The GOOGLE+ Punch List (21 Items Google Must Add to Plus)

We asked Google+ users--on Google+--what Google had left out of the service. Here's what they said, with a little added analysis.

Must Haves
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1. Brand pages: Based on the brouhaha we've seen over Mashable getting their business profile to 100k followers--before being transferred to +Pete Cashmore for a TOS violation--publishers are desperate to do commerce through Plus. And for good reason, Plus is designed to send traffic to publishers, while Facebook is designed to be the roach motel of traffic (users go in, but they don't come out). Google has to get this done quickly.

2. An official API: Users are doing all kinds of things to hack Plus. Google must get its API released as quickly as possible. Once this is up and running Facebook will be put on the ropes, as legions of developers, including--we predict--Zynga, will race to embrace a second platform.

3. Search: Want to know how what folks thought of "Captain America" on Plus? How about finding a recommendation for a juicer? Well, search in Google+ simply doesn't exist. You have to flip over to Google.com and do a site search--and it’s way janky. Now, it's one thing for Twitter to not have a search engine on day one (they wound up buying Summize, the first Twitter search engine), but for the king of search to launch a product without search? Very strange. [ suggested by +Lucian Armasu ]

4. Google Apps support: The folks who are most vested in Google's ecosystem are the ones who host their domains on Google Apps. Ironically those accounts are not allowed to log into Google+. So, if you have a half dozen folks using emails like jason@launch.is, or 100 using ones like jason@mahalo.com, you're SOL. Clearly a private Google+ would create a 'Yammer-lite' service (i.e. only share this item with people at the domain name @launch.is). At the very least, this needs to be fixed because having to keep two browsers open--one logged in with your Gmail and one with your Apps account--is infuriating. We understand there is a big debate inside Google around personal identity (your Gmail) and professional (Google Apps), and if they should be merged or kept separate.

5. Create public Circles: Twitter has lists, but not Circles. Plus has Circles but not public lists. I've created a dozen lists that folks might be really interested in, including 'founders and CEOs' and 'Angels' and 'Googlers.'

6. Customized URLs like plus.google.com/jason: Why Google didn't launch with this feature is another mystery. We're sure they will add it, but it's a glaring oversight to be sure. [ suggested by +Paul Weissenfels ]

7. Hashtag support: How awesome would it be to click on #comiccon and see all the Comic-Con posts? Exactly.


Neat Ideas that Would be Nice
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8. Intersects: Javid Jamae asked for the ability to send a "message to the intersect of two circles. For example, I want to send to the intersect of 'New York' and 'Programmers'... Not to all people in New York, and not to all Programmers, just the ones that fall in both circles." Very cool idea, we like it.

9. Remove circles from default stream: Lon Harris, of Ranker.com, suggested this clever idea. Clearly some folks you want to only hear from on demand (e.g., ex-boyfriends, boring people I'm friends with, "Robert Scoble and Chris Pirillo").

10. Pause stream: Adam Stone asked for the ability to pause on a post when hovering on it with your mouse "so new ones don't push the one you're looking at out of screen.”

11. Reverse chronological comments: Xeni Jardin requested this on her stream. We agree, at least the ability to toggle between the two. Granted, this is for power users.

12. Nested circles: A great suggestion from +Dave Rix, we would love to create a parent group of Founders with subcategories like games, wireless and social. This would be a great way to distribute information.

13. Better controls in Hangouts: When you run a hangout it's a free-for-all. You don't have the ability to remove people, invite specific people (at least after you've started) or to queue people up for questions. Google+ has the ability to take on Skype if it adds just three or four more features.

14. In-post formatting tools: Charlie Wollborg suggested the ability to integrate photos, videos and links inside of a status update--as opposed to putting them at the end. This would screw with the design of Plus a little, but add a lot to posts.

15. Broadcast ability for hangouts: +David Sweeney had this excellent idea. It's fine to limit a Hangout to 10, but why can't I stream it out to everyone? This would be a huge win for Google--and a big minus for Ustream and JustinTV.

16. Recording of Hangouts: Ephraim Gopin asked to be able to immediately publish his Hangouts to YouTube. We’ve heard this feature already exists but hasn’t been deployed to the public yet.

17. Facebook and Twitter as Circles: +David Sweeney also had a killer idea that some Chrome Extensions are already doing: the ability to easily share to Facebook and Twitter as a circle. How gangster would it be to relegate your two biggest competitors to a simple circle? Who loses: Twitter and Facebook.

18. Native Twitter and Facebook feed flow: +Michael Parekh suggested that Google simply dump your Twitter and Facebook feeds into your Google+ stream. A great idea that is already being done by the Chrome Extension (https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/oenpjldbckebacipkfbcoppmiflglnib).

19. Dynamic Circles: We would love to see Google add the ability to change what circles you've shared an item with--after you’ve shared it. Consider this the ‘oops’ feature (i.e. you posted a politically incorrect Chris Rock video to everyone that contains the N-word 178 times--then decide to share it with just your ‘friends’).

20. Birthday widget: +Benoit Curdy, of the This Week in Startups Backchannel, pointed out that many people use Facebook to not forget birthdays--something Google could easily emulate. We agree, it’s a layup.  

21. Hangouts for iPad and Android: +Darnell Clayton asked for Hangouts to work on iPad and Android devices. Given that Hangouts are based on Flash, we don’t see it happening.