Removing “What’s hot on Google+”

If you’ve used Google+ recently, you will have noticed that they have put trending articles in your feed under “What’s hot on Google+”. And while some of these are informative, I find them distracting and kind of spammy, much like the advertisements on Facebook. But unlike the advertisements on Facebook there is a way to turn them off.

Simply go into Google+, and on the left menu bar choose Explore. At the top of of this screen it says, Explore What’s hot on Google+. On the right side of the title bar by the cog for settings, you will notice a circle on a slide bar. By sliding the circle up or down you can control how much of “What’s hot on Google+” shows up in your stream.

Personally I slid the circle all the way to the left and chose, “Show nothing from this stream in your All Circles stream“. Since I have done that, I have been a lot happier with Google+. Especially when I access it from the Google+ app on my iPhone or iPad. The extra posts from “What’s hot on Google+” really cluttered up the app and made it difficult for me to see the posts I really wanted.