The Google+ social network has received integrations with YouTube and the Google Chrome browser. It’s all part of a plan to, and I quote from the blog entry, “ship the Google part of Google+.”
The YouTube integration is simple, but potentially profound. The Google+ users in the audience may have already noticed the new YouTube widget in the upper-right hand corner of the screen. Put in a topic or a musical artist you like, and YouTube’s algorithm goes to work making a playlist of related content and displaying video in a floating pop-up.
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Obviously, sharing a video still works. But friends can generate their own related playlists based on your videos. And these user-generated YouTube playlists will show up in Google+ searches. I’m looking forward to seeing what unintended functionality Google+ users come up with.
The Chrome integration comes in the form of a pair of straightforward browser extensions: one that lets you +1 a page from anywhere, and one that displays your notifications at all times. If you’re one of the shrinking crowd of Microsoft Internet Explorer users, the Google Toolbar has that functionality now too.
Small steps, but it seems that Google is trying to back up its flawed ambition of making Google+ the platform that ties together its entire range of offerings. But I still feel like there’s a lot of work to be done before it gets there.