Google+ Creates Huge Demand With Limited Invitations

Google is creating huge demand for something that is already out there and readily available: A social network. Since unveiling Google+ last week with a limited number of invitations, demand for access to Google’s newest project has soared.

In fact, invites to Google’s social network are so limited and in such high demand, people are willing to pay for an invitation. Granted, the 99 cent asking price on Ebay is small change. But it still shows still shows how far people will go to be part of the next big thing.

This reminds me of 2004, when Google unveiled Gmail, with a limited number of invitations. People were clamoring to get in on the action. I remember how excited I was when a family member sent me a Gmail invitation.

There was no shortage of free email services back then. The market was saturated with choices for consumers. Yet Google still created a lot of demand for Gmail, even amid criticism of potential privacy issues. Google also made their email service more enticing by offering a whopping 1 GB of storage (compared to the measly 2 MB Hotmail offered).

Google+ is differentiating itself from Facebook by making user privacy settings much easier. Users create “circles” of friends. So one circle can be family; who will see updates about the quiet, reserved, hardworking person they think you are. And your circle of college buddies can see pictures of you doing beer bongs at frat parties.

I think the demand for these new Google services are driven by artificial scarcity more than the small changes they make (i.e. email storage space or privacy settings). I say “artificial scarcity” because digital products, by their nature, have infinite supply. Google could open Google+ up to everyone if they wanted to. They could have delayed announcing the service until it was ready for prime time.

Just goes to show that the laws of supply and demand are very much relevant in the online world. But before you go decide to offer your ebook, newsletter subscription or whatever to a limited number of people; remember that it’s probably good to have an established following first. Otherwise no one will notice.

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