Google + - It's not good to be back

After an prolonged break, I've just gone into my Google + account and it's not good to be back.

It's a bit little a place where you visited and had fond memories of but has turned into a shadow of its former self. 

And yet I'm a huge Google fan. I love gmail, drive, docs, search, analytics etc.
G+ could have been so much better.

So why my angst against this platform which is still struggling to find it's place in the social media platform ecosystem?

G+ has automatically grown the number of accounts I follow

I noticed my timeline was full of junk, accounts I haven't connected to in any shape or form filling my screen.

I discovered that G+ had followed an additional 120+ accounts to those in my circles and those I was following.

Thanks G+.

It might have been a good idea if any had been relevant, but G+ wasn't even close. G+ has followed Scottish TV, newspapers and football on my behalf. While I love Scotland and visiting there, those accounts aren't that useful for a Welshman living north of London. The rest of the unwanted follows were equally irrelevant for me.

Isn't G+ part of Google?

Google has loads of data on me, I use it for search and use its Chrome browser to get around the web. So why the disconnect with the accounts that been followed?

Google's motto is "Don't be Evil". While this is more annoying than anything else, I'm aware that Linkedin, Facebook, Twitter and others use clever algorithms to suggest new connections to us, even they don't automatically follow accounts on our behalf.

Has anyone else experienced this or anyone still using and loving G+?
It would be good to hear from you.

BTW for my latest blog posts check out - http://www.socialmedia-trainingcourses.com/blog/author/simonb/