Google And Hashtags

Remember when hashtags used to be a thing with Google products?

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It certainly was a thing in Google+, and actually implemented well. It was in YouTube as well.

“But Google still uses hashtags!” you say. And you’d be right. But from the way you see them promoted, you’d think they disappeared entirely.

In the new mobile Google+ app of mid-November 2015, you’d think Collections and Communities were the only things left in Google+. But go to the desktop version of Google+, and search for a hashtag, and you’ll see that they are totally still a thing, and work just as well as ever. YouTube as well, has been using hashtags to mark official music uploads from Sony Music, for example. Look up #BobDylan on YouTube to see what I mean.

The hashtag is old news for Google. But the de-emphasization is new. The lack of visibility of hashtags on Google+ is striking. And if you aren’t in the know for YouTube, you’d miss the usefulness of finding official music releases of entire artist discographies on YouTube entirely.

Why the disappearing act? I can only guess, but my bet goes on a misguided goal of simplicity. Google+ was always chockablock full of features, to the point of overload. And YouTube has every video in existence, or at least it seems that way. Not making some features obvious keeps the noticeable UI clean and clear.

But by not making hashtags obvious, Google is missing out on usefulness. Pair up search with hashtags, and you get magic. A search convention that reaches across social media silos, as well as the app divide? An idea embraced by the public, that allows you to track trending ideas? They should be jumping on it with both feet. Instead, they let hashtags sink like quicksand. Hopefully, they will get a new push in the future. But probably not.

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