Last summer, when Google+ launched in beta to the uber-geeky technology crowd, the industry was all a flutter.

Was this an answer to Facebook? Did we finally have a way around the famous opt-out process the giant social network uses? Was Google to be more kind with our private information?

Or was it going to go the way of Buzz and Wave?

What we didn’t expect is a Skype competitor or an incredible driver of search (though that should have been obvious).

But it’s not a social network. Not really.

It’s a phenomenal driver of search. Its (free) video capabilities are strong. And, because it’s a Google product, the search engine giant ranks content higher if it’s promoted through the platform than that on any other social network. (more…)