In response to the “thousands upon thousands” of inquiries into the upcoming testing of corporate accounts on Google (News 
- Alert)+, the search engine giant has decided to accelerate the initiative.
Google exec Christian Oestlien said in a Wednesday blog post that the company will select a diverse collection of business partners to take part in the test period beginning next week. Google initially said that it was planning to launch the program later this year.
“We will be communicating with these partners next week, and will let the world know who they are soon thereafter,” Oestlien wrote.
Businesses can still apply to get into the beta testing program, but they only have one day to do so. Oestlien said that Google will close the form on Friday, July 15th at 6 p.m. PST. He added that Google is in the process of closing profiles that have already been opened by businesses, but welcomed users to stay engaged with Google+ from a personal account.
Oestlien asked businesses last week to refrain from opening up corporate Google+ accounts while the company was working on putting together the testing project.
“We just ask for your patience while we build it,” he wrote in the initial blog post. “In the meantime, we are discouraging businesses from using regular profiles to connect with Google+ users.”
Oestlien's friendly warning didn't stop major corporations like Ford, Breaking News and Mashable from setting up business accounts and attracting strong followings. In fact, Mashable says that it is currently one of the top ten most popular users on Google+ – until it gets shut down of course.
Businesses that wish to sneak their application in before tomorrow's deadline can click here.
Google+ has received a strong response in its first few weeks. The new social network has reportedly already crossed the 10 million user threshold. Idealab founder Bill Gross speculated earlier this week that Google+ will reach 100,000,000 users faster than any other service in history.
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Beecher Tuttle is a TMCnet contributor. He has extensive experience writing and editing for print publications and online news websites. He has specialized in a variety of industries, including health care technology, politics and education. To read more of his articles, please visit his columnist page.
Edited by Jennifer Russell
