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Farewell, Google+: You didn't fail, you just didn't succeed
It's the end of Google+. Eight years after its launch, Google is finally pulling the plug on its social network. It was a platform designed to take on Facebook but, despite the company's best efforts, it always existed in its shadow. As of today, there will be no more Google+ sign-in buttons, no more pages or comments, and your account will simply vanish.
Google+ will bid users farewell on April 2nd
Google made the decision to shut down its social network last year after the revelation of a security vulnerability. It even moved up the website's final day after the existence of a data bug exposing 52.5 million users' info came to light. Now, the tech giant has revealed that Google+ will no longer exist after April 2nd, 2019, and it has even detailed the steps it's taking leading to that day.
Another Google+ data bug exposes info for 52.5 million users
Google's semi-defunct social media platform Google+ has suffered its second data breach in three months and, as a result, will be completely shuttered in April, four months earlier than previously planned.
Goodbye Google+, you beautiful, squandered opportunity
When Google+ launched in 2011, people were already fed up with Facebook -- and Google was still cool. After Plus' closed invite garnered significant consumer desire, everyone's hopeful "Facebook killer" nabbed a sweet 300 million active monthly users by 2013 (by comparison, Twitter had 230 million). No one could have predicted that on a random Monday seven years later, the tech giant would hang its head, admit a middling API-access privacy hole and the existence of tumbleweeds on the service, and then announce it was shuttering Plus to the public.
Google+ is dead, but its legacy lives on
Following the revelation of a security vulnerability that exposed the private data of up to 500,000 Google+ users, Google is finally ready to pull the plug on the consumer version of its troubled social network. Simply put, the company said Monday, Google+ has not achieved the broad consumer or developer adoption it had hoped for. Google even said that 90 percent of Google+ user sessions were lasting less than five seconds. This sums up the sad state of a service that, when it launched in 2011, Google dreamed of turning into a serious Facebook competitor.
The worst part about the Google+ security flaw was the silence
Google+ was the search giant's attempt to build a Google-owned social network that could take on Facebook. Despite the obvious benefits of Google's scale and reach, Google+ was a ghost town, and quickly became a punchline. The gag became that the only people who ever used it were Google employees and the company's die-hardest fans.
Google is shutting down Google+ following massive data exposure
Following a massive data exposure first reported on by The Wall Street Journal, Google announced today that it is shutting down its social network Google+ for consumers. While data was exposed, there is no evidence that it was improperly accessed. The company finally admitted that Google+ never received the broad adoption or engagement with users that it had hoped for -- according to a blog post, 90 percent of Google+ user sessions last for less than five seconds. In light of these newly revealed security concerns with Google+'s API, the company has opted to put it out of its misery over the next ten months rather than try and make the social network more secure.
Google exposed data for hundreds of thousands of users
Google exposed private data from hundreds of thousands of Google+ users and then chose not to inform those affected by the issue. The Wall Street Journal reports that sources close to the matter claim the decision to keep the exposure under wraps was made among fears of regulatory scrutiny. Google says it discovered and immediately fixed the issue in March of this year.
Google removes accounts tied to Iran-led misinformation campaign
Google shared an update today regarding its efforts to combat state-sponsored phishing attacks and to remove accounts associated with an influence operation linked to Iran. The company said that in recent months, it has detected and blocked state-sponsored groups from targeting political campaigns, journalists, activists and academics with phishing attempts. Along with notifying law enforcement when these sorts of attacks are discovered, Google also notifies affected users, and it issued a series of alerts to Gmail users earlier this week over suspicious emails. It said the emails originated from a wide range of countries. You can read more about that specific round of notifications here.
Google+ for Android gets rebuilt for the few that still use it
Remember Google+? The search giant's take on a social network, complete with 'Circles' for organising contacts and 'Communities' for connecting with like-minded people? Well the site is still up and running, even if its active user base remains low. If you're a holdout, however, good news — Google is working on a "brand new" version of the Google+ app for Android devices. Though it "closely resembles" the current app, the underlying rewrite means the team should be able to build new features "on a modern tech stack." That's according to Leo Deegan, anyway, an engineering manager for the Google+ team, who explained the changes in a public post.
