Google to allow third-party Google+ add-ons

Google intends to allow developers to create third-party add-ons for its Google+ social network, the man in charge of the project has said.

Vic Gundotra, Google's senior vice president of social, told ZDNet UK sister site CNET News on Thursday that developers would definitely get an API for the service, launched as a private beta on Tuesday. "I'm a developer guy at the core. It is inconceivable I would build something without a platform," he is quoted as saying.

The move, for which Gundotra did not give a timescale, would bring Google+ closer to the functionality of its chief rival, market-dominating Facebook. Google's service already resembles Mark Zuckerberg's creation to some degree, but it currently lacks third-party applications — a big draw for many of Facebook's customers.

Google+ does however have several features Facebook lacks, such as the ability to easily create circles of contacts that can be addressed separately, multi-user video chat, and easy export of user data.

On Friday, Jeff Huber, Google's vice president of local and commerce, also said businesses would be able to create profile pages on Google+.

The company announced its new social network — Google already has another, Orkut, which is very successful in India and Brazil — with the service being available only to a very limited number of invitees. However, various workarounds have popped up and subsided in the intervening days, allowing people to invite others to join Google+.

Gundotra mentioned that Google+ was simply not ready for developer access, and the early-stages nature of the project remains apparent. On Saturday, Google said it would issue a fix to address a glaring privacy hole in the Circles feature — updates published to a limited circle can be shared publicly by a member of that circle.

Developers can register their interest in anticipation of Google+ being opened up here.