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Google+ shuts down soon; the first of several services it is closing. Is the giant finally stumbling?
This morning I received an email from Google telling me Google+ is shutting down for good on April 2, 2019. It’s already all over the news, but what many readers do not realize is, the shuttering isn’t stopping at just Google+.
Google Inbox (an alternative email app to Gmail) is shutting down in end March 2019. Google Hangouts will shut for G Suite customers in October 2019, with the consumer version to follow eventually at an unspecified date. Google Play Music is expected to shut and merge with YouTube Music this year or next.
First victim of rising privacy concerns?
But let’s stay focused on Google+ first and look at what really went wrong. The tech giant cited two reasons for the shut down in its official blog: low usage and security issues.
“The consumer version of Google+ currently has low usage and engagement: 90 percent of Google+ user sessions are less than five seconds…”
“…users were not engaging with our APIs because of concerns around data privacy, areas where developers may have been granted overly broad access, and other areas in which our policies should be tightened…Our review showed that our Google+ APIs, and the associated…
