Google+'s integration into its other mainstream products gives the social network a competitive edge.

I hate to say it: there’s yet another social network where you need to create another profile and connect with the same people and brands you’re already in touch with elsewhere.

I’ve seen plenty of frustration about Google+ this past week on Facebook, but there are a plethora of reasons why Google’s foray into social media this time around will be successful (if you missed their earlier attempt with Google Buzz, read here). The ease of creating groups of people (circles), the way photos are displayed and the mere fact that the search engine giant is proactively listening to users to improve the product are among them.

The most overwhelming aspect to me is this: Google, which is integrated into so many of our daily lives–searching, e-mail, calendar, docs–has added an omnipresent strip to all those pages. And when someone interacts with us, a space in the upper right-hand corner turns red with a number.

While I personally do worry about putting too many eggs into one basket, this simple, yet genius layout feature will be key to Google+’s dominance in social networking.

If you’re on the Google+ bandwagon, join me. You can also follow me on Twitter and “like” me on Facebook.