Google isn’t expected to make its Google+ APIs broadly available for months, but it appears that developers that Google actually invests in might be getting special early access.
MG Siegler is sharing an email he says was sent from Google Ventures (Google’s investment arm) to portfolio companies, which reads:
The Google+ team is going to be starting to roll out some of their APIs to our Trusted Tester program in the next few days (followed by a more general availability in the next few weeks). They’ve agreed to give this early access to a small number (2-4) of our portfolio companies.
If you’re interested, we’d like you to at least be able to commit to building a small “hello world” app quickly (in the next 3-5 days). This stage of the program is more about feedback on docs and code for now, with an intent to have more meaningful interactions with G+ as more APIs roll out.
If you’re interested, please email me back with your company name, contact name, and email address.
We’ve contacted Google about this, hoping to get a better idea of how big this group of “Trusted Testers” is, and how far it extends beyond Google Ventures-backed companies.
Google has taken its time with nearly every aspect of Google+, including the launch of the social network itself. The company is clearly trying very hard to get social right this time, which is why we have yet to see the APIs’ availability as well as the availability of brand profiles. It’s also why Google has been so strict about such profiles, shutting down ones that were already created. Google wants to get things right.
It makes sense that they test the APIs with a trusted group, though there is bound to be some criticism about Google Ventures-backed companies getting any special treatment. Again, we’ll see how Google responds regarding the size of the group.
Update: A Google spokesperson tells WebProNews, “We definitely plan to involve developers and publishers in the Google+ project, but we don’t have specific details to share just yet.”
The APIs are bound to contribute greatly to the future success of Google+. They will no doubt unleash an entire ecosystem of Google+ functionality arose the web and mobile devices providing limitless ways for people to access and engage with the social network , which means more reasons to keep using it.
Getting the APIs right is critical for Google+.
