Google has just announced a new Google+ setting that I’m sure will be a big hit: the ability to control who can send you notifications.

As Google’s Kathleen Ko explains in a Google+ post, this is feature that many users have requested. Ko says that the new setting won’t prevent you from getting notifications when someone adds you to a circle or comments on one of your posts, but it will prevent notifications from showing up when someone tries to send you content, mentions your Google+ name, invites you to a hangout, and invites you to play or sends you messages from a game.

The new setting is set to “extended circles” by default, meaning you may still get notifications from people you don’t know. But users can change that as they wish via Google+ settings.

In the few months since Google+ launched, this has been one of the biggest complaints I’ve seen from fellow users — they don’t like seeing content from strangers showing up as notifications. (Ironically, no one seems to complain about the fact that any Twitter user can send an @message to whomever they want.)

Ko says this new feature is just beginning to roll out now; I don’t see the option yet in my Google+ account.

(tip via TNW)

Related Topics: Google: Google+

About The Author: Matt McGee is Search Engine Land's Executive News Editor, responsible for overseeing our daily news coverage. His news career includes time spent in TV, radio, and print journalism. His web career continues to include a small number of SEO and social media consulting clients, as well as regular speaking engagements at marketing events around the U.S. He blogs at Small Business Search Marketing and can be found on Twitter at @MattMcGee and/or on Google Plus. See more articles by Matt McGee

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