Google CEO Larry Page put out a lengthy letter to investors today. In talking about Google+, he mentioned that there are over 120 Google+ integrations (I assume this means internally with other Google products). Unfortunately, he doesn’t list them all.
“It’s still early days, and we have a long way to go,” Page says in the letter. “But these are tremendously important changes, and with over 120 Google+ integrations to date (including Google Search, YouTube and Android), we are on the right track. Well over 100 million users are active on Google+, and we’re seeing a positive impact across the Web, with Google users being able to recommend search results and videos they like—a goal we’ve had ever since we started the company.”
I doubt we’ll see Google+ integration slow down much. With Google’s privacy policies consolidated, it should make it easier for Google to integrate all of its products with one another in more ways. This includes YouTube, which is getting a great deal of focus these days, in terms of new channels, original content and partnerships.
My guess is that we’ll start seeing a lot more integration of Google+ (which is really just Google for all intents and purposes) externally as well. The new Hangouts API, for example, will no doubt inspire a fair amount of creativity from developers.
Some of Google+‘s integrations have received some criticism – namely Search Plus Your World. A lot of people weren’t thrilled with Google favoring Google+ too much in search results, though a recent algorithm change may have directly affected that. They don’t seem to be favoring Google+ as much as they were.
Either way, it’s clear that search is still a major focus for Google, with social being portrayed as a means of improving it.
That 100 million number, by the way, is in line with what Google’s Vic Gundotra said at SXSW recently. Google isn’t counting Google+ users simply as just those who are spending a lot of time using Google+ itself. It counts users who sign into Google+, and use another Google product within a month. Presumably, this includes Gmail, YouTube, a signed in Google search (complete with Search Plus Your World), Google Reader, etc. Under this philosophy, he said Google+ has 100 million “30-day active” users.
Are there any Google+ integrations in particular that you like? Dislike? Let us know in the comments.
