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Since the release of Google's new social network, there's been a lot of speculation about when and if Google Plus would get a gaming component. Early inquiry into the site's code certainly hinted at the possibility, and now more signs have been uncovered.

Slashgear reports that the Games Stream has been confirmed, pointing to wording on the Google Plus Help pages - now removed - that referenced games and potentially a separate stream for finding game-related updates.

Google Plus, the new social network from Google, has been rapidly expanding. But contrary to early perception, it isn't just being used by techies to talk about Google Plus. Trey Ratcliff is a well-known photographer and already Google Plus has become his main social platform - despite already having large fan bases on Facebook and Twitter. Trey, a leading exponent of the HDR photography technique (high dynamic range imaging), runs a very popular travel photography blog called StuckInCustoms.com.

I interviewed Trey about how he's using Google Plus and why he's not focusing so much now on Facebook and Twitter. Below are his responses, including facts and figures about Trey's social media accounts.

Google Plus, the ambitious company-wide social network launched late last month, was reportedly built in secret over an extended period of time by scores of engineers and social software designers brought into the company through a campaign of heavy hiring.

The scope of Plus's ambition is far from fully realized, though, and apparently the expansion of the team isn't complete yet either. This morning a well-backed little startup called The Fridge announced that it has been acquired by Google and will close its group sharing app up to work on something similar at Plus. It was the second little startup like it to be acquired by Google in the last two days: yesterday YCombinator alum Scoopler/Just Spotted announced the same thing.

Did these little startups show promise and get multi-million dollar signing bonuses, effectively, as acquisition/hires? Or did they see the successful launch of Google Plus as writing on the wall: that the real time and group sharing market has now matured enough that it's time for anyone small to team up with a giant if they are going to survive? Maybe they began building a year ago with insiders' knowledge that flipping to Google would become an increasingly viable strategy.

I admit: it's taken me a while to warm up to Google Plus. Several of our team were early enthusiasts, one or two suggesting that it may even replace their use of Facebook or Twitter. That got me wondering: how many Google Plus users are spending less time on Facebook and/or Twitter? I surveyed people on Google Plus about it and also did a bit of unscientific research.

The feedback I received and results from my research show that Twitter usage is indeed decreasing amongst these early Google Plus users. Facebook seems at less immediate risk, because family and non-tech friends won't be abandoning Facebook for Google Plus any time soon. Interestingly, very few people said that Google Plus hadn't impacted their usage of Twitter and Facebook. In other words, Google Plus is clearly disrupting both Twitter and Facebook.

Tired of waiting for Google - you know, the search engine company? - to add a functional search feature to its new social network Google Plus? Yep, so were we. So we did a little Googling, and found a way to add it ourselves. No, it's not a browser extension. (There is one of those, of course, but it's filled with ads.)

Instead, this method (below) uses a feature in Google Chrome which lets you add custom search engines to your browser. In just a minute, we added both Google Plus Profile search and Google Plus Posts search to Chrome.

Apple released the iPhone app for Google's red hot social network, Google Plus, on the iTunes store this morning. (link) Enthusiastic Plus users appear very excited to take advantage of the native app, which offers features like photo uploading, Huddle conversations and push notifications - in addition to the features already offered by the mobile web interface.

Unfortunately, the app has a lot of shortcomings. Most of those shortcomings are true of Plus's Android App as well, but the fact that Google had to wait three weeks for Apple to approve the Plus app couldn't have helped the development cycle relative to early feedback on Android.

A Google Plus account by Your Anon News, a part of the hacktivist collective Anonymous, was banned from that social network as having content that violated Google's community standards, according to Time magazine's Techland blog. Your Anon New's Google profile and Gmail was also cancelled.

Now, Anonymous has announced its intention of creating its own social network, AnonPlus.

Want to sync your Google Plus updates to other social networks, without having to use a browser extension? There's a new way to do this, called "Agent G," which is actually a special Google Plus user account. Once configured, you can automatically share your Google Plus updates to the social networks of your choice, just by adding "Agent G" alongside the names of the Circles or friends you're sharing a post with on Google Plus.

Facebook isn't accepting advertisements that promote Google Plus on its social network, as one self-described "Internet Geek" recently found out. After having placed an ad that informed Facebook visitors to add him on Google Plus, Michael Lee Johnson reported that Facebook shut down all his advertising campaigns, and banned him from using the Facebook advertising system.

Should photographers be concerned about Google Plus? This is the subject on an ongoing debate right now, due to the wording Google uses in its Terms of Service - specifically parts that seem to indicate it will have rights to photos posted on the new social network. But some folks, including both professional photographers and an intellectual property attorney say the reaction is overblown. The issue is not a "Google" problem - it's something to consider before posting your images online, anywhere on the Web.

This week, the lawyers at stock photography leader Getty Images have decided to weigh in on the situation, too, as it relates to the company's Flickr Collection contributors. Getty's verdict? "We're OK with Google+," it says.