It seems the end is nigh for Google+ after all. With the announcement that Vic Gundotra is leaving Google after 8 years of helming the ill-fated social network, sources have been divulging that Google+ will be shifting from product-hood to being a platform.
This makes a lot of sense with the lauded launch of Google +Posts. Earlier this month, they had announced they were expanding the program and opening up to allow specific brands to use its monetization tools. +Posts stood to make Google’s current ad format less ad-like and eminently social.
For those familiar with Google+, the network has been appropriately labeled a ghost town, despite having 400+ million users. The social site was off to a many-years-long rough start, but as anyone who has visited their Google+ profile can tell you, recently things have been a lot smoother, intuitive, and dare I say, pretty.
Google+ is arguably the slickest, coolest social site that just didn’t happen. They embraced large format photos and hashtags with aplomb, the companion app is bold and Instagram-like, and Google Hangouts are well, just straight up cool. It was just too little too late.
So, I bid thee adieu, Google+ as you go the wave of Google Wave.
Will you be missing Google+ as much as I will
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