Google+ has been given a facelift as the search engine giant looks to continue shifting its focus away from people and more towards personal interests and communities.
Google said it made the changes after listening to what users were asking for.
Google’s answer to Facebook was launched back in June 2011, but it never captured the number of users that Facebook has.
Google also angered many users when it integrated YouTube accounts with Google+. It later reserved that decision.
“Since we last posted, we’ve spent a lot of time listening to what people using Google+ had to say,” explained Eddie Kessler, director of streams in a blog posting. “There were two features they kept coming back to: Communities, which now average 1.2 million new joins per day, and Collections, which launched just five months ago and is growing even faster.”
“And so we’ve reimagined Google+ to help them do that,” he wrote. “Today, we’re starting to introduce a fully redesigned Google+ that puts Communities and Collections front and centre.
“Now focused around interests, the new Google+ is much simpler,” he said. “And it’s more mobile-friendly – we’ve rebuilt it across web, Android and iOS so that you’ll have a fast and consistent experience whether you are on a big screen or small one.
“Creating great products that solve real needs and make life easier for people is something Google is always striving for,” wrote Kessler. “Your feedback got us this far – as we continue to refine Google+, we’d love to keep hearing from you.”
Google also explained a Google+ posting that it had been visiting users in their homes to get feedback.
“We’ve spent lots of time talking to people who are passionate about Google+. We visited them in their homes, we invited them into early testing communities and we learned more about how and why they use Google+,” said the post. “The predominant answer? Having a great place to keep up with and talk about their interests.”
Are you a Google expert? Take our quiz!
US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo says Huawei's flagship smartphone chip 'years behind' US technology, shows…
Cloud companies, business user groups say Broadcom price changes do not address their concerns, as…
Dating app Grindr sued over claims it shared sensitive user data, including HIV status, with…
Meta Platforms opens operating system behind Quest virtual reality headsets to third parties amidst competition…
European Commission may ban rewards feature in recently launched TikTok Lite that it calls 'toxic…
US House of Representatives passes new bill combining TikTok measures with foreign aid, may face…
View Comments
Nothing really new. I think Google + has some difficulties to find his positioning. Many alternatives have been launched since Del.icio.us days. Some actors like Openoox.com already propose this principle of link collection to save and share your favorites web contents