Google+ finally opened for businesses on 7 November, causing a rush of activity.

The social networking site, already open to individual users and to a select few businesses on a test-basis, had been vague about the date of the public launch of Google+ pages.

The first UK announcement appeared on the official Google blog, and the news spread quickly. The blog brands Google+ Pages as ‘connecting with all the things you care about’ and explains that the focus is to allow users to build relationships with everything ‘from local business to global brands’, not just family and friends.

The long awaited launch saw pages springing up overnight, with businesses eager to discover whether Google has developed the ultimate social tool for brands, a question addressed in the cover feature of Communicate’s most recent issue.

Google CEO and co-founder Larry Page wrote on his own Google+ profile ‘Super excited we are launching +pages today. Now everyone's favourite brands--companies, not for profits--can get their page on Google+.’

Certain organisations had set up Google+ pages before the public launch, including Barcelona Football Club, H&M, Pepsi, and Toyota. You can now find Communicate magazine on Google+ at http://gplus.to/communicatemagazine.