Google+ Source Code Reveals Potential Quora-Killer “Google Experts,” Google Voice Integration & More

A recent post from developer Matt Mastracci uncovered a variety of potential features from the Google+ source code. He stumbled upon these findings when scanning code looking for early access to the circle sharing feature.  Here are some of the items he found:

Google+ Wall

One of the smaller features that Matt found was the existence of an item similar to Facebook’s wall.  Basically this looks to  allow direct commenting on profiles rather than the roundabout current format of tagging a single user in a post.  Instead of user A posting on their own timeline about user B this new feature would allow user A to write on the profile of user B without adding it to User A’s own timeline.

Google Experts

One of the biggest revelations in the code is the existence of “Google Experts” functionality. This looks to operates as a question and answer social service, similar to the leading question and answer site Quora.  Functionality looks to include the ability to suggest questions to users, answer and comment on the answers of others.

Different updates include:

• “answered your”
• “thinks you can answer”
• “commented on your answer to his”
• “haven’t recieved an answer to your”
• “You might try rephrasing or tagging your question to make it easier to someone to answer”

If executed properly, this could be a bad sign for Quora as the functionality looks like it could be quite similar. It should also be known that Facebook had previously tried – and failed – when launching a questions service.
 

Privacy Wizards

A new privacy settings wizard was also uncovered. This wizard gives users 4 simple options for showcasing information:

Google Voice Integration

A final item shows the potential of a Google Voice Widget-esque ability to call others without revealing phone numbers. This uses Google Voice to hide phone numbers to visitors, while still give others the ability to make a call. Google Voice accounts are required for this type of functionality.

For more information, see Matt’s full breakdown on his blog.