Google, the world’s global online platform recently began a campaign aimed at growing Nigerian businesses through its newly introduced Google Plus social network in this interview with its Country Manager, Juliet Ehimuah, she disclosed that Nigerians have a passion for the internet but broadband internet is still a major challenge.
Google Plus and the Nigerian economy
Google presence in Nigeria is to make the internet more relevant for everyday life because we know that Nigerians are very social. They like to interact with other people, we like to build community, and we like to share information.
Google plus is what make all that possible, so the Google Plus hub was organisation to create awareness in the market place. So with Google plus it is very easy to organise your online world around yourself.
For instance in real life you have several levels of relationship, you have a close friends, family friends and then you have extended family, general friends and those you do not really most often remember.
With Google Plus you can organise all of these into what w call Circles. The Circles is one of the many options in Google Plus that helps you to organise your online friends like you do in real life. So you can have a circle for close family members, friends from place of work, and extended family, and when you share information, you can decide if the information is for the general public or if it is going to be for people in your circles so you can share with your friends or family circles. With that Google helps to put you in control while sharing information.
Another example is that Google Plus is very integrated with existing online platforms such that if you are watching a video on Youtube and you like the video that you want to share it with other people, you do not need to go through a complicated process to do that, you can right from your Youtube window click on a button that allows you to share the video with people in your circles, also see what was posted or shared by other people in your circles.
Something that I find very interesting is that when you are searching for information, you are also able to see posting from Google Plus and people in your circles.
With circles you are sure that it is only those in the circles that you want to see the information that will eventually get to see it online. It therefore means that it creates i a level of privacy for you and those in your circles.
So what we are doing today is creating awareness so that Nigerians can take advantage of this platform. Google Plus has been available in Nigeria since it was launched in July last year. We have already had several engagements on it in the country.
For instance large corporate organisations like Globacom and Airtel are already on Google Plus. Globacom has larger presence on Google Plus and they have been posting a lot of announcement on it. And they identified it as a platform to reach the huge numbers of subscribers on their network.
We have also have a lot celebrities in Nigeria like Genevievie Nnaji,Tunde Kelani, Dare Art Alade who have created their profile on Google Plus.
The Google Plushub event
It is the best of its kind. We had over 250 Nigerian celebrities and influencers from different spheres of engagement including creative Artists, event planners, fashion influencers, developmental advocates, media celebrities and music enthusiasts who were invited to explore google.com/+ and become users of Google+.
On arrival, guests took fun photos in the Google plus photo booth and visited the Google Plus demo stations to get a quick insight into what was ahead.
There was also an in-depth Google+ presentation and live hangout demo by the Google Plus team, to show the communities how relevant Google plus is to them in both their personal and professional lives.
The event is one in the series of and the Lagos Google Plus hub is the latest in a series of Google Plus hub event being held across Africa to promote help celebrities and influencers better understand Google+.
Our target
Our commitment is to grow the platform locally as much as possible and we have seen an amazing acceleration in the growth of Google Plus. So far it is the fastest growing social network in Nigeria and globally.
Google Plus is not just a social network for socialising; it is also for business, and indeed all kinds of legitimate business. It is a platform that you can use to connect consumers and also to create a presence for your business. So if you are run a small business, you can create a page like a small website that you will use to communicate your goods and services.
One great advantage about that is that people can get to know and it help build trust on your business such that if you business is link to your profile, one can click on your profile and gives me information immediately on who is behind the business.
That alone can help the person visiting your page to decide if that is the right person to do business with.
Another interesting thing is that because it is a plus page, it is easy for people to find you when they are searching for you.
Our Uniqueness
Our secret is that it is not just a social network platform; it is a communication rich platform in the internet. It puts a social layer on everything people do on the internet. In some social platform when you communicate with people it is closed. If I send a chat or message to someone in one of the other platform it stays within that platform but with Google Plus your communication can flow across several channels.
That is why on Google plus if I am searching for information, it easy for me to see what other people have shared with me before.
Also last year, we launched Google trade, a platform that allows people to sell their goods and services across the globe. With Google trade you have the opportunity of linking your profile with others in your trade while others too can click on your profile and see you and know what line business you are into.
It therefore means it a special layer that feeds on the many other internet experiences that Nigerians have so that they can interact profitably.
The bandwidth challenge
There is several information that you can share on Google Plus that requires different amount of internet bandwidth. There is normal text which is very low in bandwidth, and there are pictures and videos which are very high. The Google Plus platform itself is optimised to enhance that sharing. One good example is Hangout, with it you communicate with people via video across the world. If you are on a narrow bandwidth connection, there is a way you can set up your Hangout such that it is either audio only or you reduce the resolution of the image.
Content control and security
We have terms and condition that ensures that people respect the right of other people.
We have a very robust security that we apply in all our platforms and that is why you rarely get spam on the Gmail account that is because there is a very sophisticated technology supporting that platform.
That is one reason why we have been successful in launching our Gmail SMS services with MTN,Glo, and Starcomm. With the Gmail SMS you can send SMS to someone with through the network of any of the operators that are registered with us. It is free and you can also get a reply to your email via SMS.
The good thing about that is that Google understand that many Nigerians are interacting through the internet using their mobile phones, and a lot use features based phones which are SMS base so that is why we creating platform that will enable you to interact from desktop computer to laptops and then to mobile phones.
And that is what the Gmail SMS is doing. So from your Gmail account you can send an SMS to a mobile phone number and you can also receive SMS through your Gmail account. You need a Gmail account for all this to possible. Also in the Google Plus platform you can send SMS to one or more mobile phone number.
Our challenge
Nigerians are very social that is why we have a large number of Nigerian communities on Youtube, so have Nollywood movies on Youtube which are watched not only by Nigerians but by other movie lovers across the world. What are now looking at is to create enough awareness so that they can use these platforms to their benefit.
We are still fastest growing network that is open and helps you to interact and engagement. We have daily changes that enhance the uses of the Google plus. It is a platform where people should be able to share their works so that why you can download the pictures. If you already have a Google account it is easy for you to migrate.
Doing business in Nigeria
What we are focusing on right now in Nigeria is helping people to grow their business on line. We see that there is a yearly increase of Nigerians online but it is still about 28 per cent of the population based on IT statistic.
So there is a challenge around people getting on online, and those challenges are very much around infrastructure. You do not have enough broadband internet access the country and prices are still very much on the high side, which we hope should be addressed by the relevant stakeholders.
And we are engage with different organisations with the private and public sector to see what can be done.
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