Google+ Counter
So what exactly is Google+ Counter?
First and foremost it’s Ralf Rottmann's personal proof of concept for a couple of technologies he had planned to play with for quite some time.
"I’ve been intrigued by the technological challenges of creating services that scale for almost my entire professional life. " Ralf Rottman
The only visible part is the Hall of Fame. This is a nice collection of the top followed people on Google+. You can hover over an image with your cursor and you'll get some details. Click on the image and you’re taken to the member profile. The Hall of Fame is updated hourly and it always incorporates the latest available data.
A number of technologies are used with the Google+ Counter, from compressing data, to map reduce allowing the worker scripts to scale beautifully. There have been thousands of listed profiles. Creating the Google+ Counter has been a fun experience.
NEW FEATURE: You can now log into Google+ Counter with your Google+ account!
Grow your Google+ network
Become a featured user on Google+ Counter, expand your reach.
More than 90.000 users per day visit the Google+ Counter, which has been featured by popular technology blogs around the globe.
The Next Web about Google+ Counter "The site has the potential to become the ultimate directory of Google+ users, used in much the same way as WeFollow has been used for Twitter."
Get one of our limited slots and become featured user:
- Expose your profile to all our visitors
- Gain more followers
- Grow your social reach
The limited number of promoted users is displayed on all our pages.
Your Name:
Your Email Address:
Your Google+ Profile Address:
Select a Plan:
- $9.99/day for 3 days (approx. 150.000 views)
- $5.99/day for 7 days (approx. 350.000 views)
- $4.99/day for 14 days (approx. 700.000 views)
- $3.99/day for 14 days for a minimum of 3 months in a row (approx. 700.000 monthly views)
As Ralf Rottmann said on twitter September 21,2011
To all the new Google+ users: Don't forget to add your profile to Google+ Counter and find new people!
Examples of Popular Lists on Google+ Counter
A selection of popular user curated lists.
Top Photographers
Members: 79 | Created: 2011-07-26
Permalink: http://gpc.fm/l/...
Curated by: Ralf Rottmann
Journalists on Google+
Excellent list of journalists on G+. Follow the folks and stay up to date and sometimes get amazing inside perspectives.
Members: 134 | Created: 2011-08-05
Permalink: http://gpc.fm/l/journalists
Curated by: Ralf Rottmann
Creative
Members: 143 | Created: 2011-08-15
Permalink: http://gpc.fm/l/creatives
Curated by: Sara Ataie
Game Designers on Google+
A list of people who create, develop or design games.
Members: 58 | Created: 2011-08-23
Permalink: http://gpc.fm/l/...
Curated by: Undisclosed owner
Verified Celebs on G+
A list of only verified celebrities on G+- no imposter’s profiles or fan pages
Members: 83 | Created: 2011-08-24
Permalink: http://gpc.fm/l/...
Curated by: Lilly Calandrello
Models on Google Plus
Members: 206 | Created: 2011-09-05
Permalink: http://gpc.fm/l/model
Curated by: Steve Valdez
Japan Photographers
Photograpers (professional or amateur) who are based in Japan or mainly published photographs from Japan
Members: 80 | Created: 2011-09-22
Permalink: http://gpc.fm/l/japantogs
Curated by: David La Spina
Baby Boomers on Google+
Only add yourself if born between 1945-1964. Definition of the Baby Boomer Generation from the US Census Bureau
Members: 105 | Created: 2011-10-04
Permalink: http://gpc.fm/l/boomers
Curated by: Tom Rolfson
Cartoonists (Webcomics/Web Cartoonists)
Cartoonists with a web comic or Cartoonists who regularly post non freelance work on the web
Members: 555 | Created: 2011-09-21
Permalink: http://gpc.fm/l/cartoonists
Curated by: Bearman Cartoons
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Sometimes I wonder what Ralf Rottman thinks about Salesforce development apps. Since he is into all things technical, I would imagine he would be a big fan of how they use cloud techonolgy for their platforms and applications for its Salesforce customer relationship management (CRM) product that include Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, Marketing Cloud, Force.com, Chatter and Work.com. After all Salesforce.com is a cloud computing and social enterprise software-as-a-service.
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Frequently asked Questions Answered by Ralf Rottmann Creator of Google+ Counter
What is Google+ Counter?
