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Sad news for Google Plus fans. Google announced earlier this week that it was closing down Google Plus for consumers. The social network introduced by Google in 2011 had been waning in popularity and Google was not investing much effort into growing its community.
What was once a thriving site, with Google Hangouts, Circles, Groups and Chats, Google Plus eventually languished as other sites began offering the same services. According to Google, “Google+ currently has low usage and engagement: 90 percent of Google+ user sessions are less than five seconds.’
Google’s decision to shutter Google Plus may also have been propelled by a report from The Wall Street Journal that revealed Google Plus had a software vulnerability that was discovered in March of this year.
This software vulnerability was revealed by an internal audit by Google. The audit found that Google Plus users’ profile information had become exposed to app developers, including users’ name, email address, occupation, gender and age. This user information, which was supposed to be kept private by Google Plus, became available to 438 app developers, according to Google.
Google also said that as many as 500,000 Google Plus accounts were affected, though it found no evidence that any user profile information was actually accessed by developers. Google stated, “We found no evidence that any developer was aware of this bug, or abusing the API, and we found no evidence that any Profile data was misused.”
Because it found no evidence that any user information was accessed by developers, Google decided not to reveal this data exposure to the public. The existence of the Google Plus data breach was unknown outside of Google until The Wall Street Journal article was published earlier this week. The day The Wall Street Journal article was published, Google made its announcement that it was closing Google Plus for consumers.
Google Plus will be available for 10 more months and will eventually be closing to consumers in August 2019. The business version of Google Plus will continue to operate after the consumer side is closed.
How to Close Your Google Plus Account Now
If you have a Google Plus account, but aren’t using Google Plus any more, then you should close your account now instead of waiting until August of 2019 for Google to close it for you. By closing your account now you’ll reduce your exposure to possible hackers and/or other data leaks.
To close your Google Plus account, log into your Gmail account and click on your profile picture in the upper right corner. Click Google+ Profile.
Google Plus will open with your profile page. Click Settings in the left menu bar.
Scroll to the bottom and click Delete Your Google+ Profile.
You’ll be asked to confirm your decision and read about the consequences of closing your account. Click the box next to Required to acknowledge that this cannot be undone.
You should see a confirmation that your Google Plus account was successfully deleted.
Your Thoughts
Do/did you have a Google Plus account? Did you use Google Plus? Will you miss Google Plus? Are you deleting your Google Plus account?
Do you think Google should have revealed that the profile information of over 500,000 accounts could have been accessed by developers?
*Google Plus logo by Google [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
Hi Carolyn,
I’m sad to see Google+ go – it’s intrinsically tied to my history as a community builder. (Ashvini told me about this at the Hangout this week.)
I remember when they introduced the Google+ Hangouts. I became an early adapter and we started the Hangouts at LFI.
I deleted my Google+ account.
🙁
Lori
Hi Lori, Yes, Google Plus was great in its day but really has fallen off in popularity. It really isn’t shocking that Google is closing it, but I do wish that they had instead invested in growing the platform rather than shuttering it. Growing a social network isn’t easy but can be worth it if people actually use it.
If I Don’t delete account then what will happen?
Hi Gaurav, Great question. If you don’t delete your Google Plus account, Google will close it for you when it closes the service in August 2019.
If you’re still using Google Plus then you can keep your account active. But if you’re not using the service, you should delete your account to protect yourself from hackers.
I’ll wait to delete my account. Although they said they are going to do away with Google +, I’m the type of person who has to see it to believe it!
They might change their minds between now and August 2019!
Hi Lorraine, I love your optimism! If you’re correct then that would mean Google has a fantastic surprise for us with exciting new tech.
I do hope you’re correct, Lorraine!
Hi Carolyn,
This is really a sad news. I have been working real hard to develop a comminuty for my Google+ account. Of late it was showing some signs of improvement in terms of number of engagement on my post. However, I guess it now comes to nothing since Google is closing it off.
Thanks for sharing, have a good day. 🙂
Hi Sajid, Yes, it really is sad news. There was much to enjoy about Google Plus, but apparently not enough. A social network needs to stay fresh for people to keep using it. Without innovation, social networks can die.
Google Plus is an important lesson for anyone else who wants to design and maintain a social network. It’s not easy.
Hi Carolyn,
Google+ was not able to compete with other giants like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. This was quite on the cards. However, I would have appreciated if they could have come up with some new ideas and tried to revamp it. Nevertheless, good bye Google+.
Thanks for sharing, have a great weekend. 🙂
Hi Tarique, Yes, Google Plus used to be an exciting place to visit. Google Hangouts were so much fun and some of the groups were quite active.
But without growing its services, Google Plus started to wither and people stopped using it. You’re right, it would have been better if Google had continued to invest in it but now it’s a lost cause.
It’s quite a sad news as google plus was the place where i use to communicate with other developers . Most of the development news regarding new roms and app testing where first posted there . It was also a good source of traffic for my website . Sadly we will be unable to enjoy all this now . It trully is hard to digest and a big loss for me on a personal level . 😣
Hi Shayura, This is truly sad news for many. But Google Plus isn’t closing quite yet. You have 10 months to use Google Plus before it shutters. If there were suddenly a massive surge of popularity for Google Plus, then perhaps Google will change its mind. But that doesn’t seem to be happening.
Thanks Carolyn,
lots of thanks for delete google+ Account
longtime i searches google how to close google+ Account and now i find this good Article
Thanks for sharing, have a great day
Hi Mr. Rasel, I’m so glad you found this article helpful to you. You’re right, if you’re not using Google Plus then delete your account to prevent future hackers from being able to access your account.
Hi Carolyn,
What a joy to be here after a bit gap!
It’s indeed a shocking news to all G+ users!
But at the same time we can take heart that, it’s not the first time that Google is doing such things to its products and platforms.
A 20+ such things happened so far!
It really killed many products and platforms they developed.
Few days back I have posted an article in this regard wherein I posted an infographic which says more about such deaths happened in Google.
Thanks for sharing this.
Keep sharing.
Best
~ Philip
Hi Philip, How wonderful to see you back here at The Wonder of Tech!
Great point, Google is famous for closing its services, including Google Reader, Aardvark, Google News & Weather, Picnik, and many more. See, Wikipedia, Google Closed Services.
What if Gmail were next? Google Docs? Too big to fail? We need to be mindful of becoming too dependent on tech services.