Google+ is Shutting Down: Here Is What You Need To Know

Google + is shutting downGoogle released some big news this month regarding the impending shutdown of its social network, Google+. It was announced in October of 2018 that Google would discontinue support for its [failed] social network product known as Google+, or Google Plus. Google will begin this process this month, and will gradually be deleting content through April.

Google+ has long been suffering from low traffic numbers compared to its counterparts like Facebook and Twitter. Ben Smith, Google’s vice president of engineering, wrote this about the network: “It has not achieved broad consumer or developer adoption, and has seen limited user interaction with apps.” Not surprising since the data tells us Google+ user sessions typically last less than five seconds.

Originally citing a shutdown date of August 2019, it has since been expedited to April 2, 2019. This move was due to rising security and privacy concerns after another bug was found in an internal investigation. The first data leak exposed user account information. The second bug was found in a Google+ API that left a user’s Google+ profile data vulnerable to developers and third-party apps.

NOTE: Google+ is not the same as Google My Business listings. This will not affect your Google Maps listing. Google+ is a separate Google product that is being discontinued. It will not affect website rankings or other Google products you may be using.

We are seeing emails come in from the Google+ Team (noreply[at]plus.google.com) with the subject line: Your personal Google+ account is going away on April 2, 2019.

These emails are real! If you received this email, you have been given a quick synopsis and steps on how to download and save your Google+ data. Photos and videos will be backed up to the Google cloud and accessible in Google Photos. Any posts, or content shared on Google+ pages, personal or business, will be deleted.


Below is the email being sent from the Google+ team:

Google+ Shutdown Announcement


Don’t forget to sign in one last time before April 2, and back-up those family photos of the Grand Canyon trip you took. Goodbye Google+, we hardly knew ya.

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