An independent project, Google+ Counter focuses on helping users find interesting people on Google+, the Social Network started by Google in June 2011. Ralf Rottmann started the site in July 2011. When Ralf first posted the background story about Google+ Counter on his blog, the only feature the site had was the Hall of Fame. Amazingly more than 30.000 people added their profiles within days. Based on feedback, Rottmann developed user curated lists, which now constitute the heart of the project. Rottmann is currently planning additional features. Each feature will focus on making Google+ Counter even easier to find great profiles.
What are the Halls of Fame and how do I get on?
The Hall of Fame is a primary feature that actually started everything that followed. Getting updated hourly, it displays a horizontal banner of the top most followed people on Google. To be considered for the Halls of Fame one must submit a request to our index.
How do I get on the lists? Who creates and maintains them?
All lists on Google+ Counter are exclusively user curated. In other words, they are created and maintained by regular visitors. If you want to share a set of profiles with your peers, just start a list.
Getting on a List:
Depending on how the list owner has configured her/ his list, will determine how you can get on it. You will find that some lists are open, allowing anybody to add profiles to it. Note that only the owner is able to remove entries. Other lists are moderated. Monitored lists require you getting in touch with the list owner and asking to be added. And there are also closed lists. A closed list is one in which the owner has decided not to disclose his / her contact. So unless you know the owner or someone who is on the closed list who get help you contact the owner, it is almost impossible to join.
Does Google endorse Google+ Counter?
Google+ Counter is NOT associated or affiliated with Google Inc. Therefor, the copy rights of all logos, photos and design elements displayed on the website belong to their respective organizations and individuals. All content displayed is solely based on the publicly available data on Google+. However, Bradley Horowitz, Google's VP Products responsible for their Social Network publicly said: "I'm a big fan of Ralf Rottmann's work and of user-generated content in general!"
The follower count does not seem to be up to date.
+ Counter indexes more than 150.000 Google+ profiles every day. Our crawlers run 24/7 to keep up with the many changes that a constantly occurring. Because there is so much data, it might take up to 24 hours until a specific follower count gets updated. Likewise it may take up to 24 hours for changes to other parts of the profile, like the Occupation or Places to also show.
What exactly does Google+ Counter have access to?
Only our crawlers see the publicly available data of your profile. To Google+ they appear exactly like an anonymous, logged out user. You don’t need to worry regarding your privacy. In addition, when you limit content to specific circles or people, Google+ Counter will no longer see it, either.
Is Google+ Counter free?
Yes.
What are featured users?
Google+ has grown into a pretty popular site, visited by thousands of people every day. To keep the service up (hosting, bandwidth, adding features, etc.) as well as keeping it ads free, Rottmann decided to allow people to support the project by becoming featured users. The idea is simple and helps generate money to pay for the hosting etc. For people willing to pay money to expand their social reach and promote their profile / business, Google+ Counter project encourages you to purchase a featured user slot.
What does it mean to log into Google+ Counter?
Initially, Google did not offer any official way to integrate Google+ Counter since it’s entire functionality was based on crawling and parsing the raw HTML. However in September 2011, Google announced the availability of an Application Programing Interface (API). The API allowed a deeper coupling between external sites and Google+. Although it's still very limited Rottmann is integrating whatever is possible between Google and his Google+ Count. Right now when you log into Google+ Counter, you basically grant us the temporary right to verify your account with Google+. Upon verification, we can then provide a more streamlined experience, e.g. a user no longer needs a password to manager his / her lists.
I've lost the owner's password for my list, how can I recover it?
When Ralf Rottmann designed Google+ Counter, he decided not to add yet another sign-up-create-a-user thingy. As it is, many folks find it difficult enough to remember all their online accounts. As of September 2011 Google allows authorization through Google+. As a consequence, you are never asked for an email address or any other personal details. Consequently, Google+ Counter can't offer an "I forgot my password" feature. If you run into this situation, just contact Ralf Rottmann.
Disclaimer: 1) Sending your request does not guarantee your spot on gpc.fm as we keep monitoring the quality of all submissions. 2) The featured users will be linked to their "About" page on Google+. 3) gpc.fm keeps the right to remove anyone from the featured users list without notice (any payment will be refunded). 4) gpc.fm keeps the right to change the price and terms of use without notice. 5) The order of the people in the list will be determined by gpc.fm. 6) Proceeds from our featured users help us operating gpc.fm and will be spent for bandwidth, support and addressing new features, most of which are suggested by our valued users.