10 major brands with dreadful Google+ pages

Google+ is an interesting conundrum as many people feel obliged to use it in the face of any logic and just because "it's Google".

We're all sitting around expecting that one day Google will unveil its true purpose and all the effort will have been worthwhile, but at the moment I feel that blind optimism is one of the only things keeping it going.

Admittedly the latest updates have improved the usability somewhat and Hangouts are certainly an interesting feature, but in the face of the sheer amount of time spent on Facebook and Twitter's increasingly important role as a news platform it does seem that G+ is floundering while trying to work out what purpose it actually serves.

Normal users don't need to fret about this problem and can wait for Google to lure them in with a killer new feature, however for brands it raises a bit of a dilemma.

Do they continue updating their G+ pages and searching for unique content even while nobody is bothering to look at it, or just accept that it's not going to reap them any benefits in terms of reaching their target audience and focus on Facebook and Twitter instead?

The likes of ASOS, John Lewis and Cadbury are firmly in the first camp and maintain active pages with daily updates in spite of the low level of interaction. 

However many other major brands have dipped their toe in Google's social network and decided it's simply not worth the effort.

And in honour of these brave souls, here are 10 brands with dreadful G+ pages...

Walmart

Walmart was quick to see the importance of G+ and established its page way back in December 2011.

However a mere two updates later and it was hotfooting it back to the safety of Facebook.

McDonald's

Without a single update to its name, McDonald's is basically cybersquatting in its own G+ page.

Nike

The sportswear brand has a terrific social strategy so it's surprising that its commitment to G+ is so patchy.

Though it goes through occasional bursts of updating its wall several times in a few days, in the past two months it has posted just three updates.

William Hill

Thundering along at a rate of around one update per month, bookmaker William Hill is hardly enthusiastic about using G+.

Coca-Cola

Another brand that commits to G+ in fits and bursts, Coca-Cola has posted several updates in the past month to promote a Hangout with a Mexican band call Rio Roma and was very active during the 2012 Olympics.

However it also failed to post anything between November 5 2012 and January 9 2013 and has generally only posted a few updates per month since then.

Pepsi

Following a busy January with a whopping six updates, Pepsi has only posted a further six updates since February.

Honda

Weighing in at an average of one update per month since last October, Honda obviously doesn't care too much for G+.

Nokia

Three updates in 2013 and none since March is enough to keep people engaged, right?

HSBC

Another brand that hasn't bothered to post a single update.

KFC

KFC established its G+ page back in November 2011 and posted a few updates per month until July 2012, but it has since decided to stay entirely silent.