This explains how you can embed YouTube videos using the Google+ approach - only the video thumbnail is loaded along with the page and the actual player loads when the user hits the play button.

<!-- You can embed  multiple Youtube videos on a page -->
<div class="youtube" id="LcIytqkbdlo" style="width:560px; height: 315px;"></div>

<div class="youtube" id="_Jmisv1Spck" style="width:560px; height: 315px;"></div>

<!-- Include the JavaScript only once -->

<script>
  // Find all the YouTube video embedded on a page
  var videos = document.getElementsByClassName('youtube');

  for (var i = 0; i < videos.length; i++) {
    var youtube = videos[i];

    // Based on the YouTube ID, we can easily find the thumbnail image
    var img = document.createElement('img');
    img.setAttribute('src', 'http://i.ytimg.com/vi/' + youtube.id + '/hqdefault.jpg');
    img.setAttribute('class', 'thumb');

    // Overlay the Play icon to make it look like a video player
    var circle = document.createElement('div');
    circle.setAttribute('class', 'circle');

    youtube.appendChild(img);
    youtube.appendChild(circle);

    // Attach an onclick event to the YouTube Thumbnail
    youtube.onclick = function () {
      // Create an iFrame with autoplay set to true
      var iframe = document.createElement('iframe');
      iframe.setAttribute(
        'src',
        'https://www.youtube.com/embed/' + this.id + '?autoplay=1&autohide=1&border=0&wmode=opaque&enablejsapi=1'
      );

      // The height and width of the iFrame should be the same as parent
      iframe.style.width = this.style.width;
      iframe.style.height = this.style.height;

      // Replace the YouTube thumbnail with YouTube HTML5 Player
      this.parentNode.replaceChild(iframe, this);
    };
  }
</script>