Every once in a while, there is a major outrage over Google trying to "shove Google+ down our throats" as one more of its properties is integrated with Google+. There are accusations of Google wanting to inflate its active user count by "forcing" more people into Google+.
Google+ is one of the most misunderstood pieces of the Google puzzle. It is popularly considered as Google's wannabe answer to Facebook/Twitter and as yet another attempt at "getting" social.
Yet Google+ is more than just a mere social network. Google+ is literally Google + You (and your juicy details).
Google's goal is to become your perfect personal assistant - the ultimate handheld/wearable Star Trek computer. To do this, it has to understand your behavior/preferences. Google+ is a fabric that is being built around Google's other properties to do just that.
It is also important to understand this in the context of Google's business model. Google provides a number of services (mostly for free) in return for showing you advertisements (yes, there's no real free lunch). So, while attempting to become your Star Trek computer, it also has to stay relevant to advertisers - the people who spend money to keep it going.
Advertisers want to make sure that the money they spend, results in ads being shown where there is the greatest chance of success. People who see the ads (users like you and me) don't like ads, but would rather see relevant ads than irrelevant ones.
Understanding you, your behavior, preferences and social interactions helps Google achieve both objectives - becoming your Star Trek computer as well as becoming the ultimate advertising platform.
Judging from the outrage, a lot of people don't like this setup. The good thing about this, is that you don't have to use Google or any of its properties. There are alternatives. Be prepared to discover though, that these alternatives are not all that different, or if they are, are unviable from a long term perspective.
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