Burberry, MailOnline, O2 and Mumsnet.com are among the first UK brand partners to launch pages on Google's social network, Google+, as it steps up its challenge to Facebook.
Google is inviting brands to create pages on the social network, having previously told them soon after its consumer launch in July, to hold off.
Burberry's page has gone live tonight, as have pages for Angry Birds, Save the Children and Chelsea FC.
Google+’s 40m members will be able to add brands to their ‘circles’ and recommend them via the site’s +1 button. Brands can also interact with consumers via the ‘Hangouts’ video-calling feature.
Google+ brand pages will appear in Google search listings, from where they can be added to users’ circles.
Users can also ‘direct connect’ by searching for a brand name with the prefix ‘+’ to automatically add them to their network.
In June, several brands, such as Ford, rushed to set up profiles on the site. Google has since developed a version of Google+ optimised for brands and businesses.
From Brand Republic