Google+ 'Topics' highlight active users and communities
Google's latest feature for its social network can make your home stream look a little bit less lonely. Next time you check Google+, you'll see a new block in your stream listing topics you can explore. The social network already has hundreds of topics on rotation that you can click through, including Black & White Photography, Art, Science, Toy Models & Crafts. They're all in English, Spanish and Portuguese, though, and it's unclear if they'll ever be available in other languages.
Google+ revives one of its most useful features: Events
Google overhauled Google+ from top to bottom in late 2015 to shift the focus to communities. The company has been tweaking the social platform since that change and today its announcing the latest updates. First, events are back on Google+. Starting January 24th, one of the more handy features the social network had to offer will return. The means you will be able to create and join events on the web, but the tool won't be part of G Suite right now.
Google's new image compression tech is actually pretty cool
In a bid to save you precious mobile data, Google has developed a technique that improves image quality without taking up more bandwidth. Entitled RASIR (Rapid and Accurate Super Image Resolution) this impressive software quickly reads large photos and manages to replicate them using a quarter of the pixels. RASIR achieves this by analyzing both low and high-quality versions of the same image. As it reads the image, it learns from the superior version and applies filters to its low-res counterpart that simulate extra detail, creating a convincing data-friendly replica of the original high-res photo.
Google brings its soothing Featured Photos screensaver to Mac
The same slick screensaver that brightens up unused screens with popular Google+ photos on the Pixel, Chromecast and Google Fiber devices is now available to keep your Mac occupied as well. With the newly released Featured Photos screensaver, you can finally turn your Mac into a photography gallery featuring some of the most highly rated shots from Alphabet's oft-overlooked social network.
Google to move Hangouts On Air to YouTube Live
Several years ago when Google+ launched, one of its key features was Hangouts, a video chat program that allowed several people to chat online at once. Hangouts grew so popular that it eventually spun off a public-facing option called Hangouts On Air, where would-be stars could interact with their adoring fans. Indeed, actual public figures like Tyra Banks, Brad Pitt and even the President have taken to Hangouts On Air in the past to answer queries. But come September 12th however, that option will be no longer, at least on Google+. Instead, users will be prompted to use YouTube Live, Google's other live video product, to broadcast in real-time.
Google+ Create program will highlight experts in their field
Google+ has launched a new program called "Create" that puts makers, artists, influencers and experts in their field in front of a bigger audience. If you'll recall, Mountain View redesigned its social network last year to focus on Communities and Collections. Communities are a place where people can share posts revolving around their interests, while Collections is a feature that collates a user's posts that focus on a single topic.
Google hires the creator of 4chan
It didn't take long for 4chan creator Chris Poole (better known as Moot) to find a new home after selling his brainchild. Google has hired Poole to take advantage of his 12 years of experience "building online communities." It's not clear exactly what he'll do. However, it wouldn't be surprising if he gives Google+ a boost, improving its recent focus on community and giving you more reasons to visit.
Google+ tweaks Android app to load websites faster over WiFi
The latest Google+ upgrade for Android comes with a handful of big changes, starting with the ability to load websites faster. So long as you're on an unmetered connection like WiFi, G+ can pre-render the web pages you access from within the app to make them show up more quickly. The video below the fold demonstrates just how much faster pre-rendered pages appear. Once you update the application, you'll also get the ability to filter your notifications by All, Unread or Other, as well as to select and delete multiple entries in the Activity Log simultaneously.
Google Play Games no longer needs a Google+ account
Google's plan to scrub Google+ requirements just went one step further. Sometime this year, Google Play Games will no longer require a Google+ account to function -- you can just use a basic Google account to start playing. You won't get nagging permissions requests, and the new approach will sign you in for every game you have rather than one at a time. That should make life much easier, especially if you didn't want personal details linked to your game sessions.
Google+ has been completely redesigned with a focus on communities
Much like the Google logo before it, Google+ is being completely reinvented today. In a blog post, Google says that after pulling in feedback from users it has decided to focus the former do-everything social network around two key features: communities and collections. Collections launched earlier this year as a way to let users gather a bunch of content together around a single idea and share it with other users, while the older communities section encouraged users of similar interests to share "whatever you're into," be it food, sports, photography, the country of New Zealand, or anything else. The new version is rolling out today on the web, iOS and Android -- you'll need to opt-in if you're viewing it from your browser, and the apps don't appear to have gone live just yet.