Google+ is shutting down in April 2019

If you use Google+ for your business or website you need to read this.

Google said “the consumer version of Google+ currently has low usage and engagement,” adding that “90 percent of Google+ user sessions are less than five seconds.

( That is less than the nine-second attention span of your average goldfish)

As Google announced in December 2018, the consumer version of Google+ is shutting down in April 2019. As a result, as early as February 4, 2019, G Suite customers may see changes to Google+, some of which are listed below. You can find additional information and a detailed timeline in the Help Center article. These changes will allow us to focus on adding enterprise features and improving Google+ for G Suite customers.

The process of deleting content from consumer Google+ will take a few months. Some consumer Google+ content may remain visible to G Suite users until consumer Google+ is deleted.

Upcoming changes to Google+ for your organization

Here are some of the changes your users may experience with the shutdown of the consumer version of Google+:

• Communities outside your domain without at least one G Suite owner will be deleted. Also, your users will no longer be able to create public communities outside your domain.
• Google+ pages, events, and the Google+ profile field for “tagline” will be deleted for both G Suite and consumer users.
• Previously, upon G Suite customer cancellation, certain customers (e.g., edu customers) could continue to use Google+. Going forward, upon cancellation of G Suite, all G Suite customers’ content will be flagged for deletion.
• Content from consumer Google+ accounts will be deleted. Consumer users will also be removed from your circles and communities.
• For additional changes to Google+ features such as collections, circles, search, vanity URLs, and commenting on Blogger and other sites.

Actions requested

You may want to ask your users to perform the actions below:

1. A new version of the Google+ Android app will be released on February 22, 2019. Your G Suite Android users will need to update the Google+ Android app before March 7, 2019, to continue using Google+ on their mobile devices. Old versions of the app will no longer be supported.

2. If your users own or moderate a community outside your domain and there are consumer contributions that they would like to keep, they should download and save them before April 2019. If they download the data now, they will get links to community posts. Starting early March 2019, they will also be able to download the author, body, and photos for every community post in a public community.

3. Google+ pages and events will be deleted for both G Suite and consumer users if there is content your users would like to keep, they should download and save it before April 2019. If they would like to keep their Google+ tagline, please have them download and save their Profile data.

4. Google+ gadgets in classic Google Sites will no longer work starting March 7, 2019, so you and your users may want to remove them. Google+ embeds in the new Google Sites will continue to work.

5. If your users opted into the Google Play Services Public Beta Program, they may experience issues using Google apps like Gmail and Hangouts as we begin shutting down consumer Google+. To avoid any interruption in service, G Suite users can leave the Beta Program.

Source: Google