Announced this morning on their Webmaster Central blog, Google has released an official Google Publisher Plugin for WordPress. While still in the beta stage, this new plugin offers an easier way for WordPress site owners to integrate Google products within their sites.
The key benefit of this plugin is the ability to access Google services without having to leave the WordPress platform. Google asks us to keep in mind that this is a beta release, which means they’re still fine tuning it for the many versions of WordPress websites out there.
At this time, the Google Publisher Plugin supports two Google products, with hopefully more to be added in the future. The plugin offers:
- Google AdSense Support: Earn money by placing ads on your website. The plugin links your WordPress site to your AdSense account and makes it easier to place ads on your site — without needing to manually modify any HTML code.
- Google Webmaster Tools Support: Webmaster Tools provides you with detailed reports about your pages’ visibility on Google. The plugin allows you to verify your site on Webmaster Tools with just one click.
The Google Publisher Plugin can be downloaded from the WordPress.org plugin directory. Google has also provided a page in their Help Center for those who need some assistance getting started with the plugin.
It will be interesting to see how this plugin evolves, I sure wish it was available when I was getting started with WordPress. It will no doubt prove to be a valuable tool for site owners.
