Google Plus Recruits Beta Testers to Help Improve Features and Increase User Base

Google is not yet giving up its bid to conquer social media. In fact, the search engine giant will be rolling out new Google Plus features and is now encouraging users to be one of its beta testers.

As the undisputed search engine king, Google has practically dominated its native turf for quite a while now. Yet, despite several attempts in the past, the tech giant has failed to make it big in social media and its Google Plus lags far behind Facebook and Twitter.

Now, the Mountain View, California-based firm, is bent on giving it one more try. This time, it plans to enlist social media savvy netizens in making its upcoming Google Plus features even more appealing to end users. In a recent announcement, the company has reopened its Early Access program allowing users to test out new features of the social media service before they become available to everyone else.

There are only three qualifications to become a Google Plus beta tester according to International Business Times.  The first requirement is that beta test participants need to be “active posters” although it is unclear how the company might define “active” in this context. In addition, beta testers must be “motivated” both in learning the new features as well as participating in discussions. Lastly, participants must be able to provide quality feedback as they will be directly in touch with developers and product managers who will use the information to fine tune the platform.

So just how valuable is the social media business that Google is willing to get out of its comfortable search engine niche? Well, the numbers speak for themselves. While Google Plus has a substantial 111 million active users as of 2015, it still pales in comparison with Twitter’s 328 million monthly active users and Facebook’s 2 billion plus user base.

[Featured Image by India7 Network/Flickr]