.

Google+ Don’t Take Facebook Or Twitter

Below, you can see both singers are showing up even to logged-out searchers who don’t even have Google+ accounts in a search on music:

Until Lady Gaga’s numbers grow significantly, she still won’t make it into the top recommendations. But she’s likely to grow quickly, especially if Google adds her to its recommendations for Music.

Katy Perry and Justin Bieber remain Google+ free, which means the Google+ suggestions will continue to presume that nether of them — both artists with incredibly popular Facebook and Twitter accounts — don’t exist to those searching for music on Google and looking over in the Google+ area.

The same, of course, is true for anyone involved with marketing. If you want to have a strong presence on Google, a Google+ page for your business, or a personal account for yourself, is required.

We said that last year on how Google+ influenced Google’s main search results, and we said it again last week in terms of how Google+ recommendations add a new section to the search results page.

Background Stories

Google’s integration of Google+ recommendations heavily into its regular search results sparked a huge debate last week, as well as an FTC complaint. Our articles below provide further background about all of this:

• Google’s Results Get More Personal With “Search Plus Your World”
• Schmidt: Google+ Not Favored, Happy To Talk Twitter & Facebook Integration
• Twitter Cries Foul Over Google “@WWE” Search, But Google Still Beats Bing
• Search Engines Should Be Like Santa From “Miracle On 34th Street”
• Real-Life Examples Of How Google’s “Search Plus” Pushes Google+ Over Relevancy
• To Understand Google Favoritism, Think “If Google+ Were YouTube”
• Privacy Watchdog: FTC Needs To Look At Google’s “Search, Plus Your World”
• The “Hitler’s Downfall” Meme Takes On Google’s “Search, Plus Your World”

Opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily MarTech. Staff authors are listed here.

About The Author

Danny Sullivan

Danny Sullivan was a journalist and analyst who covered the digital and search marketing space from 1996 through 2017. He was also a cofounder of Third Door Media, which publishes Search Engine Land, MarTech, and produces the SMX: Search Marketing Expo and MarTech events. He retired from journalism and Third Door Media in June 2017. You can learn more about him on his personal site & blog He can also be found on Facebook and Twitter.