Thirteen Third-Party Tools for Google Plus to Improve and Customize Your Experience

Through reading Google Plus-focused blogs, following what tools Google+ users are excited about and asking you directly, LAUNCH compiled the following list. Tools range from a people-finder database to a service that shortens Google+ profile URLs. Share your favorites -- or tell us what we missed -- in the comments.

1. Find People on Plus offers a database of more than 9.5M Google+ users. The site lets users search by name, profession, location and more. There are also options to sort results based on demographics and detailed profile information, such as by employer or by relationship status.
2. Social Statistics offers an up-to-date list of the top-followed people on Google+ and the most popular posts on the network. Also, track your own Google+ stats.

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With Fortune 50 Clients and $1M+ in Revenue, Affectiva Proves Market for Measuring Emotion

WHAT: Tools for measuring emotion in research and business outside a lab. The Q Sensor, worn on the wrist, measures emotional arousal, temperature and activity (will soon have streaming capabilities). Affdex uses a webcam to read facial expressions and can determine whether someone likes or is paying attention to the commercial or movie trailer she is watching.

LAUNCHERS: Co-founders are Rana el Kaliouby (CTO) and Rosalind Picard (chief scientist and leader in affective computing). CEO David Berman helped build WebEx, which Cisco acquired.

WHY: Testing in lab is more invasive, labor-intensive and expensive. Marketers can measure actions but cannot assess emotion. Webcams capture good-quality video and are ubiquitous. Emotional data can be used in social networking and gaming.

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Google Hands Justice Department Antitrust Gold -- Invests in WhaleShark Media

The day after Google acquired Dealmap, which shows Groupon-like deals on Google maps, its venture arm Google Ventures invested in Austin-based coupon/deal marketplace WhaleShark Media.

Given Google’s failed attempt to buy Groupon and the U.S. Justice Department's interest in Google's search practices, to what extent will Google incorporate Whale Shark's offers into its search results?

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ZocDoc Raises $50M, Tied for 3rd Largest Deal of Q3 2011

ZocDoc has secured a $50M investment – tied with Evernote for the third largest investment in Q3 2011 – as the company plans to expand into new markets (see below for Q3 investment list).

ZocDoc is a free online service that lets patients find doctors based on location and instantly book appointments. The Series C investment from DST Global brings the total raised to $70M.

DST Global also led the Series G funding round for Twitter, investing a reported $400M – the largest investment of Q3 thus far.

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Famous for Getting Charlie Sheen on Twitter, Ad.ly Launches Open-Source Analytics Software

WHAT: Matches brands with celebrities to start conversations about the brand and drive clicks, mainly on Twitter (paid, in-stream messages not allowed on Facebook). Target audiences include moms, sports fans, teen boys and girls, and men and women ages 18 to 34. Celebrities pick brands and approve copy, Ad.ly delivers the endorsement. Must have at least 25K followers to be accepted to platform.

Blingalytics, which Ad.ly developed for its own real-time business intelligence needs, is open-source software for tracking social engagement and creating custom reports. Also integrates with financial software for billing and revenue reporting. Built in Python.



LAUNCHER: Arnie Gullov-Singh, CEO, is a former Fox and Yahoo executive.

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