Google Wednesday morning said it has started rolling out a redesign of its .

At the same time, the company announced that Google+ now has some 170 million users, up from an estimated 62 million in January.

Vic Gundotra, a senior vice president at Google, wrote in a that the Google+ upgrades improve the site's navigation, make it easier to join online discussions and adds a dedicated .

"Today we're introducing a more functional and flexible version of Google+," wrote Gundotra in the post. "We think you'll find it easier to use and nicer to look at, but most importantly, it accelerates our efforts to create a simpler, more beautiful Google."

He also said the company is planning more changes to simplify the use of all Google products. "We're going to continue upgrading all the features you already know and love -- from search and Maps to Gmail and YouTube," he noted.