Changes at Google+ – Who’s Next?

Google+ doesn’t look the same today, and that’s because the former search giant, now giant everything, is fine-tuning its most successful social network so far to be more engaging, more relevant and more useful for everyone.

The interface is now less cluttered, crystal clear, with beautiful icons that make the UI one of the most aesthetic outthere – if aesthetics are something you care for.

So far, no news from Google+’s main competitor, Facebook, but everyone expects the social networks to emulate each other’s best features.

The best features are navigational:

• You can drag apps up or down to create the order you want
• You can hover over certain apps to reveal a set of quick actions
• You can show or hide apps by moving them in and out of “More”

Other upgrades affect the stream and hangouts, with special attention for a dedicated Hangouts page that creates even more opportunities to connect in person, including:

• An always-updated list of invitations from the people in your circles
• Quick access to every public and On Air hangout, for those times when you want to meet someone new, or watch a live broadcast
• A rotating billboard of popular hangouts, pro tips and other items you don’t want to miss

Today, Google+ is used by more than 170 million people, according to a recent announcement highlighting the UI changes. Google announced even more changes and improvements rolling out in the next few days.

As time goes by, Google+ becomes more advanced, more complex – a platform that can be used for virtually any purpose you can think of, from business to personal and beyond. What happens next with Facebook and the like? Are they able to keep up, or will Google, eventually, triumph on social media as it once did in search?

Years ago, Google didn’t believe in a social future of search. Today… the search giant integrates social media and fresh content in the SERPs killing more established content to show “the latest” in a certain industry.