There’s No Avoiding Google

Google Inc. is challenging Facebook Inc. by using a controversial tactic: requiring people to use the Google+ social network.The result is that people who create an account to use Gmail, YouTube and other Google services — including the Zagat restaurant-review website — are also being set up with public Google+ pages that can be viewed by anyone online. Google+ is a Facebook rival and one of the company’s most important recent initiatives as it tries to snag more online advertising dollars.The impetus comes from the top. Google Chief Executive Larry Page has sought more aggressive measures to get people to use Google+, two people familiar with the matter say. Google created Google+ in large part to prevent Facebook from dominating the social-networking business.
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