Google+ - News, Features, and Slideshows

News

• Competing for privacy in a social media world

  For years, Facebook users have been clamoring for better privacy controls and clarity, while Facebook engineers oscillate between improvements and major privacy snafus. Every now and then a new wave of exasperated users cry out "That's it, I'm leaving". Up to now, users really didn't have anywhere to go after quitting, so they effectively quit the social media scene, self-ostracized (MySpace is equivalent to being exiled, perhaps worse). Now that they have somewhere else to go (Google+), Facebook is ramping up its privacy controls and seems to be taking privacy more seriously. Let the privacy competition begin!

• SEO peddlers see value in Google's +1

  Search engine optimization companies have started targeting Google's +1 feature -- you can now pay companies to "+1" your website.

• Google pulls back on heavy-handed Google+ name policy

  In an effort to stave off criticism over its "real names" policy, Google said late Monday that it will stop disabling Google+ accounts that violate the policy -- without warning the user first.

• A look at the new features in Gmail

  Google took advantage of the launch of social networking service Google+ to give Gmail a makeover.

• Google+ users irked at surge in deleted accounts

  Within the last day or so there has been a surge in the number of Google+ accounts that have been suspended as part of the social network's real name policy, reports Violet Blue for ZDNet who mentioned the likes of writer and editor A.V. Flox, rapper Doctor Popular and Limor Fried who recently graced the cover of Wired Magazine. Fried's account was later reinstated.

• Big tech names Dell, Torvalds among Google+ early adopters

  Part of the buzz this week about Google+ is that Google is reportedly working to lure celebrities such as Lady Gaga to its new social network service with verified accounts. Not sure if tech big shots beyond Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg count as celebrities, but the list of the technology industry’s biggest names using Google+ is on the rise.

• Will Facebook's low satisfaction score help Google+?

  The 2011 American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) E-Business Report has arrived, and once again the news is bad for Facebook. The world's most popular social network scored the lowest of all the companies measured in the report, which is produced by ACSI LLC and analytics firm ForeSee Results.

• User satisfaction study: Facebook vulnerable to Google+

  User satisfaction with Facebook is low enough that the social networking site risks losing significant market share to Google+, according to a new study.

• Google+ users spammed due to lack of disk space

  Google has apologised for causing its Google+ users to be spammed over the weekend, saying the fault was caused by a lack of disk space.