Google Hangouts+ Adds Better Troll Controls, 18+ Adults Only Option

Google+ Hangouts are not only becoming more fun because you can now add sound effects to them, they're becoming more fun because you can kick out the jerks and keep them out.

Google+ Hangouts now have more controls and smarter ways of dealing with trolls and jerks.

Now, when someone joins a public Hangout just to ruin everyone else's fun, it's easier to block them. Blocking a user in a Hangout has always been available, but people are generally unaware they have the option.

If one participant blocks another, everyone will be asked if they want to block them too. If there's a majority consensus, the troll will be kicked out of the Hangout and prevented from joining back.

Google is also adding some tools to keep the trolls in check. It now keeps track of how many times someone gets banned from Hangouts and can remove the privilege of joining public Hangouts if someone abuses it. In the end, this behavior can also lead to the profile being removed.

But that's not all, Google is making it harder for these people to create new accounts and get right back to it. New accounts that jump straight into Hangouts will now be asked to confirm their identity via SMS. This makes it a lot harder to just create new profiles at a whim.

Google is also adding some new controls for public Hangouts, like the ability to mark them as 18+. No, it's not that, risque Hangouts are still against the terms of service, the idea is to enable users to create Hangouts where they can be sure only adults are able to join.

Overall, Google+ Hangouts remains one of the big and popular features of Google+ and it's safe to say a lot of people only join for the group chat. That said, there's still plenty to do to improve it.