Google+ gets new YouTube and Chrome integration
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On Thursday Google delivered new Google+ integration for YouTube and the Chrome Web browser.
Vic Gundotra, the executive leading the Google+ efforts, said in a blog post that the new features were the tech giant’s latest example of ‘shipping the Google in Google+.’
So, what does that all mean exactly? For one, a YouTube slider tab has been added to the right-hand side of Google+ -- just below the black navigation bar along the top of every page.
When you scroll your mouse over the YouTube tab, a search bar pops out asking ‘What would you like to play?’ Entering any text will return YouTube video results, which pop up in a new window. ‘And if you move the pop-up elsewhere, you can still navigate your playlist from the slider,’ Gundotra noted.
The feature is pretty slick (as long as you don’t mind pop-up windows) and enables users to find, watch and +1 anything they see without leaving Google+ itself.
‘Sharing YouTube videos with your circles also works (of course), but there’s a nice little twist: The people you share with can open a related playlist directly from your post,’ Gundotra said in his post. ‘Last but not least, we’re starting to include YouTube playlists in Google+ search results.’
These are the latest of what probably will be many more YouTube plus Google+ features.
The first step came in August, when Google released a feature that allows Google+ users to launch Hangouts (group video chats) directly from YouTube’s website.
Chrome, another widely successful Google product, released two new browser extensions for Google+ as well.
One of the new extensions adds a +1 button beside the URL bar in Chrome. With this extension installed, a click of the button shares that website to a user’s Google+ profile.
The other extension adds a Google+ notifications box to show up next to Chrome’s URL bar -- enabling users to be alerted of Google+ activity when they’re logged into Google+ but not actually visiting a Google+ page.
Google also added the two extensions to its Google Toolbar for Internet Explorer as new features.
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-- Nathan Olivarez-Giles
Images: (Top) The YouTube slider in Google+ and (bottom) Chrome’s Google+ extensions. Credit: Google