Google Plus is Shutting Down | Could this be the reason why?

A recent announcement from Google has finally brought an end to the journey of Google+ the pseudo-social network that Google launched back in 2011.

The rise and fall of Google+

Well, Google+ was originally designed to be a competitor to Facebook. Many speculating that its creation was a reaction to Google’s failed bid to buy Facebook back in 2009. However, it never really got off the ground, its concept never really hit home, and Facebook was still on its trailblazing upward rise.

After this became evident, Google shifted the primary purpose of Google+ toward businesses. Although users own Google accounts interacted with it, the main reason to have a Google+ page was to achieve better results with your website’s SEO scores.

It was well adopted by companies looking to improve their rankings and play by Google’s rules as far as SEO went. But it always fell short of expectations, especially from Google’s point of view. The announcement revealed that its engagement was even lower than many might have guessed – 90% of user sessions lasted less than 5 seconds!

So, what prompted the move?

Google+ has long been looked at by those in the digital world as the runt of Google’s littler. It has always felt as if it was being forced by Google when so much of their other offerings work so well and so effectively without the effort.

It is very likely that sooner or later Google+ would have been shut down anyway.

But, in March 2018 a security breach that exposed 500,000 user’s data occurred and, though it was patched right away, Google have been adamant that there was no evidence of data misuse, the event likely brought forward the eventual death knell for the platform.

What now?

Google have announced that the platform will close down over a 10 month period. Meaning its eventual end will occur sometime around August 2019. They have also said that there will be more announcements coming which will instruct users on how to download and/or migrate their data from the platform.

What will happen to the Google+ users and market?

This is a question yet to be answered. Exactly what Google will choose to do with Google+ is something that we shall have to wait and see. It would be surprising if they decided to just terminate it and lose everything that it was intended for.

It is likely that a future announcement will shed more light on the matter, but we would anticipate that it may be disseminated into the wide suite of services currently falling under Google Business. Since the majority of its users were businesses, using it for business purposes, it would seem to be a logical step. But we await word on that with you!

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