Google Pitches Google+ Hangout With Full Page New York Times Ad

How do you spread the word about your awesome new social media network? If you’re Google, apparently you turn to a full page ad in the old media of the New York Times.

My copy of the New York Times today contained this giant ad on the back of the main section, pitching how the Dalai Lama used Google Hangout — a feature of Google Plus — to join in Desmond Tutu’s 80th birthday celebration:

Here’s a close-up of the main part of the ad:

The ad has copy that originally says the Dalai Lama wasn’t able to join the celebration after not being granted a visa, but then those portions are struck-out with new copy inserted to explain how Google Hangouts came to the rescue:

The Dalai Lama, Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader, scrapped plans on Tuesday to attend joined the 80th birthday celebration of a fellow Nobel laureate, Desmond M. Tutu of South Africa, via hangout after the host government did not grant his visa request.

The Social Media Savvy Dalai Lama

The Dalai Lama joined Google+ last week, a few days ahead of the special Google Hangout. He can be found here. How many followers he has on Google+ is unknown, as he’s not showing that on his profile.

The Dalai Lama is also on Facebook here (with 2,051,860 followers, at the moment) and on Twitter here (with 2,609,446 followers, at the moment).

The recorded Google+ Hangout session (with a surprisingly low number of views, only 20,285 as I write this) can be found here or viewed below:

About The Author

Danny Sullivan

Danny Sullivan was a journalist and analyst who covered the digital and search marketing space from 1996 through 2017. He was also a cofounder of Third Door Media, which publishes Search Engine Land, Marketing Land, MarTech Today and produces the SMX: Search Marketing Expo and MarTech events. He retired from journalism and Third Door Media in June 2017. You can learn more about him on his personal site & blog He can also be found on Facebook and Twitter.