I found an interesting article on Google+ vs Facebook pertaining to small businesses in 2012, as marketers and business owners we need to refrain from taking Google+ too lightly, interesting read check it out here…

@amyhallbiz  In the past I have seen some get ranked but think about it, Google+ is Google so who do you think Google is going to favor when indexing?

I think G+ definitely has some great strengths. But in the end, where we should spend out time depends entirely on where our target market spends their time. Yes, people search online almost always before making a purchase, BUT I still think people trust the recommendation of a friend far more than an internet search. And FB is more conducive to that. My target market hangs on Facebook so that is where I spend the majority of my time, but I’ll continue to play with G+ for the SEO benefits. 

I have to agree with @amyhallbiz. Many tech writers, such as Robert Scoble, have abandoned their blogs for the most part and are using G+ for their posts. It makes sense from a search perspective. Go to the source. I think it requires some vision to begin establishing a model for a business based on what Fb has done and what G+ will do. Otherwise people will be running around begging everyone to circle them as they now do in asking everyone to LIKE their page.

@alremetch Hope you share your report with us!

@amyhallbiz It stands to reason that Google will favor it’s own platform

@rlmosca  But we’ve seen that Google doesn’t favor their own platform… they don’t favor Blogger. If anything they favor WordPress blogs over Blogger blogs. So I don’t’ think that anyone should abandon any social media platform they use in favor for another. 

I think we’re comparing apples and oranges. Right now Facebook is for relationships and leads… Google+ is for SEO, which leads to relationship and sale.  

Personally I look at G+ as a much better relationship building platform because there is more 1-1 interaction in general and on Facebook it’s closer to traditional marketing methods.
BUT G+ is  lacking many of the features of Facebook pages so far. Being able to run contests, polls, customize what the user sees all are great for marketing.  

As for indexing, Google does index Facebook pages but if they aren’t named clearly the search engines can mis categorize. Bing however does a very thorough search of Facebook but then Google has a whopping 80% of the search engine market share.

 If Google builds out pages, allows vanity URLs for small biz (not just Toyota)allows pages to interact more with readers and adds features it will be a fantastic traffic driver for your business.

@amyhallbiz   You are absolutely right.  I have already seen this and the advantages are deeper than most people imagine.  I’ll have a video ready in a couple of weeks that will show this in detail.