Google Plus Algorithm Still Needs Work

Google+ is a great social network–and integrating certain features such as Google Authorship with Google’s organic search results is a great move. But, from what I’m seeing today, the algorithm that Google+ uses for the feed/timeline could use some work. More specifically, how Google’s internal system determines “What’s Hot” needs a lot of work.

Let me show you what I mean. When you go to the “What’s Hot” drop-down menu, you’re supposed to see “what’s hot” and trending on Google+. You can get to it as shown below:

Hint: I usually frequent the “What’s Hot” on Google+ for several reasons:
– you learn what it takes to “go hot” on Google+
– you can comment on the hot items, which helps your personal branding and visibility
– you can share ‘what’s hot’ with others who may not have seen the item before, most likely resulting in you getting +1s and comments on that item.

But, today, when I went to the “What’s Hot” feature on Google+, scrolling down I see this:

You may need to click on the screen shot above to see it in a larger format.

Really!?! Google? Can’t your Google+ algorithm at least figure out that two separate people are sharing the SAME EXACT ITEM, and can’t your internal algorithm figure out that it’s probably not a good idea to show the same exact item at the same time on your What’s Hot feed? Obviously someone posted this first–so it’s only logical for me to expect that you would pick the first one. And then just not show the same item again?

You would think that this is fairly simple to figure out. But apparently not.
But something as simple as not showing the same exact item in one feed should have been already taken care of by the algorithm.

Does this mean that if I have something that I want to share, and it’s actually possible for me to technically get that item to show as being “hot” on the Google+ social network not only once, but twice, or what about three times? If someone knew exactly what it takes to get something to “go hot”, then it appears that Google’s algorithm for determining this could be “gamed” so to speak.

Don’t get me wrong, I really like Google+, I have been a fan since just about day one. In fact, I have written a lot about Google Plus. If you are not on Google+ yet, and not going there at least once a week (I recommend at least once a day), then you’re missing out.

But when items suddenly start to appear more than once in the “What’s Hot” feed, it appears that Google’s algorithm for determining “What’s Hot” is not what it’s supposed be doing: taking care of these types of issues.

Do you think the Google+ algorithm can be ‘gamed”?