14 DAY TRIAL // Google is working on enabling vanity URLs, i.e. custom profile URLs, for Google+. Google+ is one year old and users still get the ugly numerical IDs as their URLs. But Google wants to change this. Don't get too excited, it's not rolling out the feature to all users just yet.
It's only for verified accounts and pages and only for some of those. Currently, only very few pages have custom URLs, those that have been collaborating with Google from the get go, like Toyota or Britney Spears.
"Whether you're a clothing brand showing off your latest fashions (google.com/+hugoboss), an athlete talking about the game (google.com/+davidbeckham), or an actor recalling a favorite role (google.com/+hughjackman), your Google+ profile helps you connect with the people who share your interests," Google's Saurabh Sharma wrote.
"Today we’re introducing custom URLs to make it even easier for people to find your profile on Google+," he announced. "At first, we’re introducing custom URLs to a limited number of verified profiles and pages. But over time we plan to offer custom URLs to many more brands and individuals, so please stay tuned!."
So if you're waiting for your own custom URL, you're going to have to wait some more. Google will probably continue to roll out the option to verified pages and then to popular pages or maybe even popular users.
Eventually, all will get access, but the gradual roll out aims to make sure that there's no land-rush and that trademarked words don't get taken by people who don't have a right to them.
The Facebook vanity URL roll-out created quite a commotion and that's probably going to be true for Google+, depending on how Google plans to handle this.