MOUNTAIN VIEW: Google, the online giant, is now allowing advertisers the opportunity to create official pages for their brands on Google+, its recently-launched social network.

Bradley Horowitz, vice-president of product for the platform, said that Google would offer close integration with the firm's search engine and YouTube, the Google-owned online video site.

Brands that have already signed up to create the pages include Pepsi, Angry Birds, an app-based mobile game, and UK fashion house Burberry.

A new feature named Direct Connect offers users a link to a brand's Google+ page via a special command entered into Google's search engine: a "+" sign, immediately followed by the brand name.

For example, a user searching on Google for "+angry birds" would automatically be taken to the brand's Google+ profile.

Ahead of the launch of the brand pages, Google has conducted trials of the product in collaboration with advertisers such as Ford.

Speaking to Bloomberg, Horowitz said that the unique properties of Google+, as well as its integration with other Google products, could prove attractive to companies.

"Brands can come in and take advantage of things like Circles, which allow them to segment their audience, so they can communicate differently to their gold, silver and bronze customers," he added.

"We don't think of the rest of Google as something different from Google+ ... It is incumbent on us to continue to light up these integrations, so wherever [the users] come on Google, they are recognised as a Google+ user and get additional value for that."

Horowitz also said that Google+ now has more than 40m unique users worldwide. By way of comparison, Facebook, the world's largest social network, has around 800m.

Coca-Cola is currently the most widely-followed brand on Facebook, with just over 35m "Likes". Starbucks, Oreo, Red Bull and Converse All Star are the only other brands with more than 20m "Likes".

Data sourced from Financial Times/All Things D/Daily Telegraph; additional content by Warc staff