Google+ API Launches - Read-Only, Limited, But a Start

Google just announced that developers can now access an API that exposes public data published on Google+. While a select group of developers already has access to a more complete API (though this is officially still under wraps), those with the right skill set can now finally start accessing data on Google+ and integrate at least parts of the service into their own applications.

Read-Only For Now, No Access to Circles

As of now, the API is limited to letting developers read public data that has been shared publicly on Google+. For now, the API is read-only and doesn’t give developers access to manipulate your Google+ Circles, so its usefulness is definitely still limited, as developers won’t be able to push any data to Google+ yet, but this is only a start. Google will make more features available over time.

Chances are that we will see the first products that use this API in the next few days. Over time, as Google makes more features available, we will surely also see Google+ integration into some of the more popular social media clients (though whether Twitter’s own Tweetdeck will ever support it, remains to be seen).