Image via WikipediaMy topic for today is Google+'s integration with the Google toolbar that is present in GMail, Google Ready, Google Docs, etc. This integration means that so long as I'm using almost anything Google I know when something new. There are exceptions. Google's soon to be re-branded blogger service for instance totally lacks G+ integration so far as I can tell.
The really nice thing about this integration is that the notification widget is clickable. When you click you get a list of the topics that have been updated recently. You can then click on those topics and see at least part of the conversation for instance. You can even type a quick reply without ever having to open the G+ site.
Facebook has a lot of advantages in this fight. One leg up that Google has is their ability to integrate G+ into their suite of offerings. They've tried this before, notably with Buzz and had minimal success. Early indications are that they've learned from those experiences as the G+ integration feels much more natural and useful to me.
One other observation about G+. Almost all of my more tech obsessed friends have either made the shift or are anxious to do so. The less tech obsessed ones seem fairly indifferent. This could be a serious sign of trouble for Google or it could just be the typical early/mid/late adopter dynamic in action.
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