Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg recently described Google+ as Google's "own little version of Facebook" but Google is out to disprove this description of their own social networking site.

Google recently announced their newest expansion dubbed as "Google+ Pages" for businesses and celebrities. Vic Gundotra, the senior vice president of engineering in Google further explained the main goal of this expansion which was "to make sure you can build relationships with all the things you care about -- from local businesses to global brands." Gundotra also added that through Google+ Pages, businesses could "connect with the customers and fans who love you" through clicking the "+1" button. The "+1" button is the equivalent of the "Like" button in Facebook. Leading social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter have already utilized this method through allowing businesses to connect directly with their consumers and this method proved to be productive for both companies. It seems that through the launch of Google+ Pages, Google is aiming to have the same success strategy.

Google already made several attempts in the past to be part of the social networking boom since Google+ but past attempts were not as successful as they wanted it to be. Google+ was launched last June 28 of this year in an invitation-only basis and a lot of people were instantly drawn to this social networking site. The invitation-only basis was a big draw to people worldwide and it was opened for users (18 years old and above) last Sept. 20.

Google+ Pages initially started their campaign by offering a small group of businesses and other to create their pages even before the official launch of this expansion. It was offered early in order to show off this new feature and 20 companies were able to take advantage of this offer. Some of these groups include the Dallas Cowboys NFL franchise, Fox News, Pepsi, Macy's, rock band Train, The Muppets and even the nonprofit organization Save the Children. Businesses who are interested to create their own Google+ Page could do so through visiting plus.google.com/pages/create

In response to Zuckerberg's description of Google+, Bradley Horowitz (VP of Product Management) expressed their sentiments stating that "We (Google+) are delighted to be underestimated." Horowitz also added that people tend to think that Google+ is in a different page if compared to Facebook due to the fact that it is integrated with other Google services like Google Search and Google Apps.

Google+ presently has 40 million users and Horowitz remarked that they have surpassed this number though declining on giving the exact figure. The VP for Product Management also mentioned that the adding of Google+ Pages is just a "beginning of special things" to happen in Google+.