As promised, today is the day Google begins deleting consumers’ Google+ profiles. In January, Google announced that it would initiate a phased closure of its failed social media platform.
Google+ was unveiled in 2011 in an attempt for the search giant to gain a foothold in the social media world. However, within weeks of its launch, though there seemed to be millions of profiles, no one was posting much on the platform. Over the next eight years, Google tried to boost engagement on the service, linking Google Play reviews and YouTube comments to a Google+ profile, but that only served to annoy people. Finally, after two data breaches were discovered in 2018, Google announced it would shutter the service for consumers in 2019 (Google+ for G Suite customers will live on, however).
For those who do still have Google+ accounts, run, don’t walk, to Google’s help center to find out how to download any data you had in your Google+ account, including photos and videos. Today is literally your last chance to save them.
Recognize your brand’s excellence by applying to this year’s Brands That Matter Awards before the early-rate deadline, May 3.
