The +1 button just got faster!

[Google publisher buttons announce]

We’re happy to announce two simple updates that will make both the +1
button and the page loading it, faster.

Speed is is super important to us and we have been working hard to
improve the load time of the +1 button. Over the past few days, we’ve
been rolling out a set of changes that make the button render up to 3x
faster on your site. Webmasters don’t need to do anything to get this
speed increase, it’s just faster now.

We’re also introducing a new asynchronous snippet for the button.
It’ll allow your web page to continue loading while your browser
downloads the +1 JavaScript. By loading these elements in parallel,
we’re ensuring that loading the +1 button JavaScript doesn’t lead to
an increase in the loading time of your page. For those of you who
have already implemented the button, if you now use this async snippet
you should see an overall improvement in your page load time.

If you haven’t already implemented the +1 button on your site, we’re
excited for your first experience to be a fast one. This is a great
opportunity to allow your users to recommend your site to their
friends, potentially bringing in more qualified traffic from Google
search.

Official blog post:
http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2011/07/1-button-now-faster.html

+The Google+ project Developer team