Google today announced that it has 135 million active users checking their Google+ streams each month, up from 100 million in mid-September. If you run the math, that means Google+ is now growing at the same pace as Facebook when it was similarly sized.

Google announced the user growth alongside a new feature called “Google+ Communities” and enhancements to Google’s mobile photo app Snapseed. Its last user count update was on Sept. 17, meaning Google+ has added 35 million stream-active users in the past 2.5 months.

Read More. Source: Wired.com

Another week, another update to part of Google’s search algorithm. This time, Google announced a refresh of its Page Layout filter that it first announced back in January, or what’s often called the “Top Heavy” update. Learn More.

Source: searchengineland.com

When Google+ and Google+ Pages for business were introduced a little less than a year ago many people in the local search arena began anticipating the day when Google would merge or integrate Google Places and Google+ Pages. Well, today is that day. Read More.

Source: Search Engine Land

"No one ever got fired for telling clients to advertise on Facebook." That's the sarcastic mantra making its way round the digital advertising world right now. But is Facebook actually an efficient vehicle for marketers compared to the other digital ad giant, Google? Read More

Source: Business Insider

Ever encountered an ad-heavy page, where you struggle to find the actual content on that page? Google’s looking at penalizing those in its search results. The head of Google’s web spam team, Matt Cutts, shared the news when speaking at the Pubcon conference. Source: search engine land

More: http://searchengineland.com/google-may-penalize-ad-heavy-pages-100601