Google feels the pain of users who can't get on Google+

23.08.2011
Google is keenly aware that many people are eager to set up profiles in Google+, the company's new social network, but the site will remain in a limited trial while the company works feverishly toward a broader rollout that can accommodate a larger number and wider variety of users.

So said Bradley Horowitz, the Google+ vice president of product, during a webcast interview on Tuesday with Tim O'Reilly, CEO of O'Reilly Media.

In addition to regular people, there are a number of specialty user groups that are anxious to try out Google+, like application developers, Google Apps customers, corporate marketers and even minors, but the site isn't yet ready for them, he said.

For developers, Google doesn't yet offer any way to build applications for the site, and the plan is to at some point, gradually and deliberately, release APIs (application programming interfaces) for them, starting with basic, read-only ones, he said.

The rollout of APIs and developer tools will be done "with a deep concern for the user experience to make sure errant apps, whether willfully or accidentally breaking the system, are monitored and don't spoil the experience for everyone," Horowitz said.

Google wants to avoid at all costs applications that, for example, spam users. The company also wants to make sure that the development tools are designed in such a way that allow programmers to do their best work.