Evidence builds that Google+ will soon get social games

For those of us who like the fact that Google+ remains free of the clutter that games on Facebook cause to our news feeds there, we may soon find that reprieve short lived. More evidence surfaced Friday that Google does indeed plan to add some type of gaming functionality to its social network.

Tech blog Slashgear discovered evidence within Google+'s help files that make reference to a 'Games Stream.' This likely means that Google plans to separate those incessant game status posts from the standard stream, but is eventually planning to add some type of social gaming to its platform.

Doing so (while annoying to some) is a pretty solid strategy for Google+ or any social network. Facebook has used its gaming platform as a method to keep people on the site for longer periods of time, which in turn allows for the sale of more ads.

Of course, Google+ doesn't have any ads at the moment, but there's nothing to say it wouldn't in the future. Another goal is to promote user loyalty, and gaming does that too, bringing the user back time and time again.

Checks by Betanews of the help pages could not locate the page in question that Slashgear found. However it has been noted references to gaming have been found buried in Google+ code, and AllThingsD revealed Thursday Google's plans to take a far smaller cut of revenue from gaming as a strategy to lure developers.

There are also job listings from Google for a position as product manager of a new division called "Games at Google." It's not clear though whether the search giant plans to attempt to develop games on its own, or help in developing an ecosystem to support game developers on Google's platform.

Representatives for Google could not be reached for comment as of press time.