This week, Google Inc. launched its own social network, called Google+. Right now, they are only letting people join by invitation. That being said, there are already several million people who have created accounts. As you might imagine, Google Plus is tied to your Gmail account, and you can’t have access without one.

So what exactly is Google+? It’s as though Google studied all of the more popular social media tools, took the best of each of them, added some cool interfaces and then knitted them all into one application. Here’s how I can best describe its key elements.

It’s like Facebook in that you can post updates and share links, photos, etc., with your friends.

But it’s better than Facebook, because you can put your friends into circles and share certain things solely with certain circles. You might have a book club circle, a family circle and a co-ed softball team circle. Just like in real life, you’d share different things with those three very different groups. With Google Plus, you can do the same thing. Or you can share everything with everyone.

It’s also like Facebook in that you can endorse content.

I’m not sure the site’s +1 is much different from Facebook’s like, except for one thing. How long do you think it will take Google to start linking page rank, search engine optimization (SEO) results etc., to how many +1s you get? I think Google is going to incent Web users to influence search engine rankings via their vote. It probably won’t be just the +1s but also what content appears in the Stream.

It’s like Twitter in that you can follow interesting people.

But it’s better than Twitter, because it allows you to group those you follow into those same circles. If you follow 500-plus Twitter accounts, the “noise to good information” ratio can be a little high. This way, you can filter your information intake as you choose. This is how Twitter envisioned us using its Lists functionality, but few people do.

It’s like Skype in that you can talk to people from all over the world for free.

But it’s better than Skype, because you can video chat with up to 10 people of your choosing via their Hangouts. It’s more intuitive than Skype and is free, which Skype cannot always claim to be. One of the best things about Hangout is that the camera/screen shifts based on who is talking.

It’s like Flickr (or TwitPic or Instagram) in that you can upload and share your photos.

But it’s better than Flickr and the others in that you can share specific photos with specific groups of people. So if you’re a soccer parent and want to share game photos with the other parents, your clients don’t have to see all 57 photos.

So, how will Google+ affect your business? Today, I don’t think it will. In this beta release, there are no ads or business pages (yet). Right now, everything is tied to an individual’s Gmail account. I suppose if you’re a solo consultant, you could “market” yourself there, but you’d be doing that in the Stream, not in a specifically designated area.

But as I mentioned above, I would bet that behaviors, content shared, +1s and other elements of Google+ will soon be having a dramatic influence on SEO. Which means businesses will need to be there, much in the same way they’re on Facebook today.

Drew McLellan is Top Dog at McLellan Marketing Group and blogs at www.drewsmarketingminute.com. He can be reached by email at Drew@MclellanMarketing.com. © 2011 Drew McLellan