The Gradual Fade of Google Plus
May 20, 2014
There is fresh news on the Google+ front; unfortunately for the underperforming social site, the story is a prediction of its demise. The Verge reports, “‘Sign In with Google’ Button Could Send Google+ to Oblivion.”
The article discusses several recent events that suggest Google may be ready to ditch the underperformer. That Google+’s creator, Vic Gundotra, has left the company is one indication. Other signs include media reports that Google+ is on the chopping block, despite company denials. The clue that cinches it for writer Casey Newton, though, is a new option that has quietly been offered to a few website developers: they can install a blue “Sign in with Google” button instead of the red Google+ button. Newton believes this is the first step in an effort to gradually fade Google+ out of existence. The article suggests:
“Since December, the single sign-on button has supported all three account types. In that sense, the blue button just offers a fuller picture of what Google’s identity platform now encompasses. But it also suggests that the company no longer wants Google+ to represent it around the web. Google’s brand is much stronger than that of its social network, and some developers may be more comfortable adding a generic Google login to their sites and apps. Given those facts, the blue button may be better for Google as it competes with Facebook, Twitter, and others for single sign-on supremacy. But rolling it out will only reinforce the perception that the best days of Google+ are behind it.”
That’s just a perception? I’d accepted it as a given. However, that doesn’t mean the whole project was a waste of time and effort. Google is successful in part because they are not afraid to fail with any one of their many experiments; they both repurpose parts that worked (or would work well for something else) and learn what not to do. Let us shed no tears for Google+.
Cynthia Murrell, May 20, 2014
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
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[…] “The article discusses several recent events that suggest Google may be ready to ditch the underperformer. That Google+’s creator, Vic Gundotra, has left the company is one indication. Other signs include media reports that Google+ is on the chopping block, despite company denials. The clue that cinches it for writer Casey Newton, though, is a new option…The Gradual Fade of Google Plus : Stephen E. Arnold @ Beyond Search […]