Google has abandoned all efforts to push the Google+ social network onto new Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) users. A new report from Marketing Land suggests that the search engine juggernaut has ended the requirement that new Google account holders must also establish a Google+ profile during the signup process.
Since Jan. 2012, Google has inserted this signup as mandatory to creating a new account.
Moving forward, users will be provided with an option in regards to a Google+ account when they sign up for Gmail, YouTube, Google Docs and other services. Individuals will now have to two options: either click the “Create a profile” button or the “No thanks” button in order to veer away from the process.
“We updated the signup experience in early September,” a Google spokesperson told The London Telegraph. “Users can now create a public profile during signup, or later, if and when they share public content for the first time (like a restaurant review, YouTube video or Google+ post).”
Experts believe that Google Inc. will persist in making subtle revisions to its variety of web services.
This comes one week after the tech company announced that the immensely popular messaging client Hangouts will not require users to sign up for Google+ just to use the service.
Google+ was launched in Jun. 2011 as a social network to rival those of Facebook, Twitter and others. According to a We Are Social report (via E-Consultancy), Google+ maintains a userbase of 1.15 billion users, but only one-third of those remain active every month. Google has been trying to make their social media outlet the face of the Internet and search engines – hence why many publications, blogs and other websites utilize Google+ authorship.
It remains to be seen if Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) can lead its social network to greener pastures, and perhaps even eventually defeat the biggest dogs in the social media landscape.
