Rumors of a split between Google and Google+ have been flying around like tabloid stories since last fall. It is official and just like any divorce the assets are being split. In this settlement, it looks like Google+ will be loser, as it connection to many services and products are being severed.
Gmail, Hangouts, Steams, Photos and Google+
We should have known the breakup was coming when Google finally gave up trying to force a Google+ account on new Gmail users last fall. It was a quiet move, almost like a trial separation following rumors of martial problems. This was followed by Hangouts, one of Google+ most popular features, becoming a standalone app. The writing was definitely on the wall when Streams and Photo were separated in early Spring. Photos will getting its own app August 1st. Mandatory Google+ Gmail Integration Quietly Shelved
YouTube and Google+
Google+ will also losing connection to YouTube in the split. Coming up in the near future, a Google+ account will no longer be a requirement to create a channel, comment or upload a video. I am taking a leap and assuming that also means the annoying nag to make a or merge your YouTube account with your Google+ page will go away too.
In a few months from now, you won’t need a Google+ account to share YouTube videos, comment or do anything else on the site, really. Users who have linked their Google+ accounts to YouTube will also be able to remove their Google+ profiles from the service in the near future. – Google Weans Itself Off Of Google+, TechCrunch
WARNING FROM YouTube Official Blog:
If you want to remove your Google+ profile, you’ll be able to do this in the coming months, but do not do it now or you’ll delete your YouTube channel (no bueno).
Read the rest of the article, to see what’s in store for improving the overall YouTube experience:
Keeping the conversation going
Google My Business and Google+
Looks like Google+ will be giving up the business side of things too. Friday, July 28th, Google will begin to shut down unclaimed Google+ local pages. Does this mean that extra business page I didn’t create will go away? I can only hope. In the meanwhile, please be sure your business page is verified to avoid deletion.
Clearly this is a final step in separating local from Plus. Whether local will stay “debranded” or possibly take on a Local Finder essence beyond basic search and Map results isn’t clear. What is clear is that G+ and Google Local are no longer going to be bed partners. – Mike Blumenthal, Understanding Google My Business & Local Search
Google To Shutter Orphaned Google+ Pages Next Week (July 28)
What’s Next for Google+?
Many sources are declaring the “death” of Google+ is near. But Google claims they are not through with the social sharing network quite yet. Google VP of Streams, Photos and Sharing, Bradley Horowitz, maintains letting go of the concept of a Google+ profile that links a user across all Google’s platforms will support Google+ “becoming a place where people engage around their shared interests, with the content and people who inspire them.”
If you are wondering where it all went wrong with Google+, Samantha Allen, The Daily Beast shares her take on the social network in her farewell to Google+ article.
By this point, Google’s social networking site has been falsely declared dead more times than Sir Paul McCartney but, with these latest changes, the social media network may well become a thing of yesterday. Google+ will remain online—Horowitz expressed his hope that the changes “will lead to a more focused, more useful, more engaging Google+”—but in essence, it has been thrown out of Google’s house with its clothes already strewn on the lawn.
Farewell, Google+, We Hardly Knew Ye
It seems that Google+ is “only MOSTLY dead.” As Miracle Max from the movie Princess Bride pointed out, “There’s a big difference between mostly dead and all dead. Mostly dead is slightly alive.” As Google turns its attention toward the new, the future for the abandoned Google+ looks bleak. Please +1 this article just in case…
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