Earlier this month, there was a news item that Google will shut down its social media platform, Google Plus, for consumers. From August of next year, Google Plus will be available only for business customers.
The reason: Google discovered earlier this year, that its software programme had bugs that allowed miscreants to steal data of not only G+ users but also of their friends. This discovery was around the time when Facebook was being hauled through coals for a similar loophole in its software architecture.
Google kept quiet at that time, fearing a public backlash. Now they have come up a solution -- since Google won't be able provide a safe platform to its users, they will rather shut it down. And according to Google, there are very few people using G+. It's the businesses that are using G+ more.
Percentage wise, probably, the number of users might be comparatively small. But the number could be quite a big. And this decision will impact a lot of people around the world.
This decision is very much in pattern with Google's general practice of constantly innovating and coming up with newer services and products, but keeping only the ones they think are doing well. Reader, Buzz, Knol, Labs, Video Goggles, Health are some products that have been shut down.
These are the relevant paragraphs from Google's blog post announcing the decision to shut down G+ for consumers.
The reason: Google discovered earlier this year, that its software programme had bugs that allowed miscreants to steal data of not only G+ users but also of their friends. This discovery was around the time when Facebook was being hauled through coals for a similar loophole in its software architecture.
Google kept quiet at that time, fearing a public backlash. Now they have come up a solution -- since Google won't be able provide a safe platform to its users, they will rather shut it down. And according to Google, there are very few people using G+. It's the businesses that are using G+ more.
Percentage wise, probably, the number of users might be comparatively small. But the number could be quite a big. And this decision will impact a lot of people around the world.
This decision is very much in pattern with Google's general practice of constantly innovating and coming up with newer services and products, but keeping only the ones they think are doing well. Reader, Buzz, Knol, Labs, Video Goggles, Health are some products that have been shut down.
These are the relevant paragraphs from Google's blog post announcing the decision to shut down G+ for consumers.
The consumer version of Google+ currently has low usage and engagement: 90 percent of Google+ user sessions are less than five seconds.
The review did highlight the significant challenges in creating and maintaining a successful Google+ that meets consumers’ expectations. Given these challenges and the very low usage of the consumer version of Google+, we decided to sunset the consumer version of Google+.
To give people a full opportunity to transition, we will implement this wind-down over a 10-month period, slated for completion by the end of next August. Over the coming months, we will provide consumers with additional information, including ways they can download and migrate their data.
At the same time, we have many enterprise customers who are finding great value in using Google+ within their companies. Our review showed that Google+ is better suited as an enterprise product where co-workers can engage in internal discussions on a secure corporate social network.Here is a list of services and products that Google has shut down.
google's really successful product is it's search engine and the revenue they make through google adsense is phenomenal
ReplyDeleteThanks, Kanika for your comments. Google was smart enough to develop a very good search product, because we are all searching for something, is it not?
DeleteI know I've never used it. I mean, I have a profile, but I don't engage with it at all. Makes sense to shut it down.
ReplyDeleteThanks Liz for the comments.
DeleteI actually liked Google Reader and was disappointed that they shut it down. I won't miss Google+ though. It was always a pain anytime I had to navigate it to find someone's blog.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Oneil, for the comments.
DeleteThis is a very informative post. I wondered what was happening with G+. Thank you for sharing this.
ReplyDeleteThanks Donna for the comments.
DeleteGoogle Plus is technically a better option than Facebook. But Facebook was there first and everyone uses it; and it offers a more of a 'closed-network' environment. So this decision makes sense.
ReplyDeleteDestination Infinity
Yes, Rajesh. It is the early mover advantage.
Delete