On Wednesday, Google senior vice president of engineering Vic Gundotra reported on his Google+ account that Google+ now supports real-time search and greater hashtag functionality. According to Gundotra, the real-time […]

On Wednesday, Google senior vice president of engineering Vic Gundotra reported on his Google+ account that Google+ now supports real-time search and greater hashtag functionality.

According to Gundotra, the real-time search feature allows users to access content as it is posted by their contacts. As has been the case with most of Google+’s updates, real-time search can be adjusted in accordance with users’ preferences.

Hashtags, meanwhile, function as they do on microblogging website Twitter. Users can easily find trending content according to core keywords, and marketers may want to publish site content accordingly.

While Google attempts to improve Google+, the platform has seen substantial periods of stagnation and drop-offs in activity. Brafton reported on Wednesday that Google+ has failed to maintain the interest level it saw immediately following the removal of its invite-only wall.

One issue many believe Google+ faces is its lack of business pages. Social media marketing has helped Facebook and Twitter grow as businesses make accounts to leverage the networks’ reaches.

Joe Meloni is Brafton's former Executive News and Content Writer. He studied journalism at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and has written for a number of print and web-based publications.