As an example of how rapidly its clout has grown, the new Android OS (nicknamed “Ice Cream Sandwich”) prompts new users to sign up for Google+ with the personal info they’ve already entered on the phone. As for business, if you type something like “+burberry” into Google search, you will be instantly redirected to the Burberry Google+ page.

But there’s something even more massive that Google could be doing with business pages that would transform the online business space. Google, through its Maps and Places services, already has information on millions of businesses. If the information on each of those business’s pages, complete with address, phone number, photos and customer reviews, were put into a Google+ page, Google+ could become a local-business powerhouse.

Consider that Google Maps is not just a popular option for directions and location search on the Web, but also the default maps app on iPhone and Android devices. And most local businesses, from a taqueria in the Mission district of San Francisco to a taqueria in Austin, already have business pages on Google Maps. What if Google converted every business page on Google Places into a Google+ page? Where both exist, what if the two were combined? Let’s take Nordstrom as an example. It has both.

The benefit of a fused Google+Place page to the social-media manager is obvious: maintaining one page beats maintaining two. Continually updated, the page would benefit the local user as an authoritative source of information about the place, like its address and phone number. The fused page would be engaging, with photos uploaded by users and the manager alike, along with user reviews and comments. In addition, we would find conversations occurring between business owner and customers in a consolidated place.

Read the full article at Ad Age.