Google+ profiles will no longer be required to access the other Google products such as YouTube, Search and Maps, after admitting the social network was ‘confusing’ users.
Instead, Google+ will be a place where “users around the world connect around the interests they love.”
The Google+ profile requirement was a way for Google to create a more complete picture of its hundreds of millions of users, a major shortcoming that it lacked compared to its rival Facebook, the top social network.
By giving anonymous Google users a logged-in profile, Google believed it could deliver more personalized products and ads to its users.
he executive who launched Google+ acknowledged that the company’s approach to social networking and sharing was confusing and that one of the key features of Google+ is being retired.
“I’ve concluded that it’s time for a ‘pivot’… or more precisely time to talk more openly about a pivot that’s been underway for some time,” Google executive Bradley Horowitz explained in a post on Google+ on Monday.
In the coming weeks, Google says it will remove other restrictions. In the future, users will no longer need a Google+ profile to upload videos, make comments, or create a channel.
When this change eventually rolls out, they will be able to remove their Google+ profile, though the company advises not to do so yet, as this will remove their YouTube channel.