Google+ business profiles coming “later this year”

Google has revealed that they are currently working on a version of Google+ for brands and businesses that will debut “later this year”. While many major brands are keen to join Google+, itself only one week into private beta, Google are actively discouraging businesses from using regular Google+ profiles, stating that an “optimal experience” for brands and organisations is on its way.

Christian Oestlien, product manager on Google+, describes in public Google+ post how “users communicate with each other is different from how they communicate with brands” and that they want “to create an optimal experience for both”. Oestlien comments that the forthcoming business experience currently being engineered “should far exceed the consumer profile in terms of its usefulness to businesses”.

Google are actively discouraging brands and businesses from using regular profiles on Google+ and will “actively work with profile owners to shut down non-user profiles”. Many leading online brands have already joined Google+, including The Next Web, Mashable and ourselves.

In the coming months Google will pilot a small number of brands to test Google+ entity profiles and their effect on the Google+ experience. To apply for consideration in the limited test, or to be alerted when the business product first launches, you can add your details to this Google Speadsheet.

Update: As promised, Google has started shutting down non-personal Google+ accounts. Our days on Google+ may be numbered, at least until entity profiles are officially introduced!