This one really sucks. http://www.businessinsider.com/larry-page-just-tied-employee-bonuses-to-the-success-of-the-googles-social-strategy-2011-4
So what’s behind that? It’s Google’s desire and need to become a Social Media… why? To sell more advertising.
So, Larry Page, Google’s new CEO has told employees that 25% of their annual bonus will depend on Google’s social strategy in 2011.
When Google gave all of its employees a 10% raise and $1,000 bonus last fall, it was part of a move to abolish bonuses that had been based on an annual company multiplier – where employee bonuses were multiplied against some figure correlated to the overall company's performance. In 2011, the returned company multiplier will be somewhere between .75 and 1.25 – depending on how well Google does in social. That means employees' bonuses could shrink by 25% if Google doesn't perform. - http://www.businessinsider.com/larry-page-just-tied-employee-bonuses-to-the-success-of-the-googles-social-strategy-2011-4#ixzz1jugSNNk8
So now, why does that mean anything to you? Who cares if they get a bonus or how large or small it is? Because:
“If a large percentage of people are logged into Google and/or Google+ when they are searching for stuff, that means Google+ pages are going to rank well for those people. Hence, you [sic] really have no choice but to play Google’s game, and tend to my Google+ page, be I a brand, a person, a small business…. are you getting the picture here? If you decide to NOT play on Google+, you will, in essence, be devalued in Google search, at least for the percentage of people who are logged in whilst using Google.” - http://battellemedia.com/archives/2012/01/our-google-conundrum.php
“The gist is that people and organizations now have no choice but to maintain their Google+ presence, with the same kind of robust linking and content generation necessary for any aspiring web site, or be, in effect, penalized. Penalized because users logged into Google or a Google Apps account will see results from Google+ high up in their results, and if a person or organization aren’t navigating that topic on Google+, someone else gets the attention and clicks.” - http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/google-in-the-enterprise/google-search-plus-your-world-isnt-an-invitation-its-a-policy/778?tag=nl.e062
This really means those who choose not to take part in Google’s social network, or don’t throw a lot of attention its way, could be knocked back by those who invest seriously in Google+. That could really hurt your business, unless it’s a name everyone uses or knows of.
This is no more than blackmail, really. Google has become a verb in our language, so deep is its penetration. So, if you wish to make it to the first three places in any search, you’d better invest heavily in a Google+ presence.
There’s only one way out of this: Don’t search while logged onto G+, or use Scroogle. Unfortunately, Google has the leverage because of the massive usage of it.
So, as I’ve written before, you’ve become a commodity.