Late last night, TechCrunch published an article titled Google+ is Walking Dead. There are two main reasons behind the piece: Vic Gundotra, the driving force behind the project, is leaving Google, and rumors are circulating that the company plans to put its social network on the shelf.
There are always plenty of rumors surrounding Google, so this kind of news should be taken with a grain of salt. Still, whether we choose to believe it or not (TechCrunch does seem to have solid sources), it’s certainly an interesting topic to speculate about.
TC writes: “One big change for Google+ is that there will no longer be a policy of ‘required’ Google+ integrations for Google products, something that has become de rigueur for most product updates.”
It hasn’t exactly been smooth sailing for Google in forcing users into Google+, with the YouTube integration being particularly poorly received. Many users reacted very negatively, and it seems Google may finally be listening. Perhaps nothing illustrates user dissatisfaction with Google+ better than the many jokes about it being the safest place to store photos you never want anyone to see.
Google+ certainly never became the “Facebook killer” it was once pitched as. In fact, Google doesn’t even seem interested in leveraging the data produced on the platform. Spokespeople from the company have repeatedly made it clear that Google+ data isn’t used in regular search results. What seemed like a potential goldmine of user data has, apparently, fallen short as a ranking signal—most likely due to excessive noise.
Now, it looks like Google+ will be shelved and perhaps repurposed as a platform or framework for other products—similar to what happened with Buzz or Wave, if you remember those?
Magnus Bråth
CEO
Magnus is one of the world's most prominent search marketing specialists and primarily works with management and strategy at his agency Brath AB.