Google+ integration with Flipboard points to a looming G+ API

Google+ has been growing at a pretty solid clip and has a pretty active community, despite mass media claims that the service is something of a "ghost town". As he was showing off the Flipboard integration, Horowitz said that the 170 million user count on Google+ was "stale", although he didn't give an updated number. Again, we'd assume that number will come either at Google I/O, or during an upcoming earnings call. Whatever the number, it will likely be substantially less than the 900+ million of Facebook and the 500+ million of Twitter, but the fact that Google+ has potentially crossed the 200 million user mark without a public API is an incredibly impressive feat as is.
Facebook built its user base on exclusivity, with its slow rollout from college campus to college campus. Twitter built its user base through celebrity support, but more importantly, one of the best APIs available. The official Twitter never had the best features, it has been the 3rd party apps that have pushed the platform, but also pushed Twitter to add new features to the service like better retweeting and better handling of links and images. On the other hand, Google+ has built its user base without API access. If you wanted to use G+ you could only get there via the official mobile app or website. The +1 button has become more and more ubiquitous, but it has come without an official API attached.
We'll have to wait and see what Google I/O holds, but if Google does start rolling out an official API, it could be huge for the Google+ platform. We wouldn't expect full access allowing for unofficial G+ apps, but we would expect a controlled release to more apps like this one with Flipboard. Google has been very careful to control the noise on Google+, so we don't expect anything to move too fast, but at the very least we could see what the future holds for a potential Google+ API.
source: The Next Web