I must be anti social. I have a FB acct. I hardly ever use. I just have no time for it. No "want" for that kind of social interaction. All anyone wants to do is play games and have farms.

I expect I'll feel the same about this.  

Hehe, I got a set scales that tells lies... which is almost as good.

Nope, but an old rusty nail works just as well.... just poke it in the valves and they got 4 flats.

It IS a pyramid system.  One person gives to say, 6.

6 give to their 6 each.

36.

36 gives to 6 each.

216.

THAT IS what pyramid selling is all about...or call it Viral Marketing if you must.

Google does NOTHING but push this distribution system to get the fastest take-up of the service as possible -  the USER DOES THE MARKETING and DISTRIBUTION.

The success of the service DEPENDS solely on its popularity breeding further popularity.... just like chain letters, pyramid schemes or viral YouTube advertising.

I don't give any time for whether Google is evil or not [I use the search engine]...but its pre-occupation with mass saturation of EVERY facet of Computing online is ultimately DANGEROUS.

And...to push the point so you are abundantly clear....when Google actively filters results of their search engine dependent on Government pressures [any government] then the online world is one step removed [if that] from THOUGHT POLICE.

Google wants to be Orwell's Ministry of Information..... fascist undertones and all.

WhiteElk.... Google is a parasite, and what it is doing with this invite scheme, take out the money, is to use its followers/devotees to perpetuate a service using the pyramid principle

Okay, so no money changes hands between the gifters and the giftees, but that still does not disqualify what Google is doing as being a pyramid scheme... the end result is that one party profits, that party being Google. The only difference between this and a regular pyramid scheme is that all those who are used along the way are cheated, their efforts deliberately employed without remuneration.   That IMO makes Google evil.

"A pyramid scheme is a non-sustainable business model that involves promising participants payment, services or ideals, primarily for enrolling other people into the scheme or training them to take part, rather than supplying any real investment or sale of products or services to the public. Pyramid schemes are a form of fraud.^[1][2]

Pyramid schemes are illegal in many countries including Albania, Australia^[3], Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, China^[4], Colombia^[5], Denmark, the Dominican Republic^[6], Estonia^[7], France, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Iran^[8], Italy^[9], Japan^[10], Mexico, Nepal, The Netherlands^[11], New Zealand^[12], Norway^[13], the Philippines^[14], Poland, Portugal, Romania^[15], South Africa^[16], Spain, Sri Lanka^[17], Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand^[18], Turkey^[19], the United Kingdom, and the United States^[20].

These types of schemes have existed for at least a century, some with variations to hide their true nature, and many people believe that multilevel marketing is also a pyramid scheme"

Oh gosh....I used GOOGLE to define what Google is doing.

Ain't I clever.....

I get clean searches without doing all that.

There is no promised payment Jafo.  There are no kickbacks of any kind.  Nothing is gained or promised in the giving away of invites.  pyramid schemes are illegal because late investors WILL lose.  It is guaranteed to fail.  Earnings are based on recruitment.  Recruitment will eventually end.  

For Google+ to be identified as a pyramid or ponzi scheme, users would have to be at risk of losing their accounts when recruitment efforts fail to enlist new users.  This is not the case.  This is nothing more than a version of word of mouth advertising.  

I find their marketing method to be a little silly (as people can find threads like this where the invites are given out like candy), but I find nothing nothing illegal or immoral in it.  And I find it rather fitting that a social networking service would require an invitation to participate.  Eventually though, I presume that the invite system will be dropped once the beta phase is complete and the system is ready for mainstream use.  Thats how it went down with Gmail anyway.  And it makes sense to me.  Sort of like how users must actively flip a switch at Impulse in order to gain access to E:WOMs beta releases.  Googles invite stage = beta phase.  But really this about creating a buzz.

I'm guessing that your problem with this Jafo, comes from thinking of Google as using the people as unpaid advertisers.  Or that Google creates a buzz around their product by leveraging on peoples desire to participate in programs of exclusivity.  From these angles I can understand your grief.  Though I disagree.  I much prefer this method of marketing over having my ears, eyes, and mind assaulted with product misrepresentations and garbage totally unrelated to the product.  I put no value in software review articles.  Best to hear directly from the users. etc.  But thats a personal preference.  If you don't like Googles methods, fine.  But call it like it is.  You just don't like the method.  But it is Not a pyramid scheme.   

Couple of quibbles: There are many stock markets, not just one. And while they might be involved in pyramid schemes, the markets themselves are nothing worse than legalized gambling with typically generous tax rules for winnings. Mostly, I tend to think of them as mood rings for the rich and the servants who tend massive money piles for the rich. 

Or, Huckleberry Finn's fence painting scheme.

SOooooooo...you're saying that Huckleberry Finn created 'Crowdsourcing' ?

And that Huckleberry Finn, by exploiting free labor was in fact, himself, a communist?

How marxist of you.

Well....let's get it kinda accurate....

It was Tom Sawyer's scheme.... 

 “Oh come, now, you don’t mean to let on that you like it?”
The brush continued to move.
“Like it? Well I don’t see why I oughtn’t to like it. Does a boy get a chance to whitewash a fence every day?”
That put the thing in a new light. Ben stopped nibbling his apple. Tom swept his brush daintily back and forth—stepped back to note the effect—added a touch here and there—criticized the effect again—Ben watching every move and getting more and more interested, more and more absorbed. Presently he said:
“Say, Tom, let me whitewash a little.”

Actually it was Mark's scheme. He just exploited Tom to exploit Huck and the others.

Twain's a commie!