Google+ Updates: Improved Stream Controls, Photo Tagging And More

Google has just announced a number of new features and improvements for Google+, its social network, which will be rolling out over the next couple of days. The most interesting change is new controls that let users optimize the way they get updates from circles and friends in their update streams.

Google has added a slider at the top of the page when you view a stream for a particular circle, which basically enables you to adjust how those posts should appear in the main stream.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRakr5BgkB0&w=640&h=400]

As for Google+ Pages, the company now enables business to assign up to 50 administrators, and also introduced a new notification flow that makes it easier for said admins to manage pages.

Google now also shows an aggregated count of users that have engaged with a certain page, either by +1’ing it or by adding it to a circle.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20UXgGxssAo&w=640&h=400]

Also interesting is the improvements the company made to Google+ Photos, putting more focus on the actual photos in the design and debuting a brand new photo-tagging experience.

Finally, Google has added “sneak previews” to the notifications bar that immediately show users what’s new, more clearly. The redesigned notifications window can now also show the +1’s and shares your posts have received, in realtime.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhWdNOgfa90]