Love it or loathe it - and plenty of people seem to do both - it doesn't look like Google's most recent attempt at a social network is going anywhere soon. Today marks four years since Google+ was first introduced as an invite-only beta, after which it rapidly expanded with an Android app and hooks into nearly every Google web and mobile service. Google continues to update and refine Google+ on a regular basis.

Estimated users of Google+ are over 500 million, though those numbers are deceptive - there are close to a billion users of Gmail, which automatically creates a Google+ page for new accounts. Actual active users appear to be well below competitors like Facebook and Twitter, though rumors of the death of the service have been greatly exaggerated. Content and conversation on Google+ tend to skew more towards technology and geek culture than on other sites... with plenty of cat pictures, of course. Cat pictures are apparently part of the DNA of the Internet.

Still, it's hard to deny that Google seems less interested in Google+ these days. Last month at the Google I/O developer conference there wasn't a single session or presentation focusing on the social network.