Google sets April 2 closing date for Google+, download your photos and content before then.
Google has an official closing date for its troubled Google+ social network: April 2.
The search engine giant says on that date Google+ accounts and any pages created will be shut down and begin being deleted. Should you have any photos or other content you want to save, "just make sure to do so before April," the company said in a blog post.
Photos and videos also stored in Google Photos will not be affected. Google has posted directions on how to download an archive of your Google+ content. Any photos and videos backed up in Google Photos will not be deleted.
Google began accelerating its shutdown last year after announcing in October 2018 that a vulnerability found earlier in the year had potentially compromised up to 500,000 users' data. Google says that it found no evidence any profile data were misused.
Then two months later, Google said a software update in November had caused a security bug that leaked the data — such as name, email and occupation — of 52.5 million users.
Google said in the blog post the decision to shut down Google+ was made "due to low usage and challenges involved in maintaining a successful product that meets consumers’ expectations."
Even though the free consumer version of Google+ will cease, Google+ will continue on as part of Google's G Suite for enterprises.
What does it mean for your business SEO?
Google+ was owned by the search engine giant and any social signals sent out by Google+ were expected to deliver strong SEO benefits.But that didn’t quite happen. Google+ could never quite become Instagram, Pinterest, or Facebook. It was always an “also ran”, despite Google’s best efforts to leverage its pre-eminent position as a search engine behemoth.
Even if you were active on Google+, promoting your business or those of your clients, the exit of Google+ from the social media scene will have minimum impact on your SEO. Social media signals from other sites will easily make up for any perceived dip in SEO performance. Remember, social media signals have some SEO value but not in the same category has backlinks or a well-designed website with good internal structure.
How will the shutting of Google+ Affect My Social Media Strategy?
How frequently were you using Google+? Users were few and user engagement was low. Webmasters were getting multiple times better returns for their efforts on Facebook, Twitter, and other social media platforms. Nobody was really using Google+ in isolation. It was invariably a part of an overall social media strategy that included posting content and networking on other social media sites.Simply remove the Google+ social media icon from wherever you’ve displayed it on your website. It’ll soon be a dead link and you don’t want dead links emanating from your website.