After toying for a while with branded pages for select brands like Ford, Googe+ has finally launched branded pages across its entire platform.  Here’s what you need to know:

• Pages look similar to Google+ Profiles, differentiated by a small icon
• Brands who have taken advantage already include WWE, Dallas Cowboys, Fox News, CNN and Angry Birds

So what are the advantages for brands to sign up for Google+?

• Google+ shares affect Google search results according to what links other users +1. Brands with strong SEO teams will find advantages in developing content strategies on Google+ branded pages.
• +1’s also results in stronger chances of appearing in Google Ads across the entire web. Facebook ads only appear on Facebook.com.
• Another presence on another social network: There are no signs that users are migrating to exclusively share on Google+, but there’s no harm in extending a brand’s presence to all possible platforms, so long as the content shared remains of high quality.

Whether Google+ will be a serious Facebook competitor is still to be determined. Many are suggesting that Google+ can be used in a different way. Facebook has certainly been feeling the pressure, releasing an array of privacy changes including “Lists” (which are curiously similar to Google+ Circles) soon after Google+ was launched.

The last record suggests Google has already 40 million users signed up, but its success will depend on how many of those users frequently use it.

Read Google’s official announcement.

By Kate Collinson